Marvel Cinematic Universe

[BlueberryWaffles]

Definitely stay for the after credits scene. I loved it.

Spoiler time!

this is my favorite Marvel movie. No joke. It was so good!

The soundtrack was amazing.

Chris Pratt was REALLY good as Star-Lord.

Rocket was just a complete badass. He was great.

Loved the more comedic tone...best line in the film was Star-Lord's blacklight joke.

Nebula was a really good villain.

Thanosthanosthanosthaons! YES!

Baby Groot was SO ADORABLE.

sad Rocket hit in the feels

Also, Footloose jokes.

Infinity Gem set up for Phase 3!!!

I think the all hold the gem thing was because in the Collector scene he said once a group shared its power but eventually couldn't handle it, and the Guardians could because now they were a team, cause everything is cool when you're part of a team. and so they conquered its power together.

Yondu played a bigger role than I thought. Wish we had gotten a minifig for him.

Groot snowball. Cool.

Finally, HOWARD THE DUCK! HOWARD THE DUCK! YEAAAAH!

So yeah. Basically, it was amazing. Go see it.

[Ultron]

Definitely stay for the after credits scene. I loved it.

Spoiler time!

this is my favorite Marvel movie. No joke. It was so good!

The soundtrack was amazing.

Chris Pratt was REALLY good as Star-Lord.

Rocket was just a complete badass. He was great.

Loved the more comedic tone...best line in the film was Star-Lord's blacklight joke.

Nebula was a really good villain.

Thanosthanosthanosthaons! YES!

Baby Groot was SO ADORABLE.

sad Rocket hit in the feels

Also, Footloose jokes.

Infinity Gem set up for Phase 3!!!

I think the all hold the gem thing was because in the Collector scene he said once a group shared its power but eventually couldn't handle it, and the Guardians could because now they were a team, cause everything is cool when you're part of a team. and so they conquered its power together.

Yondu played a bigger role than I thought. Wish we had gotten a minifig for him.

Groot snowball. Cool.

Finally, HOWARD THE DUCK! HOWARD THE DUCK! YEAAAAH!

So yeah. Basically, it was amazing. Go see it.

I thought I remembered something earlier in the movie about them being able to share the power of the infinity gem. That makes more sense now.

[Savage Oppress]

How annoying were the theater crowds when you saw Guardians of the Galaxy?

[Ultron]

How annoying were the theater crowds when you saw Guardians of the Galaxy?

They weren't bad. Of course that was just the early release crowd, so who knows how it will be on opening weekend.

[LavaBricks137]

Unlike the trailers, Star-Lord's middle finger isn't censored.

[AnthonyP301]

I can't wait to see it, it feels like it was just announced. Ill be seeing it today, I'm so glad I can see it opening day. Usually I can't see movies close to when they come out since I live pretty far away from a decent theater. I have a feeling GotG will be one of my favorite movies soon.

[Mr Man]

I disliked nothing in the film, not a single bad part at all.

[rodiziorobs]

Saw GOTG last night, and here are my spoiler-free thoughts:

I didn't go into this expecting a great movie; I went in expecting to have a lot of fun watching a decent movie. It totally delivered and I had a ton of fun. That being said, I still think that both Avengers and Cap 2 (and maybe a few others) rank higher for me, with GOTG somewhere there near the top.

Best bits:

Each of the characters is great to watch on screen, from the heroes to the villains and everyone else along the way. All were near-perfectly cast, and superbly realized.

Apart from being great individually, the whole cast meshed well together, also.

Great effects. Rocket and Groot were expertly animated, along with most of the CGI backdrop. The spaceships and battles were incredible, not just visually but also in terms of creativity and story.

Most of the MCU doesn't take itself too seriously (which I think it a big part of why it has been so successful), but in some instances, that means a serious-ish movie with lighthearted scenes sprinkled in. Not here; it's as though every scene was crafted first to look awesome and have good acting, and then any space leftover was crammed with humor. Its a very funny film from (just after the) start to finish and I loved that about it.

Gripes:

I get that a lot of exposition is needed to explain stuff--after all, this movie introduced a whole unfamiliar universe--but it seemed like a lot of dialogue in the first half-hour/40 mins was just exposition. Once that was all set up the movie sailed along, but it got it off to a slightly bumpy start. Case in point: in the trailer, where John C. Reilly tells us a rundown of all the guardians' backstory? That kind of dialogue is typical of much of the first half of the show.

Also, the movie overall was a lot more vulgar than any other in the MCU. It was still pretty tame compared to other movies with the same rating, but it surprised me, especially in light of Kevin Feige's statement a while back.

Spoilery stuff:

This is all just a lot of random ramblings. Sorry for the lack of a cohesive statement.

Loved the escape scene from the prison, especially Rocket's joke about the leg and the reprise later on with the eye.

Loved the look on Groot's face after he trashed the Kree soldiers on the ship: "Did I do good pops?"

More details about the expository dialogue: it really seemed like characters we're reading to us from wikipedia every few minutes, about the Nova corps, about the Kree, the police lineup Rhomann Dey, about the mining colonies on Knowhere, the collector describing the infinity stones, etc. I get that it is a convenient way to fill in bits of the story that would be hard or impossible to show, and that otherwise we as an audience might not be able to follow along, but it really made the first of the movie clunky. I think that is why Avengers is still a better movie to me, because it didn't have to get bogged down in explanations, since they had been previously fleshed out in the other movies.

Sometimes the music was too distracting. For example, The Runaways' 'Cherry Bomb' worked in the trailer, but was a little incongruous in the actual movie.

Favorite in-joke: Did anyone else see Chris Pratt piloting the Knowhere mining pod ship with the little grabby hands out in front and practically hear a little robot voice saying "Commence micromanagement"? Totally reminded me of the Lego Movie. That and then he uses that ship to fly the other ship, just seemed like a man on a horse riding another giant horse (another Lego Movie reference).

More Lego comparisons: I was consistently thrilled to see that the Lego sets were pretty accurate to the movie itself, as opposed to other tie-ins (looking at you, IM3). From the ships to the characters, they were pretty much spot-on, even in little details like Drax's skull tattoos and the Necrocraft pilots' lack of face. Makes me want to get them even more, but I already can't justify getting the Exo-Suit. :(

I also loved Quill's pop culture references, like the Ark of the Covenant and Ranger Rick.

I was expecting Drax to be the weakest link of the team as far as acting, but he was great. "My reflexes are way too quick." Actually Gamora was kind of the weak link, but for reasons I haven't figured out yet.

It's been said before, but Rocket and Groot steal just about every scene they are in. I read a few early reviews that compared GOTG to Star Wars, saying that the two of them were kind of reminiscent of R2D2/C3PO, but I think that's way off--they are much more like Han and Chewy, which I guess makes Quill Lando. I'm okay with that.

I really liked the hot-rod Milano ship, the Dark Aster, and the way the Xandarian fleet coordinated to form a barrier--very inventive, and fun to watch. And even though you're, you know, watching a space opera with a talking raccoon, it seemed plausible, like a kind of trench warfare in space.

However, Star-Lord's helmet kept bugging me. I mean, that kind of disappearing matter technology was available to him (of all people), yet nothing else like it shows up anywhere. A minor quibble, for sure, but it seemed a little too convenient.

Cameos from Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro (who was much better here than in the end-credits scene from Thor 2) were spot on. (Howard the Duck's, not so much. I would rather have had a teaser that actually went somewhere, as opposed to this one. I hope that one of Marvel's unannounced films isn't secretly Howard.) I could watch a whole movie of Michael Rooker's prosthetic mohawk Yondu and his Ravagers. I liked his space redneck character, and the whistling arrow was sweet.

Villain time: Nebula was fantastic. Ronan was what I wish we could have seen from Malekith: threatening, merciless, and totally self-assured. Thanos was...actually less than what I was hoping for. Not that we didn't see enough of him, but he just didn't seem to be as threatening as I expected. I mean, I found Loki sitting on Odin's throne more menacing.

Thanks for reading.

Edited August 1, 2014 by rodiziorobs

[Faefrost]

Saw GOTG last night, and here are my spoiler-free thoughts:

I didn't go into this expecting a great movie; I went in expecting to have a lot of fun watching a decent movie. It totally delivered and I had a ton of fun. That being said, I still think that both Avengers and Cap 2 (and maybe a few others) rank higher for me, with GOTG somewhere there near the top.

Best bits:

Each of the characters is great to watch on screen, from the heroes to the villains and everyone else along the way. All were near-perfectly cast, and superbly realized.

Apart from being great individually, the whole cast meshed well together, also.

Great effects. Rocket and Groot were expertly animated, along with most of the CGI backdrop. The spaceships and battles were incredible, not just visually but also in terms of creativity and story.

Most of the MCU doesn't take itself too seriously (which I think it a big part of why it has been so successful), but in some instances, that means a serious-ish movie with lighthearted scenes sprinkled in. Not here; it's as though every scene was crafted first to look awesome and have good acting, and then any space leftover was crammed with humor. Its a very funny film from (just after the) start to finish and I loved that about it.

Gripes:

I get that a lot of exposition is needed to explain stuff--after all, this movie introduced a whole unfamiliar universe--but it seemed like a lot of dialogue in the first half-hour/40 mins was just exposition. Once that was all set up the movie sailed along, but it got it off to a slightly bumpy start. Case in point: in the trailer, where John C. Reilly tells us a rundown of all the guardians' backstory? That kind of dialogue is typical of much of the first half of the show.

Also, the movie overall was a lot more vulgar than any other in the MCU. It was still pretty tame compared to other movies with the same rating, but it surprised me, especially in light of Kevin Feige's statement a while back.

Spoilery stuff:

This is all just a lot of random ramblings. Sorry for the lack of a cohesive statement.

Loved the escape scene from the prison, especially Rocket's joke about the leg and the reprise later on with the eye.

Loved the look on Groot's face after he trashed the Kree soldiers on the ship: "Did I do good pops?"

More details about the expository dialogue: it really seemed like characters we're reading to us from wikipedia every few minutes, about the Nova corps, about the Kree, the police lineup Rhomann Dey, about the mining colonies on Knowhere, the collector describing the infinity stones, etc. I get that it is a convenient way to fill in bits of the story that would be hard or impossible to show, and that otherwise we as an audience might not be able to follow along, but it really made the first of the movie clunky. I think that is why Avengers is still a better movie to me, because it didn't have to get bogged down in explanations, since they had been previously fleshed out in the other movies.

Sometimes the music was too distracting. For example, The Runaways' 'Cherry Bomb' worked in the trailer, but was a little incongruous in the actual movie.

Favorite in-joke: Did anyone else see Chris Pratt piloting the Knowhere mining pod ship with the little grabby hands out in front and practically hear a little robot voice saying "Commence micromanagement"? Totally reminded me of the Lego Movie. That and then he uses that ship to fly the other ship, just seemed like a man on a horse riding another giant horse (another Lego Movie reference).

More Lego comparisons: I was consistently thrilled to see that the Lego sets were pretty accurate to the movie itself, as opposed to other tie-ins (looking at you, IM3). From the ships to the characters, they were pretty much spot-on, even in little details like Drax's skull tattoos and the Necrocraft pilots' lack of face. Makes me want to get them even more, but I already can't justify getting the Exo-Suit. :(

I also loved Quill's pop culture references, like the Ark of the Covenant and Ranger Rick.

I was expecting Drax to be the weakest link of the team as far as acting, but he was great. "My reflexes are way too quick." Actually Gamora was kind of the weak link, but for reasons I haven't figured out yet.

It's been said before, but Rocket and Groot steal just about every scene they are in. I read a few early reviews that compared GOTG to Star Wars, saying that the two of them were kind of reminiscent of R2D2/C3PO, but I think that's way off--they are much more like Han and Chewy, which I guess makes Quill Lando. I'm okay with that.

I really liked the hot-rod Milano ship, the Dark Aster, and the way the Xandarian fleet coordinated to form a barrier--very inventive, and fun to watch. And even though you're, you know, watching a space opera with a talking raccoon, it seemed plausible, like a kind of trench warfare in space.

However, Star-Lord's helmet kept bugging me. I mean, that kind of disappearing matter technology was available to him (of all people), yet nothing else like it shows up anywhere. A minor quibble, for sure, but it seemed a little too convenient.

Cameos from Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro (who was much better here than in the end-credits scene from Thor 2) were spot on. (Howard the Duck's, not so much. I would rather have had a teaser that actually went somewhere, as opposed to this one. I hope that one of Marvel's unannounced films isn't secretly Howard.) I could watch a whole movie of Michael Rooker's prosthetic mohawk Yondu and his Ravagers. I liked his space redneck character, and the whistling arrow was sweet.

Villain time: Nebula was fantastic. Ronan was what I wish we could have seen from Malekith: threatening, merciless, and totally self-assured. Thanos was...actually less than what I was hoping for. Not that we didn't see enough of him, but he just didn't seem to be as threatening as I expected. I mean, I found Loki sitting on Odin's throne more menacing.

Thanks for reading.

Re Gamora

I had the same impression of Gamora, and after thinking on it I figured out what the issue was. It's not that there was a problem with her performance. She nailed Gamora well. The problem was it was the most expected performance in the film. It was Zoe Saldana playing the same basic bad megablocks that we always see her doing. The blue Avatar chick. Uhura. Pretty much the same character and same performance. It was to familiar. There was nothing new in it. There was nothing distinct or new in Gamora. This was further compounded by her not really getting quite as much fleshing out.

Whereas Bautiste shines because Drax keeps opening up to us more and more as the movie goes on. In his first scenes he is the wooden pre wrestler that we were expecting. But then slowly throughout the movie the character opens up and grows. And Bautiste sells it. That scene near the end where he is just silently stroking and comforting Rocket. Damn! He had some wonderful deliveries. including my favorite "He is an imbecile!"

Chris Pratt just blows us away in a Han Solo meets Indiana Jones by way of Bugs Bunny kind of thing. There is not one single moment in the movie that you are pulled out of the illusion that Groot and especially Rocket are fully formed real life characters. They are just perfection. The emotion Vin Diesel communicates in 3 words is amazing. And Bradley Cooper gives great depth and sadness beneath Rockets wit humor and snarkiness.

Overall I would say that your impressions of this one will vary. I put it third in the listing of the MCU, behind Winter Soldier at 1, which is just an incredibly well crafted stand alone movie. It works as pure cinema above and beyond being a part of the MCU, and #2 being Avengers. GotG has the slightly better cast chemistry and better humor, but Avengers just nudges it out for reasons of being the big long desired payoff, landing it, and in a word LOKI. Guardians sits at third. But its a thin margin separating it from Avengers.

[rodiziorobs]

Re Gamora

I had the same impression of Gamora, and after thinking on it I figured out what the issue was. It's not that there was a problem with her performance. She nailed Gamora well. The problem was it was the most expected performance in the film. It was Zoe Saldana playing the same basic bad megablocks that we always see her doing. The blue Avatar chick. Uhura. Pretty much the same character and same performance. It was to familiar. There was nothing new in it. There was nothing distinct or new in Gamora. This was further compounded by her not really getting quite as much fleshing out.

Whereas Bautiste shines because Drax keeps opening up to us more and more as the movie goes on. In his first scenes he is the wooden pre wrestler that we were expecting. But then slowly throughout the movie the character opens up and grows. And Bautiste sells it. That scene near the end where he is just silently stroking and comforting Rocket. Damn! He had some wonderful deliveries. including my favorite "He is an imbecile!"

Chris Pratt just blows us away in a Han Solo meets Indiana Jones by way of Bugs Bunny kind of thing. There is not one single moment in the movie that you are pulled out of the illusion that Groot and especially Rocket are fully formed real life characters. They are just perfection. The emotion Vin Diesel communicates in 3 words is amazing. And Bradley Cooper gives great depth and sadness beneath Rockets wit humor and snarkiness.

Overall I would say that your impressions of this one will vary. I put it third in the listing of the MCU, behind Winter Soldier at 1, which is just an incredibly well crafted stand alone movie. It works as pure cinema above and beyond being a part of the MCU, and #2 being Avengers. GotG has the slightly better cast chemistry and better humor, but Avengers just nudges it out for reasons of being the big long desired payoff, landing it, and in a word LOKI. Guardians sits at third. But its a thin margin separating it from Avengers.

I agree with you about Gamora, but I also figured out something else:

Like you said about Drax, he completely sells his character. Gamora's character is trickier, though, because she does not play a single role: she is supposed to be this ruthless assassin, while also filling in as the beautiful and extremely feminine love interest for Quill. I think she does a fine job balancing those two, but by necessity it weakens her character, having to be intimidating and dominant while also being confused and vulnerable. Like you said, there is a lot expected of her, not just from prior roles but also within this movie itself. It's kind of an impossible task.

Your ranking of the top three is close to mine, except that I also feel like the first Iron Man belongs up there. Maybe. Other than the finale with Stane, nothing in that movie disappointed me, and it showed what Marvel could do as their own studio.

By the way, what is it with Marvel and their movie villains being letdowns?

I mean, they've been getting better--Cap 2 had plenty of good villainy

from several characters including Rumlow, Winter Soldier, and Pierce, not to mention Arnim Zola's flawless reappearance (figured I'd put a spoiler tag to be on the safe side)

, Ronan and Nebula were quite good in GOTG--and then there's Loki, who has been consistently good in his roles.

But other than that, I mean, Marvel has an amazing rogues' gallery yet their on-screen incarnations have tended to fall flat, particularly in the third act/finale. Stane, Whiplash, Killian, the Destroyer, Red Skull, Killian, Malekith (I really want to see what he was like before they wrote him out and wrote more Loki in), and Killian. Abomination was passable, but also forgettable.

I just hope Ultron rises to the occasion.

[David Thomsen]

Saw it today, it comes out in NZ on the 7th but there were a few early 3D screenings. I hate 3D, but I really didn't want to wait to see this film.

Yeah, I loved it, pretty much agree with other peoples' listings, third after Winter Soldier and Avengers. I found it more 'fun' than Winter Soldier, but I take WS more seriously as a 'film' rather than a piece of entertainment.

Spoilery thoughts:

I didn't mind Gamora so much as other people, my favourite moment with her was when Quill asked her to join in the 'dance off' at the end and despite being such a brave badass warrior, she's too scared to dance in front of other people, and it showed - she could have hidden behind a badass glare but she seemed genuinely scared, which was a nice touch. Also her line about 'pelvic sorcery'. Those were the two moments where her character felts slightly more 'real' to me.

Drax... I think I've read too many of the comics, where his character isn't obtuse like this, that it was kind of jarring for him to behave like this. Although I guess it made his character more fun than it would have been, and when I watch it a second time I'll accept the difference better. I felt like he was actually the weakest link, in that his character was a 'destroyer' but there were a couple of major fights that he just kind of lost. That and his call out to Ronan, he seemed more like a hindrance than an important part of the crew. I'm hoping he gets to be a bit more useful in the sequel.

Rocket & Groot... adorable. What else is there to say?

Peter Quill, absolutely brilliant. I keep remembering lines of his and laughing at them. I loved how he nobly saved Gamora from space, but instantly tried to turn it into a seduction technique, almost like for her to see how much he really cared would seem like too much of a weakness for him. And I did like how his character hit the ground running, I was so worried about him spending half the movie as a space rookie, kind of like John Crichton at the very beginning of Farscape.

Ronan, yes, much more compelling as a villain than Malekith, who was just disappointing. A bit sad to see him die in the end, if only because I wanted to see him play his turn as a good guy, like he does in the comics.

Howard the Duck... I was actually very disappointed, and so was the rest of the audience, by the reaction. I don't know anything about Howard the Duck, so I just didn't care. I was really hoping for a cameo from one of the Avengers at this point, although I'm not sure how they would have fit this in. Or they could have made Cosmo talk, like he does in the comic.

The humour seemed to hit home every time, the only time I felt it didn't was when Nebula was giving a speech and Drax shot her down, if only because I could actually see it coming. It's part of the vocabulary that Joss Whedon has introduced to films, and why I have reservations about him having so great an influence over the MCU - he used to push the boundaries, but now lives within the new boundaries he's established.

MY FAVOURITE BIT: The tower escape from the Kyln. I just didn't see it coming at all, and it was genuinely joyful when it happened, in a sort of 'George Clooney pulling off a major heist' kind of way. I hope someone does an MOC of the flying tower with the Guardians inside it.

WEIRD MOMENT: Meredith Quill's final dying gift to Peter is a mixtape. Really? It was cute and it fit in with the film, but really?

Edited August 2, 2014 by David Thomsen

[BrickG]

-spoilers-

Ronan was useless. As useless as the d00d I can't even remember the name of from Thor 2. As useless as most of the unmemorable villains.

Nebula had a bit more going on for her other than "I'm evil lol". I hope her character grows in more movies. Potential.

[Ultron]

Saw it today, it comes out in NZ on the 7th but there were a few early 3D screenings. I hate 3D, but I really didn't want to wait to see this film.

Yeah, I loved it, pretty much agree with other peoples' listings, third after Winter Soldier and Avengers. I found it more 'fun' than Winter Soldier, but I take WS more seriously as a 'film' rather than a piece of entertainment.

Spoilery thoughts:

I didn't mind Gamora so much as other people, my favourite moment with her was when Quill asked her to join in the 'dance off' at the end and despite being such a brave badass warrior, she's too scared to dance in front of other people, and it showed - she could have hidden behind a badass glare but she seemed genuinely scared, which was a nice touch. Also her line about 'pelvic sorcery'. Those were the two moments where her character felts slightly more 'real' to me.

Drax... I think I've read too many of the comics, where his character isn't obtuse like this, that it was kind of jarring for him to behave like this. Although I guess it made his character more fun than it would have been, and when I watch it a second time I'll accept the difference better. I felt like he was actually the weakest link, in that his character was a 'destroyer' but there were a couple of major fights that he just kind of lost. That and his call out to Ronan, he seemed more like a hindrance than an important part of the crew. I'm hoping he gets to be a bit more useful in the sequel.

Rocket & Groot... adorable. What else is there to say?

Peter Quill, absolutely brilliant. I keep remembering lines of his and laughing at them. I loved how he nobly saved Gamora from space, but instantly tried to turn it into a seduction technique, almost like for her to see how much he really cared would seem like too much of a weakness for him. And I did like how his character hit the ground running, I was so worried about him spending half the movie as a space rookie, kind of like John Crichton at the very beginning of Farscape.

Ronan, yes, much more compelling as a villain than Malekith, who was just disappointing. A bit sad to see him die in the end, if only because I wanted to see him play his turn as a good guy, like he does in the comics.

Howard the Duck... I was actually very disappointed, and so was the rest of the audience, by the reaction. I don't know anything about Howard the Duck, so I just didn't care. I was really hoping for a cameo from one of the Avengers at this point, although I'm not sure how they would have fit this in. Or they could have made Cosmo talk, like he does in the comic.

MY FAVOURITE BIT: The tower escape from the Kyln. I just didn't see it coming at all, and it was genuinely joyful when it happened, in a sort of 'George Clooney pulling off a major heist' kind of way. I hope someone does an MOC of the flying tower with the Guardians inside it.

WEIRD MOMENT: Meredith Quill's final dying gift to Peter is a mixtape. Really? It was cute and it fit in with the film, but really?

Didn't you catch the part where Quill said his mother made him a mix tape of all of her favorite music so she could share it with him? That's why he went back for it, because it's his remembrance of her. So her gift was a second volume. I thought it was sweet.

[TheRedGuy]

I actually liked Ronan, I think that maybe after Loki people's expectations went up? I don't recall many movies with memorable villains.

[Ultron]

-spoilers-

Ronan was useless. As useless as the d00d I can't even remember the name of from Thor 2. As useless as most of the unmemorable villains.

Nebula had a bit more going on for her other than "I'm evil lol". I hope her character grows in more movies. Potential.

I do think Ronan was a tad lame but he was far better than Malekith.

[just2good]

Great flick!

How annoying were the theater crowds when you saw Guardians of the Galaxy?

Pretty bad, actually. A guy behind me was like "oh they're gonna do this" or "called it!" throughout the movie, and a kid to my far left would make a mouth-fart sound every time there was an emotional scene.

[David Thomsen]

Didn't you catch the part where Quill said his mother made him a mix tape of all of her favorite music so she could share it with him? That's why he went back for it, because it's his remembrance of her. So her gift was a second volume. I thought it was sweet.

Yeah, I understood that was why he went back, but still... as a dying gift? Maybe a birthday gift, or a Christmas gift...

But yes, in spite of it being a very odd choice for a dying gift... I can't deny that it was sweet.

Regarding Ronan and Malekith being kind of lame, does anyone read Order of the Stick? I think of the villain Xykon from this comic as being the perfect example of a villain, in that he is given the same tropes that the heroes are and sometimes seems like an anti-protagonist rather than an antagonist... if that makes sense. Loki is the best example from the MCU, but unfortunately he can't be the villain in ALL of the films.

Pretty bad, actually. A guy behind me was like "oh they're gonna do this" or "called it!" throughout the movie, and a kid to my far left would make a mouth-fart sound every time there was an emotional scene.

Yeah, some kids to my right also liked to predict what was going to happen next, it didn't bother me too much though because I was often way ahead of them.

Edited August 2, 2014 by David Thomsen

[montgocloud]

I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy. It perfectly introduced people to the larger cosmic Marvel universe. However, I think it should have focused a bit more on Peter Quill and his strained relationship with his father. The movie was a coming-of-age story for that character, so leaving his father for the sequel seems really counterintuitive. But then again, Marvel used this movie as a setup for Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet, so Peter's father wouldn't really fit into the story. I’m really conflicted as to whether that’s a problem or not. But in the end, despite being unsure on the story, I thought the movie had a lot of heart and charm. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to see it again.

[BlueberryWaffles]

Everybody's throwing out their Marvel movie rankings so I thought I'd throw out mine.

#1: Guardians of the Galaxy

#2: Captain America 2

#3: Iron Man

[Faefrost]

I actually liked Ronan, I think that maybe after Loki people's expectations went up? I don't recall many movies with memorable villains.

Of the Marvel movies the best villains have been Loki, Red Skull and Arnim Zola and Robert Redford's Alexander Pierce. You understood the motivation in all of them they had depth. Sam Rockwell was kind of interesting and fun as Justin Hammer. You could see some potential there, but the movie didn't do anything with it. (He was better in the Mandarin prison short).

Of the rest? Iron Man's villains have mainly been meh. Malekith in Thor was a snooze fest. I think John Hurt actually was asleep himself while playing Thunderbolt Ross in Incredible Hulk. Ronan actually comes out pretty well on the list. He's a good well played generic villain. He doesn't seem erratic or badly written. It's just everything you see of him is him being evil. There is no nuance. No backstory (beyond who he has killed) no real sense of purpose. At least he wasn't mumbling through his lines like Mickey Roarke and Malekith.

DC has had much the same issue. In recent years they have 1 truly great villain. Heath Ledgers Joker, and the rest range from okay (Liam Neesons Ras Al Ghul) to laughable (Bane) to dear gods please make the pain stop and get it off the screen (Zod in Man of Steel).

I agree with you about Gamora, but I also figured out something else:

Like you said about Drax, he completely sells his character. Gamora's character is trickier, though, because she does not play a single role: she is supposed to be this ruthless assassin, while also filling in as the beautiful and extremely feminine love interest for Quill. I think she does a fine job balancing those two, but by necessity it weakens her character, having to be intimidating and dominant while also being confused and vulnerable. Like you said, there is a lot expected of her, not just from prior roles but also within this movie itself. It's kind of an impossible task.

Your ranking of the top three is close to mine, except that I also feel like the first Iron Man belongs up there. Maybe. Other than the finale with Stane, nothing in that movie disappointed me, and it showed what Marvel could do as their own studio.

By the way, what is it with Marvel and their movie villains being letdowns?

I mean, they've been getting better--Cap 2 had plenty of good villainy

from several characters including Rumlow, Winter Soldier, and Pierce, not to mention Arnim Zola's flawless reappearance (figured I'd put a spoiler tag to be on the safe side)

, Ronan and Nebula were quite good in GOTG--and then there's Loki, who has been consistently good in his roles.

But other than that, I mean, Marvel has an amazing rogues' gallery yet their on-screen incarnations have tended to fall flat, particularly in the third act/finale. Stane, Whiplash, Killian, the Destroyer, Red Skull, Killian, Malekith (I really want to see what he was like before they wrote him out and wrote more Loki in), and Killian. Abomination was passable, but also forgettable.

I just hope Ultron rises to the occasion.

About Gamora seemingly trying to fill 2 roles at once

Sadly that is not specific to the movie. That comes from another source, and it has a name Brian Michael Bendis. For almost all of the characters life she has been the badass most dangerous woman in the galaxy, and not really a romantic lead. And the last year Bendis got his hands on GotG, and softened her and made her more vulnerable. And that same disjointed feeling you get from her onscreen is there in the comics. Bendis is part of Marvels core creativity board that basically functions as the editors for the MCU. So his version is what we get.

[David Thomsen]

I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy. It perfectly introduced people to the larger cosmic Marvel universe. However, I think it should have focused a bit more on Peter Quill and his strained relationship with his father. The movie was a coming-of-age story for that character, so leaving his father for the sequel seems really counterintuitive.

I didn't feel the story was so much about coming-of-age, it was more about the team coming together. If anything, Peter Quill changed the least of anyone. Him and Groot. Rocket, Drax and Gamora all changed as they became part of the team. Peter Quill was willing from the very beginning to team up and encourage others to do the same. I think Rocket had to change the most, he felt the most disenfranchised by the Galaxy. I guess that makes it Rocket's story?

[Infernum]

Anyone know when new episodes of Agents of SHIELD start up?

[Mr Man]

Anyone know when new episodes of Agents of SHIELD start up?

September the 23^rd

[Savage Oppress]

Ranks of Movies:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2. The Avengers

3. Thor

4. Captain America

5. Iron Man 1

6. Iron Man 2

7. Iron Man 3

8. Thor: The Dark World

[Ultron]

Ranks of Movies:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

2. The Avengers

3. Thor

4. Captain America

5. Iron Man 1

6. Iron Man 2

7. Iron Man 3

8. Thor: The Dark World

Did you not like Guardians?

Mine:

1. The Avengers

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

4. Iron Man

5. Captain America: The First Avenger

6. Iron Man 3

7. Thor: The Dark World

8. Thor

9. Iron Man 2

10. Incredible Hulk- Although I like to pretend this one doesn't exist in the MCU.

-Also: I can't really choose between Winter Soldier and Avengers so they're pretty much tied for me. I was also tempted to put Age of Ultron for number one even though I haven't seen it