Guardians of the Galaxy: Movie Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Username taken]

I'm not sure why they shouldn't call him Ronan the Accuser. 'Cause he's not "your" Ronan? Please. How long did it take Ronan to get fully fleshed out in the comics? Probably longer than an hour and a half worth of comic reading, I bet.

Agreed......

[Qwathings]

I would loved to see more of Ronan's character personality from the annihilation and Conquest days in the movie instead of his Roy Thomas personality. Plus a complex villains can be done just ask Zod in the MOS probably one of the few positives I enjoyed in the movie.

Personally, I didn't feel that Zod was complex. I don't feel like he was conflicted or had his motives properly examined. But I felt he worked well enough for what the movies creators wanted (screaming about hunting down a baby before being swallowed up by a giant phallus that rocketed him up into space, y'know, something dignified).

But these sorts of things are subjective. Personally, I would say that Ronan and Zod had parts to play in their stories, and they both played their parts well. Ronan's role simply required him to move the story forward without getting in its way. Some may want more out of Ronan, but that doesn't mean Ronan didn't perform his intended function well.

[THANOSRULES]

-Well Drax is being touted as one of the highlights of the movie, so you're definitely in the minority on that one. Personally, I loved him here.

-No, Gamora's motives were not rushed. Thanos slaughtered her people, tortured and experimented on her, and turned her into a living weapon. She ALWAYS hated him, as did Nebula. She just didn't think that she could get away. And she was ALREADY betraying him before the movie even started (she had already made the deal with the Collector BEFORE her first scene). So it wasn't "forced" it was just that YOU personally didn't like it. Those aren't the same thing. It wasn't hard to buy at all. Oh and Zoe's a good actress and I liked her as well.

-The reason for the change in Drax's origin made perfect sense. They were playing up the uniqueness of Quill being the only human (or half-human). So having this other guy also happen to be human undercuts that. Also, they didn't remove the Moondragon angle AT ALL. Given what were told, there's absolutely NO reason why she couldn't appear in the sequel. The ONLY real difference is that she'd be alien instead of human, but her basic character could still be the same.

-Where did they ever say that Quill's mom dying of cancer gives him MORE motivation, they didn't. Meredith's death in the comics was a really clichéd "woman in refrigerators" moment. Her dying on cancer accomplishes the same goal without resorting to such a lazy cliché/and it gives her a more dignified death.

-Because the Nova Corps are still using ships, just differently designed ones. It's no different than the Earth militaries using fighter planes or helicopters for example. And it's certainly a lot easier to sell to the GA than all of the Corpsmen flying around under their own power. You'd have had to take time out of the movie to explain how that works, and THAT would have been unnecessary as this isn't a Nova movie. Besides, given what happens in this movie, there's nothing to stop them from making the Corps more like the comics in the sequels, it'd be a pretty organic transformation. Glenn Close is always awesome and I wish that she'd have gotten more to do. And I'm not sure why the net thing was such a problem. It'd made sense in context and was working until Ronan used his Infinity Stone-powered Universal Weapon against them.

-I agree with you about Ronan and Nebula (wish she'd have gotten more to do, hopefully in the sequel).

Overall, a lot of your complaints seem to essentially boil down to "this isn't DnA's GOTG." And it was never going to be that, it was an amalgamation of multiple incarnations. That was made obvious by the marketing, so you should have known that going in. And as much as I love Avengers, the simple fact is that there was HUGE chunks of Avengers lore from the comics that weren't touched upon, just like this movie. And the plot to the Avengers wasn't anymore deep or complex than the plot to this movie, and this movie was definitely funnier than Avengers imo. There were times when I couldn't even hear the dialogue because everyone in my theatre was laughing so hard, it happened repeatedly over the course of the movie.

Yeah I cringed at every moment Bautista opened his mouth, so we are not going to see eye to eye there...I do realize somehow I just am not seeing what others see that this is a perfect movie. The only scene I liked with him was the knife sharpening bit with Groot. And FYI I have nothing against Bautista...I thought he was OK in the Riddick film. I don't think we even needed an explanation for Drax..and frankly ROnan showing up at Knowhere could have been done other ways easily.

As for the Nova corps...well we have all seen Star Lord has some cool tech, as of course did Iron man and his horde of Iron men in the movies....its not like it would need to be explained that much...it could easily have been tech based. On its own, it was a stylistic choice I could have supported if done better, but the Nova Corps look just came off as sloppy Cosplay at best...and these concept art ideas that are out seem so much better they really had some good ideas that did not make it on to screen...Reilly just looked a bit sloppy- I didn't love his character or his lines, and I am a huge fan of his. Again, Close's lines made me cringe. I'm sorry I don't know why...it just was terrible stuff with her.

Overall, a lot of your complaints seem to essentially boil down to "this isn't DnA's GOTG." And it was never going to be that, it was an amalgamation of multiple incarnations. That was made obvious by the marketing, so you should have known that going in. And as much as I love Avengers, the simple fact is that there was HUGE chunks of Avengers lore from the comics that weren't touched upon, just like this movie. And the plot to the Avengers wasn't anymore deep or complex than the plot to this movie, and this movie was definitely funnier than Avengers imo. There were times when I couldn't even hear the dialogue because everyone in my theatre was laughing so hard, it happened repeatedly over the course of the movie.

Well, like I said...much of the pre movie hype was that it did mostly use the DnA material as inspiration...frankly, I thought of this now as very marginal, however , It certainly did not spit on it. I did guess Star Lord was going to be much more silly and Ronan seemed far more evil, but you never truly know.

I did see echoes and "amalgams" of certain things like you say...but to me it doesn't change the fact that I felt Avengers was much truer and more confident of it's source material. The big fact the movie had to inject so much humor and satire to the tone showed to me an underlying unease with the palatability and potential mass appeal of marvel cosmic source material. I laughed real hard a lot too...which is why I enjoyed huge chunks of it and thought it was a decent flick...however It just had some flaws that need to be pointed out and discussed IMO.

[THANOSRULES]

Personally, I didn't feel that Zod was complex. I don't feel like he was conflicted or had his motives properly examined. But I felt he worked well enough for what the movies creators wanted (screaming about hunting down a baby before being swallowed up by a giant phallus that rocketed him up into space, y'know, something dignified).

But these sorts of things are subjective. Personally, I would say that Ronan and Zod had parts to play in their stories, and they both played their parts well. Ronan's role simply required him to move the story forward without getting in its way. Some may want more out of Ronan, but that doesn't mean Ronan didn't perform his intended function well.

I thought they did a better job of showing that Zod was essentially a formerly respected military and loyal mind that had lost his way. They set up he was friends with others and they had respected him. He also got to diatribe much more about the logic and internal (flawed) sense of his plan. Zod did come off as more complex to me...certainly more zealot like and more believable.

Ronan spouted some things about honor and judging every now and then but it just seemed a little forced and token. He was a little too simple for me as a character....but his visual and presence was pretty foreboding.

Ronan is a neat Marvel cosmic character and I kinda wished they had showed him with a different layer and potentially left his death vague. Plenty of villains are layered these days that audiences will buy...just look at Game of Thrones. Just would have given them more options in the future..

[Trevel8182]

My review...finally got the baby sitter

A surprising mixed reaction. Overall I enjoyed the film. I laughed, I marveled at the insanely well executed CGI and visuals, and I walked away feeling like I had seen a polished summer flick.

But there was a lot I felt could have been better and I didn’t love it. I did not really feel like i was seeing DnA or Starlin’s visions come alive on the screen. Overall I had a few problems that make me one of the ones who are not as high on this film as you might think.

First off, Bautista’s Drax was absolutely abysmal. I cringed at the dialogue ..and yes I know some of this was by design. But it didn’t work. He didn’t work and he dragged down the movie. I’m not going to harp on what he should have been, but I think Gunn should have used the Giffen riddick esque Drax..

Next we have Gamora. I didn’t have much problem with her, aside from the fact Saldana is just a terrible actress who can’t act well. I struggled with some of the visuals of her as Gamora as well. I would have preferred a bit more amoral version. As it was her change of morals and betrayal of Thanos was just kinda odd and came off as forced writing and rushed.



Both those characters really struggled and it was tough to not cringe. Bautista was the bigger problem, but luckily most everyone else did a good job. My personal favorite was Pond as Nebula. I was never a huge fan of DnA’ s Nebula, as I was always a fan of the Starlin space diva..but this won me over.

Some of the changes were just nonsensical. Drax’s origin didnt even need to be discussed. it was silly to write off a potential Moondragon etc. Not sure why Star Lord got more motivation from a mom who died from Cancer VS aliens.I’m not sure how i feel about the Thanos scene. It was not that bad..but he was a bit cheshire cat-ish? I don’t get why Ronan needed to be such a non complex villain..his comic counter part is so much more fascinating and he seemed so dummed down. Thats not my Ronan.

The big issue I had was the movie almost had too much humor and seemed embarrassed of its source material. While Whedon’s Avengers had me thinking “Wow that embraced the source material”..I thought more like this movie struggled hard to window dress it. It desperately tried to sass up the source material with comedy and tongue and cheek and ended up relentlessly making fun of it. And now this “cosmic” MCU world seems so intrinsically tied to this level of satire that it almost seems like it NEEDS it. It seems like a Nova centurion can not forevermore pop up without someone making a fart joke as well….and that’s not true to the source material I read that was touted as this movie’s inspiration. That’s a very different feel from the Avengers stuff and I think it should have been tempered a bit. I laughed my ass off and enjoyed most of it here…but I’m concerned it went a bit too far. There were certainly a few jokes I just thought missed..especially some of the Reilly stuff with the Nova corps.

I didn’t really care for the depiction of the Nova Corps. The costumes looked fairly cheap and did not satisfy. Glenn Close as Nova Prime was not up to snuff…some of the scenes with her during the vaunted final Ronan attack were just awkward. Again, I’m not sure why Nova corpsman flying up like little iron men to fight the Dark Aster would have been any more ridiculous than star shaped ships. I’m not sure really why them linking up to form a barrier was a good move or power to have. Just some awkward changes that didn’t need to made.

Overall 3/5 stars and a worthwhile summer flick , but no legendary film on the level of Avengers.

Good Write up write T. Here are some of my points as well as some agreements and disagreements with your review.

-I think Drax was probably my favorite character in the film.

-The whole prison section was definitely my favorite part of the film.

-I agree with you on Zoe Saldana. I just find her to be frigid, skinny, weak and Zombie like body to buy her as Gamora. Paula Patton would of been a much better choice.

-I agree with you on Ronan. He's just so weak and an embarrassment to his comic counterpart. The thing I hate the most is that this is now the definitive version of Ronan, such a
shame.

-I do agree with you one your points about Peters mother and am in awe of the insanity Punny is spewing in objection too your point, is kinda baffling(W.I.F......really?). I do understand why they went with that, because they wanted to emphasize the whole man child, learning to become an adult, escape to wonderland thing, and if he was fueled by "COSMIC VENGEANCE", it would really take away from all that, those two things just don't jive.

-Mars is the reason Zod sucks as a villain. Mars! He could of terraformed any planet in the solar system but instead he went with Earth because lazy writing. The second that scene ends, "in my opinion", he becomes a worse villain then Ronan.

My Nova Corps thoughts!

-Star-Prince lol

-Xandar is beautiful!

-Man! Those Nova Ships look badass that part where they made that sky net was AWESOME!

-No Worldmind, Zorr the Annihilator, Royal Family, reference, shout out, or cameo.....LAAAAMMMEE!

-Man! The Nova Corps armor looks like it's made of rubber, they look AWFUL!

-Did Quill have sex with Rhomann's wife.

-Man I really like the Nova Corps formal/casual wear, I'd love to see Rider sport something like that when he's not suited up, instead of just wearing his usual white v-neck

-Why is Glenn Close in this film? Her character really does nothing for the plot, they could of just made Rhomann Dey Nova Prime like he is in the comics, and given him more screen time.

-What did Rhomann Dey do exactly that justified him being promoted up two ranks?

-Why do they refer to him as Denarian(4 star) Dey at the end of the film when he's clearly wearing the Milenian symbol(3 star)

-Oh Garthan Saal! That's awesome I wonder if there planting roots early for him to become the Dark(5 minutes later).......never mind!

-Why does Rhomann Dey have a pink wife and kid? He's suppose to be this arbiter to Rider of all things Xandarian and having an non Xandarian wife and child is find kinda off putting, and I've always hoped that one of Dey's(either Rhomann or Adora) children would come back and play some huge role in Rider's life, either as an arch enemy or love interest and have them deal with the fact that they might be the last Xandarian, but with Rhomann's pink kid, and without Adora any were in sight, I don't see that happening. Maybe they could age down Adora and introduce her as a love interest to Rider.

-I remember the Nova Corps in FF 204 using wrist blasters, ships, and speeder bikes. Maybe Rider is like space Captain America and he is the first Nova to use the Nova Force powers like he was in the comics, and then he gave up his spark of the Nova Force to reignite the Worldmind who gave the Nova Force abilities to others. It was later retroactively retconned, and the Xandarians always had this power, and it might of been lost to them by the Worldmind being drained completely, or whatever organic source of the Nova Force before the Worldmind disappeared.

-The Nova Corps got the power gem at the end of the film, which could lead to Nova Force and the Worldmind being created or being brought back, hopefully the latter.

-You didn't like any of Rhomanns scenes? Not even his Rider shout out!?

"I'm an asshole, but I'm not 100% a dick.
-Rhomann Dey

Do you believe him?
-Irani Rael

“Well, I don't think ANYONE is %100 dick”
-Rhomann Dey

[stingnewell]

Personally, I didn't feel that Zod was complex. I don't feel like he was conflicted or had his motives properly examined. But I felt he worked well enough for what the movies creators wanted (screaming about hunting down a baby before being swallowed up by a giant phallus that rocketed him up into space, y'know, something dignified).

But these sorts of things are subjective. Personally, I would say that Ronan and Zod had parts to play in their stories, and they both played their parts well. Ronan's role simply required him to move the story forward without getting in its way. Some may want more out of Ronan, but that doesn't mean Ronan didn't perform his intended function well.

Oh yeah that you got point their I was more focused on Zod's motive in trying to bring his people back from extinction and how he despite know's the horrors he'll commit is just a product of his programming to save Krypton by zany means even over the other civilization. Course The movie also fell apart for Clark not bothering giving us why Clark couldn't tell him to use Mars. In truth its been awhile all those opinions tend to bleed in on themselves.

[R0NIN]

They should introduce the Nova Corps like this....
They established that if the gem fell to the ground it would annihilate all life on the planet, and that the gem is currently on Xandar. So in GotG 2 or a Nova movie, it would start with Thanos sending a fleet of ships to invade Xandar. During the fighting Thanos forces retrieve the gem from the safe, or it breaks open and falls to the ground, whatever, and it kills all life on Xandar. They only thing that survives is the Xandar World Mind that is a prototype intelligent A.I. that was supposed to act as an information center and dispatch for the Nova Corps. Before dying Nova Prime activate The World Mind emergency protocols recalling active Nova Corp guardsmen in the area. The World Mind then uses all of Xandar last few resources and technologies putting together the Nova Corps technology that makes the Nova Corps helmet and powers as we know them. Miniaturizing the gravimetric shield emitters that the ships used in GotG and putting them into the uniforms.

[THANOSRULES]

Good Write up write T. Here are some of my points as well as some agreements and disagreements with your review.

-I think Drax was probably my favorite character in the film.

-The whole prison section was definitely my favorite part of the film.

-I agree with you on Zoe Saldana. I just find her to be frigid, skinny, weak and Zombie like body to buy her as Gamora. Paula Patton would of been a much better choice.

-I agree with you on Ronan. He's just so weak and an embarrassment to his comic counterpart. The thing I hate the most is that this is now the definitive version of Ronan, such a
shame.

-I do agree with you one your points about Peters mother and am in awe of the insanity Punny is spewing in objection too your point, is kinda baffling(W.I.F......really?). I do understand why they went with that, because they wanted to emphasize the whole man child, learning to become an adult, escape to wonderland thing, and if he was fueled by "COSMIC VENGEANCE", it would really take away from all that, those two things just don't jive.

-Mars is the reason Zod sucks as a villain. Mars! He could of terraformed any planet in the solar system but instead he went with Earth because lazy writing. The second that scene ends, "in my opinion", he becomes a worse villain then Ronan.

My Nova Corps thoughts!

-Star-Prince lol

-Xandar is beautiful!

-Man! Those Nova Ships look badass that part where they made that sky net was AWESOME!

-No Worldmind, Zorr the Annihilator, Royal Family, reference, shout out, or cameo.....LAAAAMMMEE!

-Man! The Nova Corps armor looks like it's made of rubber, they look AWFUL!

-Did Quill have sex with Rhomann's wife.

-Man I really like the Nova Corps formal/casual wear, I'd love to see Rider sport something like that when he's not suited up, instead of just wearing his usual white v-neck

-Why is Glenn Close in this film? Her character really does nothing for the plot, they could of just made Rhomann Dey Nova Prime like he is in the comics, and given him more screen time.

-What did Rhomann Dey do exactly that justified him being promoted up two ranks?

-Why do they refer to him as Denarian(4 star) Dey at the end of the film when he's clearly wearing the Milenian symbol(3 star)

-Oh Garthan Saal! That's awesome I wonder if there planting roots early for him to become the Dark(5 minutes later).......never mind!

-Why does Rhomann Dey have a pink wife and kid? He's suppose to be this arbiter to Rider of all things Xandarian and having an non Xandarian wife and child is find kinda off putting, and I've always hoped that one of Dey's(either Rhomann or Adora) children would come back and play some huge role in Rider's life, either as an arch enemy or love interest and have them deal with the fact that they might be the last Xandarian, but with Rhomann's pink kid, and without Adora any were in sight, I don't see that happening. Maybe they could age down Adora and introduce her as a love interest to Rider.

-I remember the Nova Corps in FF 204 using wrist blasters, ships, and speeder bikes. Maybe Rider is like space Captain America and he is the first Nova to use the Nova Force powers like he was in the comics, and then he gave up his spark of the Nova Force to reignite the Worldmind who gave the Nova Force abilities to others. It was later retroactively retconned, and the Xandarians always had this power, and it might of been lost to them by the Worldmind being drained completely, or whatever organic source of the Nova Force before the Worldmind disappeared.

-The Nova Corps got the power gem at the end of the film, which could lead to Nova Force and the Worldmind being created or being brought back, hopefully the latter.

-You didn't like any of Rhomanns scenes? Not even his Rider shout out!?

"I'm an asshole, but I'm not 100% a dick.
-Rhomann Dey

Do you believe him?
-Irani Rael

“Well, I don't think ANYONE is %100 dick”
-Rhomann Dey

sorry trev, that scene in bold was one of the ones i diddtn like..! I just thought it came off as cheesy.

-Why does Rhomann Dey have a pink wife and kid? He's suppose to be this arbiter to Rider of all things Xandarian and having an non Xandarian wife and child is find kinda off putting, and I've always hoped that one of Dey's(either Rhomann or Adora) children would come back and play some huge role in Rider's life, either as an arch enemy or love interest and have them deal with the fact that they might be the last Xandarian, but with Rhomann's pink kid, and without Adora any were in sight, I don't see that happening. Maybe they could age down Adora and introduce her as a love interest to Rider.

I didn't see much into that...I liked the pink folks just fine..I'm not sure what real ramifications it would have. Xandar's probably a goner next movie at the hands of Nebula or Thanos right?

I would have preferred the Riddick Drax...the team needed a psycho professional killer type and Drax just came off like a goof. Drax was kinda case and point of my belief the film went too far making fun of its source material...even though that was sorta how the OG drax talked, it didnt translate to film. (Or Bautista couldnt pull it off)

Loved that prison scene...laughed hard about the leg joke and Groot getting the power cell...so well done..they thoroughly nailed Rocket and Groot and that is NOT debatable. Would have liked a few more easter eggs in the Kyln..but thats just the geek in me.

Mars is the reason Zod sucks as a villain. Mars! He could of terraformed any planet in the solar system but instead he went with Earth because lazy writing. The second that scene ends, "in my opinion", he becomes a worse villain then Ronan.

Maybe, but we didn't know just how the machine worked and what it needed to go. Look at a size difference between Mars and Earth...its significantly smaller (Venus is closer in size) I personally thought the concept of adding that much physical mass to the planet dumb...that would take massive amounts of energy.

[THANOSRULES]

They should introduce the Nova Corps like this....
They established that if the gem fell to the ground it would annihilate all life on the planet, and that the gem is currently on Xandar. So in GotG 2 or a Nova movie, it would start with Thanos sending a fleet of ships to invade Xandar. During the fighting Thanos forces retrieve the gem from the safe, or it breaks open and falls to the ground, whatever, and it kills all life on Xandar. They only thing that survives is the Xandar World Mind that is a prototype intelligent A.I. that was supposed to act as an information center and dispatch for the Nova Corps. Before dying Nova Prime activate The World Mind emergency protocols recalling active Nova Corp guardsmen in the area. The World Mind then uses all of Xandar last few resources and technologies putting together the Nova Corps technology that makes the Nova Corps helmet and powers as we know them. Miniaturizing the gravimetric shield emitters that the ships used in GotG and putting them into the uniforms.

or they could just hire Tony Stark? On a planet thousands of years behind them in tech capabilities?

[just another user]

To all the people saying "they should have done this", "they should have done that" - are you aware this movie is a massive commercial and critical success?

[MJ Tanner]

They should introduce the Nova Corps like this....
They established that if the gem fell to the ground it would annihilate all life on the planet, and that the gem is currently on Xandar. So in GotG 2 or a Nova movie, it would start with Thanos sending a fleet of ships to invade Xandar. During the fighting Thanos forces retrieve the gem from the safe, or it breaks open and falls to the ground, whatever, and it kills all life on Xandar. They only thing that survives is the Xandar World Mind that is a prototype intelligent A.I. that was supposed to act as an information center and dispatch for the Nova Corps. Before dying Nova Prime activate The World Mind emergency protocols recalling active Nova Corp guardsmen in the area. The World Mind then uses all of Xandar last few resources and technologies putting together the Nova Corps technology that makes the Nova Corps helmet and powers as we know them. Miniaturizing the gravimetric shield emitters that the ships used in GotG and putting them into the uniforms.

This was my idea as well--a little "Last Starfighter"y, but it would work to make Nova a singular hero in the MCU.

[Ceebiro]

I'm not sure why they shouldn't call him Ronan the Accuser. 'Cause he's not "your" Ronan? Please. How long did it take Ronan to get fully fleshed out in the comics? Probably longer than an hour and a half worth of comic reading, I bet.

People do seem to have forgotten that Ronan being a well-rounded character is a fairly recent development.

[THANOSRULES]

To all the people saying "they should have done this", "they should have done that" - are you aware this movie is a massive commercial and critical success?

So was Grown ups..

[THANOSRULES]

People do seem to have forgotten that Ronan being a well-rounded character is a fairly recent development.

But always an honor obsessed loyal dog of the Kree Empire who would never work for Thanos willingly or have such overtly nefarious intentions.

[cyberhubbs]

So was Grown ups..

Meaning someone enjoyed it. Usually what a movie strives to do. Get butts in the seats. And in this case, multiple times.

Not too shabby.