Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy take advantage of the fact that people love galactic soap operas and don’t worry about the rest, and it is given to them because they belong to the Marvel universe. In other words, one thing is not true of this film: it really is not subversive. The film always smirks slightly at the right time, but that doesn't change the fact that it takes full advantage of the potential of cosmic heroic sagas and Marvel hubs. Its humor is similarly superficial as the choice of 70's musical hits, but it works as a well-trodden galactic sitcom with excellent characters, and even in serious moments it seriously entices as a "superhero" spectacle (it got to me 2 times with the pure essence of heroic pathos, only to then laugh at myself along with the heroes). It's touchingly childish, yet very adult self-aware. And calculated to the last detail. When it comes to Marvel films, they simply know. Years ahead of the competition. [75%] (2014-08-07)

Hit me over the head with an Orb, but this well-shot but desperately unimaginative action should have been saved by an unconventional group of superheroes, and yet they sprinkle the witty dialogue in there so stiffly that I wondered if I was in another galactic quadrant; or how important it is to have a solo act. (2014-11-17)

The movie’s characters are a bunch of unconventional heroes with believable team chemistry, who do not take themselves too seriously and are played with gusto. Chris Pratt, whose star is on the rise, is a super cool guy, Zoe Saldana would be sexy in any color and Groot is too cute for words. The plot is a total cliché, but the relaxed mood of the film, which shows that nothing is meant seriously, makes that fact less grating. However, I was unpleasantly surprised by the lameness of most of the jokes. Hilarious, imaginative catchphrases with a lot of pop-culture references, were supposed to be the main attraction of the film, and there are almost none of those. Even Seth MacFarlane had more in his recent, rather inane A Million Ways to Die in the West. The crucial scene is foiled by Tyler Bates’ inability to compose an escalating melodic musical theme. The technical aspect is, however, perfect. (2014-08-07)

Okay, so at first I thought I'd just switch off and enjoy this popcorn movie. It was going well, but then I ran out of popcorn in the first half and started to focus more on the movie. The music was great, no question about it, so it gets a star for that. The other star is for a successful joke here and there, for some pretty good effects that look like every other Marvel movie or Michael Bay movie... Unfortunately, I got bored from the middle onwards, suddenly this Star Wars parody, which at times played at being more than a parody, lost the charm it had at the beginning. It was like I suddenly woke up from hypnosis. Even though it wasn't New York that was being destroyed, but a city that looked like an amusement park, it oozed American patriotism and the kind of stuff that makes my teeth ache. Of course, some people don't mind it, some people enjoy it and all that. But I'm a bit of a curmudgeon, and I just rolled my eyes for the last half hour. I went to the cinema expecting to be entertained (the ovation on FilmBooster really got me hooked), only to get the same thing I've gotten in other Marvel movies and other American movies where XY is being saved (XY = Earth, the USA, the president’s daughter, Beetle Baggins, ...), and I just wasn't entertained. Yup, my brain. I just didn't want to turn it off and be entertained. So we get a cynical raccoon, we get Prince Hardbody, we got the girl from Avatar, only painted green instead of blue, we got a tree who has the biggest heart out of all of them, and we got a tattooed typhoon who lost his family but found a friend. We've got such a cool crew that you're just guaranteed to have fun, of course!! (2014-08-02)

An unforgivable waste of potential. The most entertaining (because it’s the most crackpot, most absurd and the biggest sneer at classic superhero team movies) Marvel squad movie whose wings have been clipped by being grafted onto the standard template of an endless stream of Marvel movies “putting our money only on the tried and tested"; this time dressed up as a space opera with shamefully unremarkable action. Although they should have chosen a rather more revolutionary approach to the material. Maybe some time in the future; maybe with that already cult character from the post-credits scene. (2014-07-31)