Guardians of the Galaxy
That was fun! Not one of the top movies in the franchise, but definitely fun. It it was kind of kind of a refreshing change to step away from Earth and the Avengers.
Between the movie first being announced and watching the trailer a couple dozen times, I went from "meh" on this movie to being quite excited about it, but I still didn't have many expectations. Of my few expectations, some were exceeded and some fell short.
Gamora was completely my favorite, but I liked the others a lot more than I thought I would. The thing is, watching the trailer, none of the characters struck me. I was actually expecting to dislike Rocket. Part of it was how tailored he seemed to be to be a fan favorite. He's cute, but crude and vulgar! It's funny! Honestly, that's a kind of character I usually fine tiresome anyway. Don't get me wrong, I like my rogues. But I like charming, classy rogues. (Moist von Lipwig, Neal Caffrey, the Leverage team.) The prequel comic didn't endear him to me either. But I liked Rocket! And I liked Drax, who didn't come across in the promos as having much personality. I liked Groot, who I expected to bore me. I mean, he has one line. But the creators managed to give him personality. I wasn't sure about Peter beforehand, but, yep, liked him too.
Still, Gamora is my girl.
Is this the first time we've had a serious female villain? I can't think of one before this. Yes, there was Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3, but she came across as more of a pawn. (Opinions may vary.) I really wish we had had more of Nebula, as well as more of her relationship with Gamora. The prequel comic, if it's meant to be canon, helps with this, but I wanted it in the movie. I really thought there would be more Nebula.
The soundtrack was gold. I wouldn't want more movies to follow suit though. It worked for this movie, and really helped keep the tone they wanted. Also, it largely worked because it was a quirky, unique decision.
I felt there were a few slight pacing problems, but that's likely subjective. I felt like it might have made sense for the team to take a little longer to come together.
I was expecting there to be more romance, but while there were a few hints, it was left on hold. Which I thought was good. Hooking up Gamora and Peter wouldn't have been horrible, but it would have felt rushed. Which, hey, Jane/Thor happened super fast, and I love them, but still. I prefer the slow burn, if they end up going there at all.
I loved the teamy ending, and the way it called back to the previous group who had tried to channel the stone.
Unfortunately, I have more specific complaints than specific happy things. I really did like it, but it was more of a general enjoyment, whereas my issues with the movie can get specific.
Up until now I've always thought the the MCU movies did a really good job of standing on their own. One didn't need comics knowledge for them to work. This one, well, it's not that it didn't work, but I kept getting the nagging sense I was missing something. Some of it is undoubtedly being saved for future movies, such as Thanos and Peter's dad. (I know a little bit about that from the Captain Marvel comics, which honestly doesn't help with my confusion.) But other stuff, especially Gamora and Nebula just feels incomplete. Why is Gamora willing to betray Thanos and Ronan? What happened to make her a better person that she was raised to be? Drex's motivation is easily explained, as is Rocket and Groot's. Peter is examined throughout the film. Gamora gets the shaft. And, from what I've heard, she's getting left out of merchandise too. It's Black Widow all over again. Though at least I felt like the Avengers cared about Natasha's character as much as the guys.
Also, yeah, several dead women making up the backstory. Peter's mom and Drax's wife and daughter. This definitely wasn't Marvel's best movie in terms of gender. (Nor race. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember any characters of color who weren't villains. And I don't mean green, blue, or red.)
I've seen discussion of the misogynistic language on Tumblr, so, hey, I'll weigh in. I wasn't happy with Drax calling Gamora a whore. It doesn't seem right for him, given it's established that he's extremely literal. Would he really realize that "whore" is a generic slur for a woman? And either way, why that damn word? Isn't the fact that she's a killer who has worked for Drax's mortal enemy more important? Killer, monster, whatever, there are other thins he could have called her that would have gotten the point across. And while I do think Peter calling Ronan a bitch was in character for him, there are other words and phrasings that would have also been in character. Especially since this was an awesome moment (really, it was) that will probably be quoted and repeated.
I know a lot of people see this as overreacting, but I'm personally very concerned with the easy way we use misogynistic language.
Then again, at least Peter is a hero who was doing something genuinely heroic, so if people do latch on to that line, there will at least be some reason for it. It won't be like the way so many fans have droolingly latched onto Loki's "mewling quim" line the Avengers. Because nothing says sexy and awesome like attempting to degrade and belittle women. (I say attempting, because, really, the entire point of the scene was that she beat him at his own game, and he couldn't bring her down.)
(Tangent time that barely belongs in this review: I'm not judging people for finding degrading/objectifying language sexy. It's a common turn on. But that doesn't mean a character is awesome for doing it. It's like, I'm attracted to woman, so if Natasha went the whole movie in skimpy outfit, that might be sexy to me out of context. But it would be horribly offensive in context. If you want to imagine Loki calling you a mewling quim, be my guest. Just please don't think it makes him cool.)
But that's a crap way to end this review! While the movie is far away from the concerns of Earth and Asgard, we can see the ties binding it to the larger universe, and I look forward to seeing how that develops. And I really did like it a lot, even if seems like I didn't.
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