Ooooh. Okay, I will start off by saying that I enjoyed a great deal of it, including most of the things you did :)
Rant-wise, I have to admit that reading the first part, there were a lot of 'whooshing' noises as things flew madly over my head - I haven't seen The Winter Soldier, and did not see this as a metaphor for anything in particular (not saying it wasn't), although I did think it was odd - as you mention - that Nova Corps was instinctively trusted by people you'd think would have little reason to trust them.
But this line is spot on: Guardians loves big, thoughtless action or stupidity jammed right next to moments that should have been sentimental but are instantly cheapened when you think about context.
Or the way I saw it, tonally all over the damn place. It veered around variously stopping at genuine sentiment, cheap jokes, excellent music, cheap sentiment, genuine jokes, cheesy music, and blowing things up. In that respect, it's the most tonally erratic movie I've seen for ages. The part I hated most, which you also noted - Groot spearing the soldiers (I didn't see him as playing with them so much as using them to kill the other half), and then smiling happily. This is the same Groot who looked horrified at the lizard-eat-lizard game. So, some things and people are 'valued', and should be mourned, while others are 'non-valued', and can be killed with impunity and joy. That reeeally bothered me, and was part of the whole 'tone' issue as well. What kind of people are these meant to be, exactly - warm-hearted heroes, reluctant Do What Must Be Done types, or 'walk over your cold corpses'? Sometimes it was difficult to tell. Also the "romance" was COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. SIGH. I hear you on the bro-humour as well.
Best things about this movie - the tree, the raccoon, and the lead human. In that order :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-08-12 12:03 pm (UTC)Rant-wise, I have to admit that reading the first part, there were a lot of 'whooshing' noises as things flew madly over my head - I haven't seen The Winter Soldier, and did not see this as a metaphor for anything in particular (not saying it wasn't), although I did think it was odd - as you mention - that Nova Corps was instinctively trusted by people you'd think would have little reason to trust them.
But this line is spot on: Guardians loves big, thoughtless action or stupidity jammed right next to moments that should have been sentimental but are instantly cheapened when you think about context.
Or the way I saw it, tonally all over the damn place. It veered around variously stopping at genuine sentiment, cheap jokes, excellent music, cheap sentiment, genuine jokes, cheesy music, and blowing things up. In that respect, it's the most tonally erratic movie I've seen for ages. The part I hated most, which you also noted - Groot spearing the soldiers (I didn't see him as playing with them so much as using them to kill the other half), and then smiling happily. This is the same Groot who looked horrified at the lizard-eat-lizard game. So, some things and people are 'valued', and should be mourned, while others are 'non-valued', and can be killed with impunity and joy. That reeeally bothered me, and was part of the whole 'tone' issue as well. What kind of people are these meant to be, exactly - warm-hearted heroes, reluctant Do What Must Be Done types, or 'walk over your cold corpses'? Sometimes it was difficult to tell. Also the "romance" was COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. SIGH. I hear you on the bro-humour as well.
Best things about this movie - the tree, the raccoon, and the lead human. In that order :)