View Poll Results: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn)

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    22 78.57%
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Thread: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn)

  1. #26
    WTF with those SFX?
    Quote Quoting number8 (view post)
    Hey, they finally pulled it off! Young Kurt Russell was way less creepy than young RDJ or young Michael Douglas.
    I guess they blew up the entire budget there because the rest of the movie's effects (specially anything concerning Ego's planet) were Mortal Kombat Annihilation bad.
    Last edited by Philip J. Fry; 05-11-2017 at 10:13 PM.

  2. #27
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Philip J. Fry (view post)
    WTF with those SFX?
    I guess they blew up the entire budget there because the rest of the movie's effects (specially anything concerning Ego's planet) were Mortal Kombat Annihilation bad.
    o.O

  3. #28
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    mild yay? it worked more than it didn't but let someone else do the scripting, directing next time. this movie felt like it was too in love with itself to be a great film in any sense.

  4. #29
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
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    This series remains competently directed (and look, actual black tones, rather than the bleached-out grays), but this film feels like characters advanced in maturity in only infinitesimal ways, especially Drax (the biggest drain of Gunn over-indulging what made him memorable). I like many of the choices that Gunn makes regarding Samora and Nebula by the end, but wanted that to be far more of a middle act, with expanded actual payoff and resolution.

    Instead, there's interminable sequences with Starlord, who's more inert than he seemed in the past. At least Yondu gets some cool stuff by the end.

    And, though I'm by no means a prude, this featured more prostitute sex and death-by-arrow violence than I expected from a PG-13 film. So insulting that things like this are PG-13 and things like Don't Think Twice are stuck with an R because of pot smoking.
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  5. #30
    Yondu's arrow was way overpowered. I hated that whole sequence. Too easy.
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  6. #31
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    I saw this the best possible way, with my nerd friend and some concealed booze which caused me to make no less than two separate bathroom runs.

    It's a greats sequel! I don't think it surpasses the original because of its novelty and the first's tighter plotting but it sure tries its best. The presence of Stallone was surprising, I didn't know that was going to happen. There's a lot to take in about it, both visually and concept-wise. Loved the expanded role of Yondu and wish they hadn't killed him by the end.

  7. #32
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  8. #33

  9. #34

  10. #35
    Body Double Rico's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting dreamdead (view post)

    And, though I'm by no means a prude, this featured more prostitute sex and death-by-arrow violence than I expected from a PG-13 film.
    ...and yet I found it too kid friendly. Mostly I felt Disney dumbed-down the humor so that 8-year olds would get it. Basically two of the main characters (Groot and Drax) were just there for comic relief. Sometimes it still worked, but most of the time I found myself rolling my eyes when these two were on the screen.

  11. #36
    Body Double Rico's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    Just watched this. It pretty much covers all my grievances about the humor. But it also makes a good point about Yondu probably having the best send off of any MCU character. A character that I had never ever cared about before this movie. Like, I didn't even like him in the first movie and now I'm, "it's so sad to see him go."

    It does make me wonder how they will handle when some of the bigger name actors start getting older. RDJ can probably play Tony Stark forever, but there is a shelf life for Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth in those roles. Makes me excited thinking about the story lines if done right. The death of Thor or Steve Rogers. That is probably well down the line, but now I also worry they won't ever get to my favorite Avenger storylines (Kree-Skrull war, Red Zone, and maybe a time travel story were they bring back Ultron).

    It's crazy how I'm never fully fulfilled by these live action super hero movies (the animated tv shows are always better), but somehow they always get me excited for the next one.

  12. #37

  13. #38
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    I like Ellis and think her presentation is world's better than her FilmTuber peers ... but wow. She's approaching personal nemesis territory with this shit. It's like she doesn't know what she doesn't know. That wouldn't be a problem if I ever got the sense that she (or again, any of her peers) were intellectually curious and interested in doing hard research.

  14. #39
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    First I've heard of her.
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    Quote Quoting D_Davis (view post)
    Uwe Boll movies > all Marvel U movies
    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I work in grocery. I have not gotten sick. My fellow employees have not gotten sick. If the virus were even remotely as contagious as its being presented as, why haven’t entire store staffs who come into contact with hundreds of people per day, thousands per week, all falling ill in mass nationwide?

  15. #40
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    She pops up every now and again on Metafilter as sorta a safe bet. She isn't as aggressive or as fanboyish as her male peers (see this, where she jokingly describes herself as one of the "most known-of female reviewers on the internet").

  16. #41
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    I've followed her off and on for about the past decade now, since her Nostalgia Chick years. In that time, I've found her to be incredibly hit or miss, where sometimes she puts together really thought provoking videos, while others are just unbearably obnoxious. I found this particular one to be of the former variety. *shrug*

  17. #42
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    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    I've followed her off and on for about the past decade now, since her Nostalgia Chick years. In that time, I've found her to be incredibly hit or miss, where sometimes she puts together really thought provoking videos, while others are just unbearably obnoxious. I found this particular one to be of the former variety. *shrug*
    Yeah, you're way ahead of me. I had no idea her video production had a long and complicated history with the Nostalgia Critic and "Channel Awesome." I fell down a rabbit hole and came across some really bizarre videos, forum posts, tweets, and memes involving her. Most of it is weird ass GamerGater shit and little to do with the content of her videos.

    Part of me wants to nitpick the hell out of her dumb assumptions and lazy pseudo-scholarship. The other part is like "Dude, wtf, you're a grown man. Get a life."

  18. #43
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Henry Gale (view post)
    It all just feels like the story is waiting for Ego to unveil his true intentions and push the third act into something the Guardians need to come together to resolve, with way too much talking and fine but oddly static action in between (with a bit of a meaner streak this time around, particularly the stuff with Yondu & co.'s capture and escape).
    This is a lot where I was with the film. There's even one of those insufferable scenes where someone says, "I must tell you something, something important, it's about Ego, it's--" and then Gamora stomps in and blocks the plot.

    For some reason, the film also jumped abruptly, for me, from Ego-as-father-figure to Ego-as-despot. I wish the film could've presented a more convincing argument for why everybody else disappointed Ego so much. Maybe with a visible example? I get it, it's clear, his name is flippin' Ego, so it would always be an irrational leap into universal take-overy, but what if we'd actually seen fair reasons for his disappointment? You want to understand why he'd choose this course beyond simple, raw selfishness (or at least let that build as a plausible cover for his selfishness). The problem is that there's really nothing to think about regarding his greed. He's a shit. Full stop.

    And once he realizes how evil Ego is, Peter has no internal hesitance about taking him down and no lingering emotion over all the revelations. It's like he slides into "time to be awesome" without the weight of everything bearing down on him. While Guardians gives itself license to be more "quippy" than the other Marvel movies, with its band of misfits, I don't think the climax needed quite so many goofs (like the rock hitting Mantis, or Quill turning into a giant Pac-Man), as I would've liked to see more emotion given to Peter coming to terms with his father being the ultimate in paternal abandonment / selfishness. Even when Peter cries out, "You killed my mom!" before launching his first attack, he also has to add "And broke my walkman!" (paraphrase). Movie, you don't need that. You think you do, because FUN, but you don't.

    [Even so, it's funny how this lark generates so much more emotion out of "you killed my mom" than the inept Civil War.]

    Otherwise, I'll just echo what most are saying, with special attention paid to the nice B-plot with Gamora and Nebula, where you actually buy the fact that these two women could be fighting with full intention to kill while also breaking down lifelong emotional barriers that lead to some amount of reconciliation. It's preposterous, and I put a lot of that success on Karen Gillan, who explains her grievances with Gamora like she's been reciting it to herself for years, which gives us enough of a baseline that we understand why she's willing to shear off her ship's wings in pursuit of (Michael Palin voice) rev-v-v-eeennnge!

    Sidebar: It was sad when Yondu died, but they overdid it with the extended fireworks.

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  19. #44
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
    Sidebar: It was sad when Yondu died, but they overdid it with the extended fireworks.
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    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
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  20. #45
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting number8 (view post)
    Kevin Smith convinced himself there was heart in Batman v. Superman because he saw parademons.

  21. #46
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Similar to the first, this is good when it's grounded and a little more simple. Escaping from a prison cell, sister conflict,

    When it goes into "world ending / world exploding" territory, it's godawful.

    Nebula and Yondu are the best thing about the movie.

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  22. #47
    Scott of the Antarctic Milky Joe's Avatar
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    This was all about the ride. Phantasmic colors and 80s music and good vibes - plot be damned. To that end I thought this achieved that goal a lot better than the first one. I like Peng's 'drunk' description.

    Thumbs up.
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  23. #48
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    They really make these things more convoluted than they need to be. It's a lot of mumbo-jumbo at some point, but damn if this isn't a sweet-looking Marvel movie. Enjoyable and funny, up to a point.
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  24. #49
    Saw this and Thor: Ragnarok recently and found this to be far superior in all of the important ways and I don't really care about the other ways.

    I don't watch many of these superhero films so I do not care at all about the ridiculous stories except to the degree that the ridiculousness is the point, so the comedies always work best. What impressed me most about this film, as opposed to Thor: Ragnarok, was how the epic action scenes were often built to be primarily comedic, with the jokes-as-part-of-the-action making the action itself either part of the joke or a joke itself. This is something that Kung Fu Hustle does... and little else. Most of these "comedy-action films" take an action sequence, act as if there is a true risk of danger (there never is), and then interrupt the gravitas of the action to insert a joke. The first scene is a good example, if not the pinnacle of the film, where it is essentially just a "workmanlike" day at the office battling some incredibly dangerous looking monster, with each of the members contributing to the comedy of it all including baby Groot's irrelevance and incompetence. The scene is "filmed" almost as if it is a video game, but unlike a video game you know that there is no chance that the characters will lose, so instead of attempting to replicate the intensity of a video game the film simply ignores it and plays with the absurdity.

    There are some weakly plotted moments (the stupid arrow thing) and some cloying nonsense (people crying over something despite having little psychological issues after murdering a bunch of people - not really a shining moment of understanding human emotions) - but who cares? You can watch ten thousand films and never find comedy done as well as it is done in the best moments here, especially because the best minutes here are orchestrated in such a way that costs millions of dollars to achieve via camera movements and CGI and destruction and you simply aren't going to find it in a great Estonian comedy. You may find it in a great HK comedy, but only very, very rarely!

    I have to admit that the best moments were so overwhelmingly great that I would have to go back and rewatch with an eye to detail to remember all of the intricacies, but I was amazed watching parts of this, and the rest is worth the wait for the amazing parts.

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