Guardians of the Galaxy What you didn't like about Guardians of the Galaxy - Flaws/Critiques

[Naked Shia]

I was liking the movie, then I realized how much of a plot hole the battery of the walkman was, and then I hated the movie. I won't watch the sequel now.

 

[kedrell]

 

[FortyMedusa]

The post credit scene was my only niggle tbh. I wanted something more.

 

[fixxxer]

I was liking the movie, then I realized how much of a plot hole the battery of the walkman was, and then I hated the movie. I won't watch the sequel now.

LOL. Yea, that complaint was all over the internet when the movie just premiered.

"In this movie we have laser-based weaponry, the colonization of space, interstellar travel... but the science behind the AA battery is beyond us all!"

 

[MissStreelight]

Based on all the hype around GOTG, I expected a lot more from this film. I'm honestly surprised how much it just fell flat for me. The heart of the movie of course is Starlord's relationship with his mother, but I didn't really feel like the story properly established a solid foundation for it. A few minutes in the opening sequence of his mother dying and then the story hardly dwells on her after that. I really wanted to get a more solid sense of how it affected Starlord.

I will say though, that when the story does use his mother, it does so pretty effectively, especially at the climax where he sees his mother offering him her hand again.

The sisters Gamora and Nebula are another undeveloped aspect of the movie, in my opinion. The way Gamora kept appealing to Nebula as her sister made me think that there was supposed to be something more to their relationship than merely hero and antagonist (reminded me of Thor and Loki, a bit), but the story never really elaborated on that. I wanted to see more emotion and depth in their relationship!

Also, the romance between Gamora and Starlord felt rushed to me, but for MCU movies that's standard, I guess (Thor and Jane, Steve and Peggy to a lesser extent). I always find myself going wow giving up his life for her already and they just met and had a couple of interactions.

I hope this review doesn't come off too negative. I thought that the movie had some good material to work with:
Starlord who lost his mother, home and family, now basically a wanderer and intergalactic thug, finds his way back "home" to his mother through a selfless cause and through his friends (and Gamora). Gamora who lived her life among enemies makes an escape and loses her sister in the process while finding a new home and family. The relationship between Yondu and Quill was...interesting. I wanted to see more of that, to get an idea of what it must have been like for a boy devastated by his mother's death to be abducted by Yondu right after. On one hand, Yondu seemed mostly coarse and violent/abusive, but at times he seemed to have some feeling for Quill as his boy.

Aside from the action scenes and humor boring me, I guess I could sum up my problems with GOTG by saying that the characters and their relationships just felt overall underdeveloped.

 

[The Endless]

I liked when Starlord saved Gamora. I don't think it was a romance thing. It was just Quill doing something "incredibly heroic" as he put it. He'd have done the same for Rocket, or Groot, or Drax.

I was disappointed with the Gamora/Nebula thing. There definitely was an animosity between them, but it would have been nice to have more development for it. But then, this wasn't a solo Gamora film.

 

[MissStreelight]

I liked when Starlord saved Gamora. I don't think it was a romance thing. It was just Quill doing something "incredibly heroic" as he put it. He'd have done the same for Rocket, or Groot, or Drax.

I was disappointed with the Gamora/Nebula thing. There definitely was an animosity between them, but it would have been nice to have more development for it. But then, this wasn't a solo Gamora film.

That's a good point. I wonder why it didn't occur to me ahah xD I still think the romance was rushed overall though.

 

[fixxxer]

I don't think it was a romance at all. Neither in intention nor execution. Yes, there was some mutual attraction there, as is often the case when two single attractive people are thrown together by circumstance. But hardly a romance. Despite the attraction, in the end, the important aspect of their relationship was that they were teammates, not possible/probable lovers. I thought the Gamora/Star-Lord relationship was really well illustrated by Gunn, with restraint and nuance. I really see it as a strength rather than a flaw.

I too thought the Gamora/Nebula relationship could have been afforded a little more screen time, but considering where we meet Gamora, i.e. after she went rogue on Thanos' twisted little family, I don't think the opportunity was there. Maybe we could've gotten a flashback scene... but even that is tricky in that it could easily derail the forward momentum of the movie. All things considered, I give Gunn a pass on this as well.

I disagree about the Star-Lord/mom and Star-Lord/Yondu relationships as well. On the former, I don't think spending more time on Star-Lord's life as a child have added much. Neither in terms of pushing the plot forward nor in terms of emotional resonance. The connection Star-Lord feels to his mom literally resonates throughout the movie. I have similar feelings on the latter as well. The Yondu/Star-Lord relationship was pitch perfect IMO. Yondu's crew and especially Yondu himself are basically evil, selfish, cut-throat, classic villains. Yet, we see the inkling of begrudging tenderness and pride that lurks beneath in his interactions with Star-Lord... wonderful shorthand for the years spent raising, caring for, and more importantly, not eating Star-Lord. It's that tenderness and pride that makes someone who, for all practical purposes, is one evil SOB, perform actions that are absolutely heroic in the end. Even in his last scene, when he figures out that he's been duped by Star-Lord with the ol' troll-doll-switcheroo, even though he ought to be livid with rage, it's his pride in Peter Quill that shines through as his primary emotion. I thought it was wonderful.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Well, I have finally watched GOTO on the In Demand channel. For the most part I liked it but with all movies I do have some things I didn't like.

1.) Howard the Duck of course is not something I thought would be a good thing to end the movie. I mean they tried to make a movie with a less abrasive take on the character and that failed spectacularly. And this...thing they teased us with a the end of the credits is horrifying to me. I cannot believe they want to make another solo movie for this character.

2.) Yondu - Hear me out. I was a bit disappointed with how they portrayed Yondu in this movie. Put it this way a good 'ole boy redneck accent is not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this character.

Seriously does this...

...scream unwashed Hillbilly to you? I think they got the casting mixed up here. I'm sure the actor who played Yondu is a great guy but I felt that Djimon Hounsou should have been playing Yondu instead.

 

[Visualiza]

Well, I have finally watched GOTO on the In Demand channel. For the most part I liked it but with all movies I do have some things I didn't like.

1.) Howard the Duck of course is not something I thought would be a good thing to end the movie. I mean they tried to make a movie with a less abrasive take on the character and that failed spectacularly. And this...thing they teased us with a the end of the credits is horrifying to me. I cannot believe they want to make another solo movie for this character.

2.) Yondu - Hear me out. I was a bit disappointed with how they portrayed Yondu in this movie. Put it this way a good 'ole boy redneck accent is not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of this character.

Seriously does this...

...scream unwashed Hillbilly to you? I think they got the casting mixed up here. I'm sure the actor who played Yondu is a great guy but I felt that Djimon Hounsou should have been playing Yondu instead.

I felt like I was the *only* person who felt this way about Yondu, but he wasn't the only character that fell victim to this. Quite a few of the characters seemed more as if they written for the actors portraying them than anything else. Yondu is probably the most appropriate example, but it applies to Drax and Gamora as well.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Gamora was way too nice. maybe she's had periods like that in the comics but I would have preferred someone with a much harder edge and nastier temperament.

 

[Visualiza]

^Likewise. ScarJo's BW is closer to what I'd have wanted than what we got.

 

[Godzilla2000]

I felt like I was the *only* person who felt this way about Yondu, but he wasn't the only character that fell victim to this. Quite a few of the characters seemed more as if they written for the actors portraying them than anything else. Yondu is probably the most appropriate example, but it applies to Drax and Gamora as well.

I guess it's too late to redo the character of Yondu, but like I said a stereotypical country Hick is not how I read Yondu as being when I used to pick up issues of the New Guardians of the Galaxy comics back in the 90's. I saw him as a noble warrior. Like I said I think Djimon Honsou fits my image of Yondu better than what they gave us. To me Yondu should be like a stoic African warrior with a bow, not some Larry the Cable Guy like stereotype. I've been thinking that this is a Yondu but not the Yondu I know. He could be a relative of the Yondu I'm familiar with who just grew attached to Terran cowboys through Nova's influence.

Gamora was way too nice. maybe she's had periods like that in the comics but I would have preferred someone with a much harder edge and nastier temperament.

This is the issue I have with a lot of current Marvel movies. It seems to me like they are too afraid of having characters be too dark like it will scare people or something. Me, I have always loved the dark anti-hero characters in the comics like Azrael, Wolverine and Venom because their brutality is just so much more interesting than bland, honorable heroic behaviors most characters are imbued with. That and Marvel just chickens out on the more dramatically powerful character arcs like Tony Stark's alcohol addictions. Even the Raimi Spider-man movies never delved into Harry's drug addiction. It's like their too afraid of exploring the negative side of things and that it's all "fun, fun, fun, party, party, party!" all the time. Marvel is hesitant to show real suffering and permanent consequences. Maybe Age of Ultron will be different and we will see some real suffering at the hands of Ultron. Call me crazy but I do love seeing negativity and torment in my comic movies because it balances out the cotton candy humor if paced and implemented well. When you're dealing with violent, apathetic, evil characters like Thanos who doesn't care about anything but Lady Death you can't always have him surrounded by light humor. He kills just for his own selfish reasons. You can't and shouldn't put him in a humorous situation because his character does not demand it. There's nothing funny about a psychopath who just wants to see every living creature in the universe burn.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I just call him Space Merle.

 

[Milu]

1.) Howard the Duck of course is not something I thought would be a good thing to end the movie. I mean they tried to make a movie with a less abrasive take on the character and that failed spectacularly. And this...thing they teased us with a the end of the credits is horrifying to me. I cannot believe they want to make another solo movie for this character.

There won't be another solo for Howard the Duck.

 

[Godzilla2000]

There won't be another solo for Howard the Duck.

I'm glad it's just a rumor then. One movie was one movie too much. It was a movie so bad not even George Lucas will talk about it. In fact I wonder if there is someone that made it who will talk about it.

Besides, there's not much you can really do with a walking, talking anthropomorphic duck anyway. Howard falls under the same category as Ghost Rider IMHO, in that they're gimmick characters with not much substance. I mean Ghost Rider looks cool and all but that's about it, you can't really stretch out his character arc for several movies in a franchise. And Howard as presented in GOTG is just Rocket Raccoon but as a Duck without the useful skills.

 

[Naked Shia]

Wat are you babbling about? Howard the duck is the best marvel movie yet.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Wat are you babbling about? Howard the duck is the best marvel movie yet.

Oh forgive me. I totally forgot all about how awesome the blatant bestiality was.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Oh forgive me. I totally forgot all about how awesome the blatant bestiality was.

Howard is from another dimension so technically bestiality isn't the correct term. Sex with an alien would be more accurate. Xeniality?

 

[Dragon]

Gamora. Seriously, Zoe Saldana is a terrible actress. Everytime she spoke a line she took me out of the film. Her ascent is puzzling even for sex-based Hollywood. There are probably porn actresses with superior acting skills. I mean, Nebula was good, Baptista was pretty good, Ronan was really good, so its not as if good acting under tons of make-up isn't possible.

And while not totally a gripe, it is getting a little tiresome that Marvel's leads are all basically Tony Stark in various settings. Quill is Stark growing up in space. Scott Lang will be Stark if he had no money and had to live by his wits. The only real counterpoint, for obvious reasons, is Cap A.

But in the overall this movie was just a fun little romp. Not anything great, and not anything Marvel should use as the basis for its approach to future films.

 

[Dragon]

Howard is from another dimension so technically bestiality isn't the correct term. Sex with an alien would be more accurate. Xeniality?

It is bestiality in that Howard, regardless of where he's from is structured in the form of an earth duck.

 

[DrMylesOBoogie]

I did really enjoy the film but it wasn't perfect.

1. Star Lord's one liners were flat. The lines themselves were fine but Pratt's delivery was off. It's like they were written for Nathan Fillion who would have nailed them.

2. I'd prefer more real sets. Such obvious green screen is overkill.

3. Lack of genuine threat meant the film didn't really have a suspenseful finale.

 

[CGHulk]

In Knowhere, Drax calls Ronan to their location, did he tell Ronan he had the Infinity Stone, I was wondering because when Nebula arrived she knew her sister was there, yelling Gamora flew above her?

Why did Gamora, Starlord and Rocket get into those mining flying machines, why didn't they just hide or lay low or just escape in the Milano?

 

[RocketsNutz]

Was watching it this weekend on Starz or Showtime or something, like I always seem to do when it comes on and cannot hold back any longer. I checked some of this thread out while watching, but haven't read the whole thing.

Ok... gotta get it off my chest....

At the end, supposedly they've evacuated the city, yet moments after this huge ship crashes
a) Random people come up and are standing around? I thought they were evacuated?
b) With a big ass ship just crashing and buildings exploding/on fire, the ground is cool enough to be around all that?

Oh.. and before that. Why didn't they just use the big ass Ravagers ship to take on Ronan's ship?

Also bugs the hell out of me when Gamora says 'Who put the sticks up their buts? That's cruel'... Umm...She's a freaking malcontent assassin! Where the hell is this sympathy coming from? Completely out of the character that has been established in the books (yea yeah... the liberties the various movies have taken), but it also just doesn't make sense with what she is.

 

[brothersthre3]

I thought the villain was boring. I cringed at some of the line delivery by the guy who played Drax. Some of the action was a bit boring.

Had one of the best movie openings I've ever seen at a theater tho.