Guardians of the Galaxy Courtesy: Marvel/Disney |
By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
If I were one to subscribe
to hyperbole I’d say that what I’m about to write may cause a bit of
controversy. Instead, I’ll start by saying I realize I am quickly growing out
of the target demographic Hollywood favors. Therefore, I know I’m not the ideal
audience for the latest big budget action movie to hit the multiplex. Also, I
haven’t read a comic book since GI Joe issue 75 back in 1988. So not only am I
not the target audience for a big budget action film, I also don’t have the
geek cred for comic book movies. Why do I mention all that? Over the weekend I
saw Guardians of the Galaxy and
unlike 99% of everyone who saw the movie, I walked out of the theater thinking,
“I’ve seen this already.”
Don’t get me wrong. I thought
the movie was enjoyable and certainly understand why others would like the
movie. I just feel like I spent another two hours watching something I’ve seen
too many times recently in the theater.
Since Marvel ushered in the
era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with Iron Man in 2008, they have released ten movies in the last six
years. Seven of those have come out in the past three to four years. That’s a new
comic book based movie on average every six months without taking into
consideration other Marvel films like X-Men or Spider-Man and the DC comics
Dark Knight series or Superman movie.
Personally, I think I’ve hit the breaking
point for superheroes.
I want to stress again, I’m
not saying Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t
good. Simply saying with the exception of a prolonged origin story for the
protagonist and villains, the plot and action were very reminiscent of other
Marvel films. The biggest issue, for me, is how most Marvel movies revolve
around the same storyline. Villain wants powerful crystal/element that can
cause mass destruction. Hero has to stop villain from destroying humanity.
Large CGI destruction porn battle takes place. Hero saves the world. Lather,
rinse, and repeat.
Chris Hemsworth at Comic Con |
I understand that I just
described basically every single plot of every action movie ever made. There
are two points I’d argue. The first, as already mentioned, you can write out
the storyline for a Marvel film then cross out the superhero and villain names
and replace with characters from another film and there’s no difference. What’s
separates Captain America from Thor from Guardians of the Galaxy?
The second point is
suspense. Watching a Marvel movie, I never get caught up in the film to the
point where I feel the heroes will fail. I don’t even feel like they’ll get to
a point where they need to regroup and rethink their strategy. Given the majority
of the MCU set up other films, why doesn’t Marvel leave some of the films with
a cliffhanger? It worked with The Empire
Strikes Back, and the Lord of the
Rings/Hobbit/Harry Potter movies.
Like an engrossing television series, leave the audience wondering what
will happen next and give them a reason to come back next time.
Instead, the
movies wrap up nicely then leave the audience with a thirty second tease for
the next film after making them sit through fifteen minutes of credits.
Thanos at Comic Con |
I’ve read (again, not that
knowledgeable on Marvel comic books) all of the powerful elements from the MCU
films are items Thanos needs to power his Nintendo Power Glove and that’s the
stage all these films are setting. If that’s the case, again I ask why does
every film end with the heroes winning the battle?
Rocket Raccoon |
Perhaps my biggest complaint
is the overuse of CGI. This is probably the hollowest complaint because if CGI
didn’t exist these movies couldn’t be made. I’m just at the point where CGI environments aren’t impressive
anymore. Instead of being used to add to a story, they’re becoming the story. Before
anyone comments on it, yes, I thought Rocket Raccoon and Groot were very well
done and believable characters. My complaint is with the climaxes of these
movies being nothing more than destruction of cities. That’s why I enjoyed X-Men: Days of Future Past. It broke the
formula and told a somewhat interesting story.
I realize comic books are the
fad at the moment, and with Guardians of
the Galaxy’s 90 million dollar opening weekend there shows no signs of
studios rethinking their decision to make more movies based on colorful picture
books. Honestly, I don’t really have a problem with movies being based on comic
books or graphic novels. I just wish the writers would change up the script and
give a different story for a change. Can we get Professor X and Magneto staging
a My Dinner with Andre style
conversation?
The sad part is that even
though I know I’m tired of comic book movies, I will still be there opening weekend
for Avengers 2, Ant Man, Captain America
3, Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I have an addiction that may
require an intervention. In the meantime, I’ll just have to counterbalance
loud, flashy action movies with more gentle films such as The 100 Foot Journey and Get
On Up.
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