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Friday, August 1, 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is probably not a great film as science fiction. I don't mean in the "so implausible!" sort of nonsense, I mean that it doesn't evoke the feel of another world in the way that almost anything in the Star Wars series does. Maybe that's unfair--Star Wars is really good at that, after all--but I would say GotG is less good at that then Serenity or Chronicles of Riddick, as well. It's most sense of wonder inducing location is Knowhere, and it doesn't really do as much as it might with a place that is a giant alien head that people are living in and mining! (I shoud point out that Farscape did something similar back in "Home on the Remains" in 2000).

Also, it probably falls short as an epic. It's villains are sort of perfunctory and at times a bit silly. Maybe it's seeing Lee Pace on Halt and Catch Fire too much these days and knowing Karen Gillan only from Dr. Who, but they seemed almost laughably over the top in early scenes. The makeup designs were good, but it felt like Gunn might be directing them to try to out "drama!" Shatner and Montalban in Wrath of Khan. If either had had a mustache they would have no doubt twisted it. I will say this attenuated a bit as things went on, so either they got more comfortable in the roles, or it was just me.

All that said: I think it's a good movie. It's a fun movie. It has great pacing. It's main characters (while simple in characterization) are all given both good comedy and dramatic moments. While I didn't find it as funny as some, I will say their are really very few groaner lines for this sort of thing.

Most of all, I think it's a great blueprint for a space opera-ish rpg campaign. The characters all have their own roles and the group has their own ship. They are initially mistrustful, but they find reasons to team up. Action takes preference over world-building, but there is just enough of the latter to intrigue players. The climatic battle is big, but structured in such a way to give the PCs central rolls. The ending sets things up perfectly for more adventures.

So yeah, go see it, despite my nitpicks.

Also: Maybe it's just me, but it bears a strong resemblance to Farscape. A disparate band escapes prison, We've got a pop culture referencing, sometimes buffoonish, hero from earth, a badass warrior woman betraying her people who has sexual tension with the hero, a sonorous-voiced warrior mourning his wife and child, a diminutive and amoral nonhuman, and a tender-hearted plant being. Weird, huh?


16 comments:

  1. Re the Farscape comparison, we often can form patterns that aren't necessarily there of course, but in this case it does seem to be at least a strong coincidence. This may be one reference we're not supposed to pick up on.

    It may also be that things in these overlapping genres, and pop culture in general, have got so formulaic that this kind of close similarity can't be avoided.

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  2. @Porky - I think that's probably the case. I certainly don't mean to imply they ripped off Farscape, as a lot of those things are standard characters or tropes that appear in a lot of different medi, and there are a number of differences, too. Still, I just that it was remarkable (in the sense of being worthy of remark) that so many happened to be thrown together in a similar property.

    Still, I would not be completely surprised if Farscape had influenced the tone and presentation of the film. I couldn't guarantee it, but I wouldn't be surprised.

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  3. Wasn't GotG in comic book form before Farscape? (I genuinely don't know.)

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  4. Yes, a couple of versions were, but those aren't the ones the movie was based on. The one the movie is based on started in 2008 (8yrs after Farscape). Even there though, the portrayal of some of the characters is different. Star Lord particularly.

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  5. Going to go see this in a few hours.
    Now you've made me want to go watch Farscape on dvd...

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  6. But, those characters are all far older characters, before farscape.

    Groot (1960)
    Drax (1973)
    Gamora (1975)
    Star Lord (1976)
    Rocket (1976)

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  7. but, the tone of the movie I can see has some farscapey-ness to it

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  8. But those characters were not portrayed this way until this movie. Star Lord does not have a Crichton-esque personality in any of his 70s appearances or in the Abnett/Lanning series. So far as I know, it's unique to the film.

    And, none of those characters were associated in any way whatsoever with each other until the 2000s.

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  9. That is not correct.

    Drax and Gamora are connected to Thanos, and always have been since the 70s.

    They were even on the same team as part of the Infinity Watch.

    You are right about the personality of star-lord. He isn't even close to the character from the books, but this take is interesting.

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  10. You are correct.

    Nothing has been said so far that obviates my point that the team in this fim bears resemblance to Farscape. Their pre-existence as a nonteam and differently portrayed characters is beside the point.

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  11. Trey, given that I'm a fan of Farscape, I don't know if you've ruined the film for me or made it irresistible.

    Awesome, unique analysis.

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  12. Finally figured out what was wrong with the post, really should have Zhaan in that Farscape group picture.

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  13. Thanks. Yeah, it was surprisingly hard in a 2 minute search to find a good pic of the Farscape bunch without Skorpius or Crais in there.

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  14. I saw it yesterday and was thinking that the Star Lord/Gamora relationship reminded me of Crichton/Aeryn. I can't believe I didn't think about the rest of the team... Probably I was too busy enjoying the knockabout banter. A slight film, but a fun one. I look forward to the sequel(s) - and I don't say that often.

    Oh, and the setup of Farscape (mismatched, bickering crew of escaped prisoners are pursued by agents of a harsh militaristic regime) always reminded me of Blake's 7 (mismatched, bickering crew of escaped prisoners are pursued by - you get the idea). Nothing new under the sun, and all that.

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  15. The space mine of the celestial head reminded me of the Budong on Farscape.. http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Budong

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  16. Yep. That's the "Home on the Remains" episode I mentioned above.

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