Author Archives: Adam

The first Guardians of the Galaxy was one of those great surprises that Marvel pulled out. Many people didn’t know about them and the hype wasn’t as big surrounding it. No one knew what to expect. It quickly turned into a favorite for many fans and introduced some very untraditional and very funny heroes. As we move on to Vol. 2 how will it compare with the first and fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Likes:

Adam

1. The comedy. This is really one of, if not the funniest Marvel movie to date. I laughed so much during this movie. Drax is always getting a laugh for his social ineptitude. Quill for his ill timed boasting and his love of retro things. Rocket and Groot are always such a good funny team.
2. The Relationships. In this movie they explored and deepened the relationships between many characters. Now they didn’t go super deep but I was amazed at how many characters we gained a greater understanding about, and how much relationships grew between the characters.

Luke

1. I’m happy that they actually brought color into a Marvel movie. While the first Guardians movie had color, they turned up the saturation quite a bit. Ironically many excuse DC of lacking color in their movies, but the fact is that the Marvel movies are really flat when it comes to color grading. This is not the case with this movie where there are dark tones, bright tones and an entire spectrum of color. This is easily the best looking Marvel movie to date.

Dislikes:

Adam

1. Space Jumps. In this movie they use a technology previously unseen, space jumps. The design of them is cool looking, but was confusing to me. It looked to me like they were breaking through a holographic wall and there was no sense speed or how far they were going. It also leads to a very goofy scene with Rocket part way through the movie that I didn’t care for.

Luke

1. I don’t know why Disney has the need to introduce the antagonist late in the plot. It’s usually for some shock twist in the form of betrayals or motivation reveals. The main antagonist reveal is so obvious that the twist doesn’t feel earned. There also seems to be too many different sub-antagonists in the film that it starts to give me flashbacks to the pirates sequels.
2. The ending is drawn out way too long. It was one of the few sober scenes and even then they tried to push too much comedy into it. The comedy for the large bulk of the movie was quite great actually, but the ending it just seemed inappropriate for the scene’s tone.
3. There wasn’t much tension for the third act, as we go in knowing the a third movie has been approved and that the guardians are going to show up in the third Avengers movie. This is a problem with superhero movies as the planet destroying (in the case of this movie, galaxy destroying) super villain plot can’t happen for the sake of future movies. There could have been a more personal conflict to end the movie (like Civil War for example) where failure is actually possible (setting a more dire situation for the next film). Then the ending could be a lot more suspenseful.

Like & Dislike:

Adam

1. I like how this movie shows just how powerful the guardians are. We see to a greater extent what they are capable of and they can do some really cool stuff. They show off their skills and it is awesome when they do. However there is a scene with Drax that I feel was just too over the top with how much punishment he can take with out a scratch.

Luke

1. The post credit scenes are a bit overkill. There are a bunch of them and most of them are references to obscure comic series. There are two that I do like though, the first one then the middle one. Those are pretty funny.

Awkward Walk-in Meter: 2/5

Adam:

There was a scene with what was implied as a android brothel but with nothing really shown except for a character finishing buttoning up his pants. The whole scene was very brief. There was also a little more language than normal and some talk of male genitals.

Overall:

Adam:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. I was laughing for so much of this movie and like how they did stick to using old songs for the sound track like the first one did. There was a lot of good character growth but every one keeps their personality and I was able to gain a better understanding of many of the characters traits. Make sure to stay to the very end because there are 5 post movie scenes sprinkled through out the credits. Is it as good as the first one? I haven’t decided yet and will need to go back and see it again to decide.

Luke:

I agree with Adam where the movie, much like the first one, is a fun and entertaining movie. However the first one was different enough to be fresh, this one kind of felt like a bunch of other movies I’ve seen before. While it is the most visually stunning of the Marvel films, it lacked the deeper subtext, emotional core or ingenuity that has made other movies stand out in the superhero genre (i.e. Logan, The Dark Knight, Civil War). But it is still a fun popcorn movie that you can have a good and fun 2 hours.

Back in November of 1991 Disney released their animated version of Beauty and the Beast which won Oscars for best original score and best original song. The very first full length animated feature film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Nearly 25 1/2 years later Disney has brought this classic film to life in a live action version of the film. Will this movie live up to one of the most beloved movies of all time? Let’s take a look.

Likes:

Adam

1. The music. All of the classic songs are included and relatively unchanged but there are a few places where the beats are slightly different which adds a bit of freshness to these wonderful songs. There are also several new songs that go well with the rest of the movie.
2. Emma Watson. The new Belle knocked it out of the park. She was the strong, smart, independent, warm woman that we expect Belle to be. Plus her singing voice was spot on as well. I think that Disney made the right casting choice.
3. The changes. This movie is a little longer than its predecessor so there is some extra content. Some of it is taken up with the extra songs but there is also some extra story in between the musical numbers. Overall I liked most of the changes because the motives were made clear for many of the characters. Many of these scenes added a little more depth to the characters.

Luke

1. I was worried that the singing would be not up to par, because big actors/actresses doesn’t guarantee good singing voices (Les Miserables anyone?) but that was not the case. Everyone had a great singing voice and the songs were equal and perhaps even better than the animated classic in some cases.
2. While the story is more or less the same as the animated version, they did add some plot details that helped explain some plot holes that was there previously. While it only really bothered people who over analyzes cartoons (like me), it was nice that they did address some of plot holes from the original. Some of the additions didn’t work for me but I’ll get to it later.

Jacob

1. One of the most beautiful Disney films ever made. The art direction was top notch with the set design being well crafted and thought out to create the feeling of the film.
2. The changes made to Maurice helped him to be a more relatable character, less nutty professor and more Geppetto. The more fleshed out relationship between him and Belle was a nice addition as well.

Dislikes:

Adam

1. The Beast was good for the most part and looked good when he moved like an animal. However, when he moves in more human ways, he seems clunky and awkward. The CG for that movement wasn’t on par with the rest of the movie. Beast also mumbled a lot of lines which was a little annoying.
2. During Gaston’s song I felt like Gaston and LeFou were constantly being drowned out but the music and background singing which made it harder to understand the lyrics.

Luke

1. (Kinda Spoilers) The back-story of Beast’s childhood was phoned in and didn’t really play a big enough part for it to make any big difference. It felt like they tried to explain Beast’s inner demons by simply saying, “oh its daddy issues.” It needed to either be a bigger part of the story or just removed entirely.
2. The CG furniture characters were too complex in their design. While it looks more realistic the way they did it, there is a charm to the simple designs of the animated characters that was lost in this version. Their emotions didn’t come across as easily as their 2d-animated counterparts. Some might even find them more creepy than enduring.

Jacob

1. They didn’t give Beast a name so everyone including Belle calls him a Beast through out the whole movie. Even though Beast’s arc was proving to everyone that he wasn’t a beast. The horse even had a name (Phillip if you need to know).

Awkward Walk-In Meter: 1/5

Adam:

The awkward moments are the three “Gay” moments that the Director mentioned in an interview. These moments are all harmless and most likely will be missed unless you are really looking for them. Even then they are very quick not offensive.

Overall:

Adam:

I really enjoyed this Beauty and the Beast. It was a great adaptation of the most beloved animated film ever. I was satisfied with it but I know that it will always suffer from being compared to the animated version. However, it is totally worth going to see in the theater and enjoying with the whole family.

Luke:

I enjoyed the movie overall as well. It’s a faithful adaptation to the animated classic with some plot additions that seemed to be made for the purpose of addressing the cinema sins review of the original. However it’s hard to say if this movie really stands on its own as it’s more-or-less the same movie and story. I call to question if a live action remake was even necessary as the original still stands on its own as one of the best Disney films ever made. If your a fan of the original you probably already saw it and I’m sure you loved it. If your not a fan, I don’t know if this version would really win you over.

Jacob:

I also enjoyed the movie, and the wonderful production design should be nominated next year for an oscar.