- Saw it in the theatre when it came out
- I still feel a little bad for how hard I was on the first Guardians with my rewatch. I went into this one with an open mind, and again with the memory of enjoying it the first time I saw it
- Some of the things I liked about the first Guardians are even better in this one, while some of the faults are still present. Overall, I enjoyed watching it again, though
- From beginning to end, I adore how colourful and vibrant this movie is
- Once again, Rocket is a lot of fun, you can tell how much Bradley Cooper likes voicing him. For me, though, and surely for a lot of people, Baby Groot is the MVP of this movie, and the source of the best gags
- Another great, tone-setting opening credits sequence
- I loved the first movie's soundtrack. I loved this one even more. So many of my favourite scenes are enhanced by the song choices, and quite a few of the songs are ones I'd heard before in my life but didn't give much thought to. Thanks to this movie, I developed a new appreciation for most of these songs
- My favourite sequence is the scene where Rocket, Baby Groot and Yondu escape from the Ravagers' ship. Come a Little Bit Closer is a fantastic song choice, and Yondu's whistley arrow thing is super cool every time it's on screen, especially with the neon tail effect
- As a villain, I thought Ego was a really cool concept, executed well. I always like seeing Kurt Russell. The climax was fine, but I really liked the little humourous touches like Baby Groot and the bomb, and Quill flying around off-screen asking if anyone had any tape
- The space battles left me kind of cold
- I think I laughed more at this movie than the first one, but again, I ended up wishing it was just a little funnier than what we got. Like I said above, I love Rocket and Groot. But splitting up the team for a big chunk of the movie wasn't a great choice, and I never found Drax's shtick all that amusing
- The ending funeral scene didn't hit me in the feels like it did for some people, but I appreciated closing the movie with one last visually vibrant scene
- First time seeing it
- LOVED the special effects. Visually incredible. Just like with Ant-Man, the effects were used to show us scenes and settings that would have been otherwise impossible. I wish I had gone to see it on the big screen
- Lots of comparisons to Inception, another movie that really impressed me. I definitely got some Matrix vibes too
- Having said all that, by the time the climax rolled around, I had no fukken idea what was happening with the plot or the villains' motivations. It might be more clear on a rewatch. But the thing is, I didn't actually care that much. The stuff at the end was still so visually inventive, with the Dark Dimension and the time loop, that I was fully engaged right to the end
- I saw a few episodes of Sherlock, but this was the first movie starring role I'd seen of Benny C. I liked his performance a lot, although that accent at times seemed a liiiiittle shaky. He really does have a sexy alien thing going for him
- I liked Tilda Swinton. I think she brought a fun impishness to her character that was clever and subversive. However, I am going to come down on the anti-whitewashing side. I'm sure an Asian actor could have given a performance that was just as good, and I will always support more diversity in movies
- Thanks for coming, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams and Benjamin Bratt. You did very little to enhance this movie but it's probably not your fault
- I actually thought this movie could have had fewer jokes. Not all of them landed for me, and I found a lot of the humourous beats tonally jarring. I didn't think this movie needed it, it had enough going on otherwise. I'm sorry, Marvel. I know I'm fickle and hard to predict. I know I've complained about the opposite in past movie write-ups. What can I say. I contain multitudes
- First time seeing it
- Excellent
- This movie has a lot in common with Winter Soldier, which was also one of the best movies so far in the franchise. Makes perfect sense, considering the two movies share directors and screenwriters. When Civil War first came out I went for a very long time thinking it was an Avengers film, given the sprawling cast of characters. But considering the sensibility and tone of this movie, it does have more in common with the Captain America movies than the Avengers movies
- Amazing action sequences. There's a wonderful sense of verticality to some of these scenes, for example Bucky's stairwell escape and the missile silo fight towards the end. Lots of practical effects, which we've established make a big difference for me. A fair number of plainclothes fight scenes, too, which are fun to see the actual actors kick ass. Also some great car stunts
- In terms of tone, this one is also pretty serious. Again, it worked very well. But going into it I was expecting a lighter-style romp than what we got. It's funny to think that some of the Marvel movies that rely the least on humour were also directed by the Russos, who were well-known for their work on two of the funniest shows ever made, Arrested Development and Community
- I knew all about the airport fight. In fact, I had watched the airport fight already. One of the best sequences yet in any Marvel movie, definitely lives up to its potential. What I didn't realize, though, was that the airport fight wasn't the actual climax of the movie. With 45 minutes left to go, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But the ending, with Tony and Steve going mano a mano, was tremendous. I would call this the best climax in a Marvel movie so far, and if you lump it together with the airport fight and call them Climax 1 and Climax 2, well, there's really no contest. The Avengers movies are the only ones on the same level
- The Howard Stark reveal totally got me. I reacted verbally. I also thought Robert Downey Jr. put in some excellent acting in this movie, something the Marvel films don't usually get attention for
- Marvel villains, mostly, are dull. I've said this before, others have said this before. This villain was fine, but dull. However, the genius of this movie is in where the conflict is actually focused. Some of my favourite scenes have been when our heroes fight against each other. As I said in my Age of Ultron post, we care about these characters separately and love watching them work with and against each other. The central conflict, the action sequences, everything stemming from Tony going against Steve, worked incredibly well. The movie also did a great job of toying with our sympathies and making us straddle the line between rooting for one or the other
- Great intros to Spider-Man and Black Panther. Peter's intro and his interactions with Tony were especially fun, and I can't wait to see Homecoming
- Funniest scene was probably when Ant-Man showed up. I LOVE YOU, PAUL RUDD
- So Chris Evans should just devote the rest of his career to restraining helicopters with his bare hands, right?
- First time seeing it
- Liked it a lot
- The way this movie plays with size and scale is incredibly creative. This is another example of CGI done well. It uses the technology inventively to show us things we haven't seen before
- Scott's first shrinking experience was super cool, the briefcase fight was great, and the climax taking place on a child's train set was a stroke of genius. My favourite appearance by Thomas the Tank Engine, by far
- I LOVE YOU, PAUL RUDD. I am not shy about my man crush on Paul Rudd. I want to marry him and become a Hollywood power couple. I want to kiss him on the mouth. I would watch him watch paint dry. I enjoyed Paul Rudd in this movie, is what I'm trying to say
- Michael Douglas is also having a lot of fun. When I think Michael Douglas, I mostly think serious Michael Douglas. The Game, Fatal Attraction, Traffic. But he fit right in to the Marvel style
- Michael Peña is a delight
- Oh good, another bald, evil, rival businessman. Jeff Bridges couldn't make an interesting villain out of it, and neither can this guy
- Judy Greer is a great actress. I've seen her in lots of things at this point, and she's versatile and talented. I will never see her without imagining her saying, "Say goodbye to these!"
- Let's talk heist movies. I like the idea of a Marvel heist movie. It's a nice variation on the way to deliver action. In a heist movie, the action isn't just about two dudes punching each other. It's about a plan coming together and being executed. In the best heist movies, you get to admire the planning and plotting pulled off by the protagonists, as we can see in movies like Ocean's Eleven, The Sting, and so on. The issue I had with this movie's main heist scene was how dependent it was on the magical ants. Those ants could basically do anything the heroes needed, and there was barely any human ingenuity involved. I know it's canon that Ant-Man can control ants or talk to ants or whatever, but the ant-heavy scenes had my interest flagging. I preferred the earlier mini-heist when it was just Scott stealing the suit, making a phony fingerprint, and freezing the safe. I still really enjoyed the movie as a whole, but I liked some parts better than others
- First time seeing it
- Liked it. I was prepared to be disappointed. I feel like when it came out, some people were underwhelmed. But I was pretty whelmed. It was entertaining all the way through, and I enjoyed my time with this movie
- Not as good as the first Avengers, and not as good as several of the stand-alones. The action was pretty good in this one, but the humour was lacking. The wisecracks missed more than they hit, and for that reason they felt forced. There is a lot of value in just watching these characters bounce off of each other, though
- Speaking of these characters bouncing off of each other: definitely didn't need the Banner/Romanoff romance. Is it conceivable that two of these characters could develop feelings for each other? Sure. Does it make sense that it might have started to happen in between movies? Yep. Did it feel shoehorned in and unnecessary for the overall appeal of this movie? You betcha. Perhaps they chose this plot line to make Hulk departing at the end of the movie more poignant, but I think it could have been just as effective without
- Let's talk Ultron. Once again, we have an entirely CGI character who, for me, was really sold by some solid voice acting. I really liked James Spader's performance. At first he seemed a little smarmy for a murderous AI entity, but when it clicked that he has some of Tony Stark's personality in him, that made more sense. The visual depiction of Ultron, though, was total uncanny valley. The way his mouth and eyes were animated unsettled both Ashley and me. It must be said, though, Ultron has a cute little robot butt.
- I like Elizabeth Olsen as an actress, but that accent got a little dodgy. I knew Quicksilver was in this one, but I had no idea he died in the span of just one movie. There was some cool stuff done with his speed super power, although I think it's hilarious that most of the time when he's fighting people he just goes really fast and bonks into them.
- I dug the climax. It had a similar feel to the climax of the first Avengers, with one charismatic big bad and a whole army of lesser cannon fodder bad guys, which works to serve up some sweet action scenes. And somehow Ultron's plan was even more batshit crazy than Loki's.
- Loved the Hulkbuster fight. And I was the first to acknowledge the incongruity here. This is another punch-up between two CGI characters, something I've railed against in the past, but here it totally worked. So let's analyze this a bit. What did this fight have that other similar scenes haven't?
- a) The fight evolves. It kicks off with a really cool evolution of Tony's Iron Man suit into something we haven't seen before, and it just continues evolving. Hulk rips the suit apart, Tony fixes it. Hulk can't be subdued by a bunch of punches, Tony uses the suit to cage his hand instead. The fight keeps throwing new wrinkles at the viewer
- b) The size and scale of these characters is used to great effect. They wreak havoc and use the setting creatively. Tony hits Hulk with a friggin' elevator car
- c) At this point we care equally about both characters involved, and their relationship to each other makes this a better fight.
- Well gang, this might be a controversial one. This movie didn't hold up as well as I'd hoped or expected
- As mentioned, this is one of the few movies that I had already seen before Ashley and I tackled the MCU. I saw Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 in the theatre, and hadn't seen either one since. And I remembered liking Guardians of the Galaxy a lot! So much so that during some of the less entertaining movies we've watched recently, I actually kept thinking, "It's OK, you'll have a great time watching Guardians of the Galaxy, you know you like that one."
- I now think the best way to watch this movie was the way I did it the first time: in the theatre, surrounded by a game audience. Watching it from the couch, there just isn't a whole lot to take away from this movie. Is it pleasant and capable? Sure. Is it easily forgettable? Absolutely. Doesn't that describe the majority of these movies? One could argue.
- There were some pretty cool shots that used slow motion effectively. Yondu's whistle arrow thing was neat. I liked the scene where Groot impaled a hallway full of bad guys, and then used them as a club to take out the rest of the bad guys. Aside from that, it was a lot of animated explosions. Formulaic and dull climax; I got a bit of a Star Wars prequels vibe. Although I do want to shout out this movie's use of colour. It's a visually vibrant film.
- I wanted to laugh more than I did. There were some funny subversions of action and sci-fi tropes and the cast is likable. But when this movie was released, its sense of humour was always brought up as one of its strengths. I remembered thinking that was the case the first time I saw it. But I couldn't pinpoint anything that will stick with me in the way really funny movies do. Based on what I've heard, I'm really looking forward to Ant-Man!
- This movie was the beginning of "Chris Pratt, Leading Man!" He was Andy from Parks and Rec! He was missing from Parks and Rec because he was getting hot! It was so awesome to see this goofball as the star of an action movie! And he's fine. Now that this is just what he does, the novelty has worn off. He's pretty convincing acting against a lot of CGI, though. And speaking of which...
- Rocket is the best part of this movie. "But Mark," you say! "You're Mr. Anti-CGI, and Rocket is an entirely CGI character! Explain yourself, you mewling quim!" Rocket was animated with character and personality, but the real credit goes to Bradley Cooper. He created such a fun, anarchic character, using only his voice, and then the animators brought him to life. If you haven't seen it yet, watch clips from Bradley Cooper's VO sessions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPa1d8ygmo8
- I would absolutely be remiss if I didn't give credit where it's due: This is one of the best movie soundtracks ever, and it definitely provides a lot of the affection I do have for this movie. The opening credits are probably my favourite sequence, and I still got a thrill when "Guardians of the Galaxy" popped up on screen, underscored by Come and Get Your Love. But if my favourite sequence from the movie is the opening credits, well, something might be amiss
- This is another long write-up, but I'll leave you with this: I feel very unnerved by Groot's wooden teeth
- First time seeing it
- This movie has the best fight scenes, the best car stunts, the best explosions, and the best gun play of any Marvel movie so far. In fact, it stands pretty tall among action movies in general
- This is a very serious movie, with not much levity. While this tone hasn't worked for me with other movies in the franchise up to now, in this case the plot and the action thoroughly engrossed me. I like my Marvel movies with some humour, but I appreciated this movie's purity of intent
- After this one, the only future movies I've already seen are the two Guardians and Black Panther. I believed the Nick Fury death, not knowing for sure if he appeared in later movies. Having said that, I did feel a little gullible when the truth was revealed
- It was great to see Nick Fury get to be a badass
- The practical effects were so well done in this movie that I was a little disappointed by the CGI-heavy climax. It was still entertaining, there was some good stuff in there, but I'd take the elevator fight scene or the attack on Nick Fury over the high-flying spectacle of infiltrating the airships. I'll always appreciate and prefer practical effects. It's partly why Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favourite movies of all time
- That Robert Redford can rock a suit, boy
- Samuel L. Jackson: "Director override. Fury, Nicholas J."
Mark: "What does the 'J' stand for?"
Ashley: "Jizz."
