Review... Guardians of the Galaxy

I FINALLY got to see this movie.  Normally, I aim to go to the midnight showings of the Marvel films, but this time money was tight and seeing anything at a normal theater wasn't gonna happen.  [We have one locally owned, independent theater in town.  Used to be known the 'The Dollar theater.  They show movies for $5, and on Wednesday its only $2.50.  Either way, sometimes its worth the wait for the price.]

Anywho, adding to my annoyance was that most of the times I see the movie and all my friends haven't.  This time, everyone else saw it last month and I was still waiting around.  So they're making jokes, laughing and talking about how awesome it is, and I'm left pouting.  Talked about that a bit ago.

On to the review!!

LOVED IT!!  Now, I've loved all the Marvel movies.  Ok, not the first Hulk one, but after that I have actually liked all of these films.  The stories, the characters, the actors... All of it came together for me in a great way.  They opened my eyes to this world, and as such I've been more active in my weird research vibe of Marvel, along with watching cute cartoons of them.

Guardians is a group I didn't know a lot about.  Saw them once or twice in an Avengers cartoon, and perhaps once in Ultimate Spiderman, but otherwise.... Nothing.

Mostly, I knew who Groot was and thought he kicked ass.  'I am Groot!'

To some, I'm sure the story starts a little slow, but as a writer I get why.  Just as with Thor, we're not picking up an origin story on earth where we know what's going on.  The movie has to give background information to those of us who know nothing about the Marvel world, outside earth!

So the movie shows us a bit of information about each one of the characters, broadening our world.  Most of the story, and the group, is centered around Star-Lord [Peter Quinn].  He's the heart of the group and its leader.

He's flawed, not the smartest, strongest or the 'best', but he's got what all leaders need to have.  The ability to take command, do what's needed and realize when someone else might be better at doing something.

Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Sheridan, Reynolds, Rogers, O'Neill, Janway... And others come to mind as being the same type of character.  They have something inside them that makes you want to follow and trust, even when it looks like you're most likely gonna die.

Best example of this is in Star Trek 6.  Kirk asks Sulu to help him.  As they fly to the aide of his former captain, one of the crewmembers says that they'll fly the ship apart if they keep it up.  Sulu's response?  'Then fly her apart!'

His faith and trust in Kirk was so strong, that he was willing to defy anything to get to the mans side in a moment of need.

If you watch any of these shows, you'll see just how often a good leader knows how to bring out the best in everything they do.

Sorry for the detract, but I think its important to see that they had an important role for Chris Pratt, and he did what was needed.  A little more like Malcolm Reynolds, but then the others tended to be working for a government with strict guidelines to follow, while Mal and Quinn are working outside the government with a motley band of misfits at their side.

Honestly, there's so much I could say about the movie, but I don't want to give things away.  Sure, its been out for almost 2 months now and I'm more than sure you've seen all the posts, memes and reviews out there, but I don't want to be the one to spoils it for anyone.

5 out of 5 stars for me.

Kristy C

Review! Amazing Spiderman 2

Heard a lot of people say they didn't like the movie.  I'm guessing most of those are the super geeks that over analyze the stories for their authenticity or those who don't know anything about the actual story line.

I don't want to give it all away, but the scene at the end... Its the comics line.  Its how that happened.  Not the whole build up, but that one moment.

Personally, I think its a pretty good film.  I mean, its a comic book movie so what do you expect?

No... Its a Spiderman movie.  He's the heart of Marvel.  The young man whose whole future gets turned upside down in a matter of moments, and he has to make choices to do what's best for everyone, not just himself.

He's a kid, he makes mistakes, he learns, he grows up.  And that's why we love him.  Why I love him.

Did you know that the reason YA stories are so popular, is because we enjoy seeing someone whose identity isn't set in stone just yet.  Someone like Harry Potter, who has to grow up.  Someone like Katniss, that has her views of the world changed at every interval of the stories.

Adults in stories change, but its small and more an altering of a piece of their personality... But a teen/young adult could actually have an about face on everything.

Think about Wolverine for a moment... Logan, how much has he changed over the stories?  Movies or comics, think about it for a moment.  Is there a place where he's honestly anything but an onrie jerk that just happens to be working for the side of good?

Yeah, I've gotten off topic but that tends to happen when you're aware of more than just one element of a fandom and get into a thought process about it.

Andrew Garfield is amazing as Peter Parker.  He gets the jokes, the teasing, the whole element of Spiderman down pat.  And I love it.

4.5 out of 5 stars for me.  First one was better, but this is still good.

Kristy C

Is it right to...

Save the life of a hero, who's given his all to save the world and seems ready to let go?

I know this has been done a few times, but the two that stand out most to me are in Justice League Unlimited, Episode 25 'Divided We Fall' and of course, Agent Coulson in Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Both times you have a hero who has just done something that either allows the heroes to save the world, like Agent Coulson did, or actually gone beyond himself to do it, as the Flash does.

This all came to my mind as I watched my favorite episode of Justice League Unlimited.  Why?  Because all too often The Flash is seen as a joke.  And yet, he is both the potential catalyst for the Justice League to abandon their principles to become the Justice Lords AND the one who says 'NO!' and defeats a Lex Luthor/Braniac combo.

In doing so, he discovered the Speed Force.  This is something only HE of the Flashes can actually reach.  [Different story lines along the way, but I know that's how it works.]  And when Hawkgirl talks to him... He sounds, happy.  Wally has found his... Well, his center I'd say.

And yet, they don't let him leave them... THEY want him to stay, so they pull him out.  He was freaking HAPPY!  But no, they couldn't lose him and thus... He wasn't allowed to find peace in the speed force.

I'm sure Wally's happy being in the world again, but I also wonder just how happy he really was?  He makes a comment that he can't ever go that fast again.  You know why?  Because he won't come back.

There's another episode not to long after where The Flash is receiving an award and invites all of his Justice League buddies to join him... You know what happens?  A newer member thinks The Flash is a joke.  He risked his life to save the freaking world, hell the GALAXY!! And they still see him as only a joke?  Sure, Batman knows better... And is just being himself, which is why he acts as he does, but still.  It drove me crazy to see how badly they thought of him, a founding member of the Justice League.  Nevermind that only Batman and Orion manage to go.

Just as an aside, spending that day with him is great... You see that while most of the others barely know the people of their city, The Flash knows most of them by name and takes his city to heart.  Found it sweet.  He also knew his enemies.  Never looked down on them as evil, never bitched... Nothing.  Honestly, between those two episodes, I started see a whole new side of him and realized just how awesome he really was.


By this time, almost everyone knows that Coulson isn't dead.  Or, is no longer dead.  You may not know how it happened, and I'm not going to share it all.  But I will tell you this.  Coulson ACCEPTED his death.  He was content and proud [I think] to know that his death would be just what the others needed save the day.

And could they give him that?  No.  Fury decided to play god and, through an excruciatingly painful experience, saw fit to bring him back.  Nevermind that he didn't have consent.  He knew better and decided that was all that mattered.


In both instances, someone else selfishly decided that because THEY didn't want this person to die.

My question is this... Was it right?  Was it fair to the one who wasn't given a choice, but had accepted the end result?

Kristy C