May 15, 2017

 

Guardians of the Franchise

Well I did end up seeing Guardian's Vol 2, and while it was by no means a bad entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was no where near as amazing as the original. It might not be fair to even make the comparison. After all, Guardian's Vol. 1 is in my view one of the best sci-fi films ever. It vastly transcends the MCU's other films in just being a solidly great film, perfectly balancing humor with adventure and nostalgia. It's a tall order to try to match that. So I wasn't too surprised that Vol. 2 didn't quite live up to the original, but it does seem to me that once a really cool unique film finds success that movie execs suddenly become risk-adverse. It's a shame. I wish they would just let the story continue taking us to really cool and unexpected narratives. But I guess they would rather stick to the script, to scrape in as much cash as possible using the techniques that are proven sucessful and ultimately boring.

The acting was great, the effects par for the course; it's just the story that was really flat. I also think there was a massive missed opportunity here [spoiler alert] in not connecting the story with other characters in the overall MCU, especially considering the several scenes depicting Earth. They could have easily shown Spidey or Nick Fury watching on TV as the strange phenomenon was occurring on Earth.

So overall, not bad but not even close to as awesome as Vol. 1. ... In other movie-related news, there is a new trailer for the Blade Runner sequel!

This is the only movie that really matters to me this year. Blade Runner is such an important film. It still has some of the most gorgeous imagery, the rain-drenched neon-lit dystopia. It has aged beautifully when compared to other films based on PKD's works. The story is deeply intriguing. The characters incredibly fascinating.

The sequel looks like it has everything going for it. A great cast featuring Ryan Gosling, and most importantly including Harrison Ford and Edward James Olmos reprising their roles. The cinematography from the trailers looks great. One of the writers (Micheal Green) contributed to Logan which was fantastic. The director (Denis Villeneuve) previously directed The Arrival which was also fantastic (he is also set to direct a new adaptation of Dune).

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