"Guardians of the Galaxy" VS. "Star Wars: Episode VII"

Two different movie franchises. One monolithic conglomerate.

Marvel and LucasFilm are now owned by Disney. While the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been rolling along the last several years, churning out story after story and learning from creative mistakes, the Star Wars series has laid dormant with the aftertaste of the prequel trilogy and the failed 3D release. That being stated, much has been learned from the success of Marvel, and is being applied to the next installment of the Skywalker saga.

But, with so much content being pushed so close together by Disney, will one project over shadow the other?

Two subsidiaries in competition for the same audience - Marvel and LucasFilm. Two movies similar in genre - Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars: Episode VII.  In my opinion, it's Lucas Film at the disadvantage. It's Star Wars with everything to prove. It's Guardians of the Galaxy that will capture the torch.

Well, in my mind anyways...

For one reason and one reason only I, personally, compare and contrast these two films: The Mos Eisley Cantina. Allow me to elaborate a bit.

That F***ed up bar

Guardians of the Galaxy is set beyond the familiar reaches of the MCU, deep into space, on worlds where creatures beyond imagination exist. It's a frontier that Earth bound men have yet to conquer. A wild west almost. Bounty hunters, galactic police, thieves and bootleggers run amok. Sound like a place you know of?

I've put these two films together in my mind not only because they share so much, but because one is directly inspired by the other. Star Lord, kidnapped at a very young age and raised by aliens, was a product of the Return of the Jedi and E.T. generation. If anything, real life Earth would be boring and uncomfortable to him. But, as an adult on planets beyond our own, he's at home. This is the stuff he imagined. Han Solo was his idol, creatures like Chewbacca didn't freak him out and The Mos Eisley Cantina would be his favorite hang out. It's commentary on and the ultimate expression of kids who grew up on The Goonies, and the worlds they wanted to live in. Guardians - 1, Episode VII - 0.

In a way, it might be the most personal film for director James Gunn, who is himself part of that generation. Kinda like how J.J. Abrams' most personal film Super 8 is inspired by and a fond nostalgic trip into Spielberg's catalog.

Unfamiliar territory

This year has been filled with more sequels, remakes, reboots and adaptations than I care to think about. While I'm sure there is math to support claims of over saturation and lackluster audience response, I've actually felt this in theaters. The Amazing Spiderman 2, while surprising and enjoyable, was barely half full at the screening I went to, and is showing disappointing financial returns.

Now, I'm sure Episode VII will make a bundle by default, but the fact remains: it's a property we all know about. Only super comic book fans are really aware of Guardians. How will people react when they see Rocket Raccoon talk smack or a space adventure with Wars or Trek printed on the poster? Honestly, it could go the way of cult favorites like Dune, or it could be a smash hit oddity. It's a toss up. Episode VII is riding that wave of being a "guaranteed slam dunk", while uncertainty surrounds Guardians.

When the prequels were rolled out, they made plenty of dough, but didn't reach the heights of something like Marvel's The Avengers. Why? A) Bad word of mouth fought hand and fist with the recognizable brand name and B) It was something everyone had seen already. If there is one thing going for Episode 7, it is the uncertainty of where the story goes. At the same time, it is the high expectations associated with this that could spoil the success. With Guardians, among the general moviegoing public, it's not a recognizable brand and isn't a story we've seen before. Where the uncertainty harms Star Wars, it helps Guardians. 

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and will always be one. But, this is a series that has a huge wall to climb over. The MCU has provided some of the most wonderfully entertaining and absolutely joyous fantasy stories I've seen in a while, and Guardians looks to put it all over the edge. Either way, Disney wins both of my tickets, but which one will be a classic in my heart?

My score: 2 - .5 in the favor of Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Review: "Cloud Atlas"

Cross posted from MoviePass:

During the AMC Theatres presentation of "The Dark Knight Trilogy", my friends and I took a quick trip to the nearest gas station, as my head was killing me and I needed some tylenol. In the car, one of them asked a pretty random question, regarding my relationship with god. I could've made a joke about him getting ready to kidnap us, but I decided to answer honestly; "I'm not christian, I'm just Bill."

Who are we, where are we going and what is the point of it all? Boiled down, my belief (I prefer idea) is that we have barely scratched the surface with understanding THIS reality - how can we possibly understand OTHER ones? Honestly, I feel more comfortable explaining myself in movie form. If you care to, check out "Groundhog Day", "Defending Your Life" and, now playing across the country, "Cloud Atlas".

Not sure about watching that last one? Think of it as "Magnolia" - one large story made up of multiple tales - but on an epic scale. Think of it as several different movies (a comedy, a sci fi thriller, a period piece, a drama, etc) told forward and sideways, bleeding into one another and making one massive film. Think of it as having the ambition of a D.W. Griffith or Abel Gance picture. Think of it as maybe...well, having to think afterwards. You still want to shell out money for that Rob Cohen "movie"?

It's amazing to me that such a chance could be taken on such an incredible story. Hollywood didn't have much faith in it, so the filmmakers had to go and raise the funds themselves! Making a movie in this manner, based on a book deemed unfilmmable, is either a sign of madness or courage. Perhaps both.

Some of the madness does show up on screen. We see Hugh Grant in warrior paint as some future scape headhunter, Tom Hanks as a bald British gangster/author and an Asian Hugo Weaving. At some point during production, I bet hesitation was felt by the producers.

But, all of the courage shows up as well. We get a wonderfully heartbreaking romance between two young men, a woman in the role of a messiah, a new language spoken, a lengthy duration and, most important, questions planted into the minds of the audience. At some point during production, I bet a sense of pride was felt by the crew.

Some people are dubbing this as some kind of a bomb, having cost so much, and making so little thus far. Some people are dubbing this as pretentious rubbish, and the worst thing everyone involved could've been part of. I will respond with one quote from the film:

When told that there is an order to the world, and that any attempts to shake it would just be a drop in an ocean, a character responds "What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?" This was probably made knowing that it wouldn't make much money, and with the hope that it will give pause to people who watch it.

The friend who asked me about god is an atheist. I'm still just Bill. To me, the universe is one long movie, made up of smaller storylines, leading to one big finish. It might not be presented in the most consumable of ways, it might shift in tone and it might be ridiculous at times, but trust me; it's all important, and it'll all make sense in the end.

5/5 *'s