This is Jacob from the Wisecrack channel
and welcome to film Legends where the most Renowned films of our age
Battle to be crowned the greatest of all time
We'll be analyzing an awarding points
for every single thing a movie does right
Many will compete but in the end
only the strongest will have what it takes to become
film legends
today's Challenger Guardians of the Galaxy
the opening 1980's prologue
Cleverly establishes the film's love for '80s Pop culture
While also planting the seeds for Peter Quill's emotional arc
here rejecting the impassioned plea of his mother
a prologue done right
Give it up for the great character actor Greg Henry
You've probably seen his face a whole lot
as he's appeared in each of James Gunn's previous films
Gunn actually cast the same recurring actors throughout all of his movies.
We'll see many faces from his repertory theatre later on
The reappearance to the Walkman effortlessly established Peter Quill
as the kidnapped child from the opening
who even needs exposition?
Quill's attempt to retrieve the orb homage is the OG of
Action-Adventure films: Raiders of the Lost Ark
I mean really all Quill's missing is the whip
Quill spaceship the Milano
is a reference to the 80's teen heartthrob, Alyssa Milano
Guardians is filled with these 80's pop culture references.
It's soundtrack basically a best-of
reflective of Quill's own childhood
Peter: uhh Girl: Bereet
a deep cut cameo by the Marvel comic character Bereet
a former fling not just to Star-Lord, but the Hulk
Ronan's Tradition of lying in the blood of Xandarians
traces back to ancient Biblical tradition
the so called Righteous would bathe their feet in the blood of enemies.
Ronan: ^^
Ronan's dogmatism for ancient traditions
ties into the current religious fundamentalists of the middle east
just like these fundamentalists
Ronan cites the thousand-year war he must avenge
Reflecting the thousand-year war between Islam and Christendom.
Yondu: We do not do that to each other. We're Ravagers
The villains, Ronan and Yondu,
constantly cite ancient customs as their primary motivation
whereas our heroes, Peter Quill and Gamora,
rebel against the customs
marking blind ideology as destructive
Oh come on guardians you were doing so well avoiding needless exposition
that's going to cost you
Rocket: all of them in a big hurry to get from something stupid
to nothing at all
Rocket Racoon recites here one of the principles of existential nihilism
a belief that human life is insignificant
and the world itself devoid of purpose
I WILL NEVER GET SICK OF THESE STAN LEE CAMEOS
[HE'S THE BEST ]
Heyo!
meet cute alert!
like in every classic rom-com
our two beautiful leads start the film at each other's throats
Here? Well literally
Now that's more like it!
the police lineup provides a perfect way to go on exposition on each of our main characters.
Peter: So this orb has real shining blue suitcase, Ark of the Covenant,
Maltese Falcon Sort ofvibe
the Orb, just like the Maltese Falcon and the Ark of the Covenant
is a textbook Macguffin
a vaguely defined object that drives the characters in the story
Peter: what is wrong with Giving Tree here?
a reference to the
1964 Shel Silverstein children's book The Giving Tree
also about a benevolent tree who sacrifices everything to appease his human friends
For Quill, this Walkman is a comfort object
in which adults hang on to childhood belongings for emotional support
Suggesting beneath his stoic facade
still lurks a brokenhearted child
Music: *HOOKED ON A FEELIN'*
beefcake shot for the ladies
and the guys too!
That's Lloyd Kaufman producer of exploitation film company Troma
which gave director James Gunn his first big break
Drax:^^
Prisoner:^^
even the minor supporting characters get their own punchline
Emperor Palpatine sure ain't the only evil hologram in space
Does Thanos ever get up off that chair?
I mean he's been in three films now
Yet this supposed Big Bad is lazier than my best friend Mikey
Rocket: I got one plan that plan requires
A frickin Cortex battery
So figure it out!
*prisoner grunts
Excellent use of Mise-en-scene
as Rocket explains his plan He's undermined in the background by Groot
Peter: If I had a black light this would look like a Jackson Pollock painting
wow that's a really dirty joke for a marvel family film
Rocket: Well I didn't ask to get made
I Didn't have to be torn apart and put back together
over and over and turned into some,
some little monster
Rocket Raccoon sad lement reflects the anti-natalist philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer
for Schopenhauer, birth only leads to the existence filled with suffering
It'd be a whole lot easier to not be born in the first place
The Collector's, well, collection
is Chock-full of deep cut Marvel references
Cosmo, a Telepathic Dog
Adam Warlock's Cocoon
Chitauri Soldier from the Avengers
Thor Look-Alike Beta Ray Bill
the tesseract
Howard the duck
heck. There's even the evil space slug
from James Gunn's horror comic, Slither
Collector: There were 6 singularities
Then the universe exploded into exsistance
And the remnants of the system were forged
into concentrated ingots
Proof that Benicio Del Toro can deliver all the exposition in the world
and still make it interesting sufficient
Drax: yeah, I was a fool
All the anger
all the rage
Just to cover my loss
Each of the Guardians deal with their own personal loss.
for Drax the loss of his wife and child
Peter his mother
Gamora her biological parents
Even the villainous Ronan has suffered the loss of a father
And each of these characters cope with their loss in destructive ways
Drax and Gamora through murder
Peter through General thievery
and Ronan by attempted genocide
Yet these destructive coping mechanisms are revealed to be ineffective
it's only through friendship
that each character is finally able to Cope with their loss
well, everybody but Ronan
poor Djimon Hounsou
Academy award-nominated actor relegated to just hanging around in the background
Gamora: I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies
the guardians arc composed to besties
goes through each of the Aristotelian Stages of Friendship
utility pleasure and goodness
In a friendship of utility
friendships are based purely on beneficial value
Quill needs Gamora to sell the Orb
Gamora needs Quill because he possesses the orb
and they both need Rocket and Groot to escape the prison
This then leads into the second stage the friendship of pleasure
where people are drawn together because they enjoy each other's company
Finally in the third stage the friendship of goodness
each person brings out the best in one another
much as the guardians bring out each other's inner hero
Rocket: Buncha jackasses standing in a circle
Rocket here mocks the cliche
Where the good guys join together to fight their foe
often while standing in a circle
and then two minutes later
Guardians doubles down
mocking the old slow mo walk cliche
Guardians often juxtaposes drama with comedy
characteristic of the incongruence juxtaposition theory
Per Philosopher Francis Hutchison,
comedy derives from a sudden perception shift
like say Groot murdering a bunch of people
and then smiling back innocently
Nebula: I know you're balls crazy
a star wars shout out!
Nebula, much like luke
loses her hand and then falls down quite a long way
in fact in each of the phase 2 Marvel films
a character loses a hand
you crafty Marvel executives you
Rocket: You'll die
Groot: We
are
Groot
Can you pause I'm sorry I know I'm supposed to make a point here
But it's just so sad!
a payoff to the prologue
in which Quill refused his mother's hand
Now here he finally takes the hands of his friends
showing emotional growth
Peter: but he was about the only family I had
Gamora: No, he wasn't
Guardians rejects the Traditional Nuclear Family
instead favoring a family of choice
when people choose their loved ones based not on blood
but affection
Irani Rael: You're Half-Terran, your mother was of Earth
Your father
well, he's something very ancient we've never seen here
before nice job setting up the sequel
I'm heading up to Guardians 2 tonight!
Can not wait!
Peter: who the hell are you?
Ego: I'm your dad Peter
THE ANTICIPATION IS KILLING ME!
Drax: It's really Thanos I need to kill
Oh the unending cycle of revenge
Drax's bloodlust echoes the words of French Philosopher
Simone de Beauvoir
who posed WWII question whether revenge could ever truly be satisfied
Meredith: you are the light of my life
My Precious son my little Star-Lord
Aww Quill wants to be called Star-Lord
because it was his mom's nickname for him!
An emotional twist and what previously seemed like a simple joke
Peter: there's another name you might know me by
Starlord who?
who doesn't love Baby Groot?
You know what? can we just watch this on repeat?
I WISH I WAS GROOT
All right Guardians the Galaxy
let's see How you did
Wow! what a bunch of really consistent high scores!
these a-holes got a whole lot of style and technique to spare
and speaking of A-Holes
the Guardians were able to put aside their differences
earning the film the token of friendship
but will friendship be enough to topple Neo from the top spot?
Let's go over to the leaderboard and find out!
Guardians of the Galaxy rising
beating its fellow Marvel Bro Captain America
settling in at number 3! Groot-tastic!
let us know in the comments who else you'd like to see compete for the title spot
and be sure to come back real soon
as another competitor fights for the title of film legend.
Yo ho, yo ho
a film legends title for me!
is the next challenger ready?
Hey theorists
Thanks for watching
if you've missed any of the other episodes of film Legends
click here to go check them out
or click here to check out our video
on the hidden meaning in the Guardians of the Galaxy
over on the Wisecrack channel.
See you next time
you