This is a tough one to judge. We bought the Blu Ray, having seen the trailer, thinking it would be fun. In that respect, it succeeds.
So what is this Russian answer to The Avengers like? I'll talk about its failings, first. It suffers greatly from Anime syndrome. Some reasonable and fun ideas, fantastic visuals, lots of creativity and passion... But badly structured story and poorly defined characters and script. Anime has a tendency to suffer from info-dump scenes. If it's about a character, you have long and boring monologues that tell you 'deep and meaningful' stuff about a character, but are pointless because nothing has come before, to make you care. Likewise, plot details and explanations are often dumped with excessive detail to make sure you know everything the story's writer imagined. They forget the old and most important rule of story telling. Show don't tell.
Marvel movies often have equally absurd super-hero stories and character backgrounds. Where they succeed, is by introducing those stories and character details through smaller interwoven moments within the overall narrative. Don't give a character a monologue, instead give them amusing asides with another character over a few scenes, and/or a brief flashback when they see something, etc.... Reveal the information, for both plot and character, organically and avoid unnecessary details.
The above, is Guardians worst failing. Things suddenly happen without build up. Characters tell someone their tragic story in a monologue that makes you want to scream "get on with it!", but by that point you don't care. It tells you nothing about the character other than some history. You don't FEEL it.
Now on to the good points. The filming (from a visual standpoint, at least) is excellent. The effects are 99% there, to being top tier Hollywood (and certainly on a par with most). The action is well done and fun. What makes all of this all the more impressive, is when you realise it was done on the equivalent of $5 million dollars. The effects work and production quality is, honestly, simply jaw dropping for that amount. You're talking about a film that looks very close to the quality of a Hollywood blockbuster, on the equivalent of something approaching one fortieth of the budget.
For all its failings, though, I'd love to see the creators learn from their mistakes, and keep producing stuff that could challenge Hollywood in quality. I also can't finish without saying, whatever you think of the film, it's all worth it for the sight of a bear with a mini-gun!!! :-D
So what is this Russian answer to The Avengers like? I'll talk about its failings, first. It suffers greatly from Anime syndrome. Some reasonable and fun ideas, fantastic visuals, lots of creativity and passion... But badly structured story and poorly defined characters and script. Anime has a tendency to suffer from info-dump scenes. If it's about a character, you have long and boring monologues that tell you 'deep and meaningful' stuff about a character, but are pointless because nothing has come before, to make you care. Likewise, plot details and explanations are often dumped with excessive detail to make sure you know everything the story's writer imagined. They forget the old and most important rule of story telling. Show don't tell.
Marvel movies often have equally absurd super-hero stories and character backgrounds. Where they succeed, is by introducing those stories and character details through smaller interwoven moments within the overall narrative. Don't give a character a monologue, instead give them amusing asides with another character over a few scenes, and/or a brief flashback when they see something, etc.... Reveal the information, for both plot and character, organically and avoid unnecessary details.
The above, is Guardians worst failing. Things suddenly happen without build up. Characters tell someone their tragic story in a monologue that makes you want to scream "get on with it!", but by that point you don't care. It tells you nothing about the character other than some history. You don't FEEL it.
Now on to the good points. The filming (from a visual standpoint, at least) is excellent. The effects are 99% there, to being top tier Hollywood (and certainly on a par with most). The action is well done and fun. What makes all of this all the more impressive, is when you realise it was done on the equivalent of $5 million dollars. The effects work and production quality is, honestly, simply jaw dropping for that amount. You're talking about a film that looks very close to the quality of a Hollywood blockbuster, on the equivalent of something approaching one fortieth of the budget.
For all its failings, though, I'd love to see the creators learn from their mistakes, and keep producing stuff that could challenge Hollywood in quality. I also can't finish without saying, whatever you think of the film, it's all worth it for the sight of a bear with a mini-gun!!! :-D