Film In Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

As I sit here and write this review, my first on this blog for a Marvel film, I find myself both impressed and surprised at what Marvel Studios has managed to accomplish to this point and time.  Several days ago they, Marvel, released a 5 minute or so video that recapped, in very effective fashion, the path they have taken from Phase I on through Phase II.  The video did a nice job of showing the broad strokes of the films that encompass the first two phases of Marvel's overall plan.  But it also in some ways could be viewed as a victory lap for the studio.  What really comes across in that video is just how confident Marvel is at this point in their plan and path going forward.  Based on their newest film, Guardians of the Galaxy, they have every right to be.

Five Burning Questions going into Comic-Con 2014!

If I am being honest, I should have wrote this post yesterday as Comic-Con is already underway.  I have no excuse for it, so let's just move on shall we?   Yet another Con and another year I am not in attendance.
This year however is different as I am closer to San Diego than I have ever been before, now that I am a resident of Las Vegas.  I think it would be 4-5 hour drive if I am correct in that. Either way it is close and now it becomes feasible for me to make it there.  Next year....next year.

So since I am not there, I am going to go ahead and write posts all this weekend that cover what was announced at Comic-Con and offer my opinions on much of it.  It is a bit like a game of telephone in that I am relating a story second hand.  However, unlike that great game from childhood, the information will not change in the second telling.  With that said, let's go ahead and dive in.

Welcome to the Age of Lady Thor!

This morning Marvel made a major announcement on the ABC show The View.  Many people thought the announcement was going to be the title and release date of a third Thor film.  Well those people were right about it involving Thor.  Marvel has officially changed the sex of Thor in the comic books.  To be more accurate they have changed who is going to wield Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor.

Thor is still going to be hanging around and exist in this new comic run.  He just will be no longer worthy to yield his famous hammer anymore.  Which implies Thor did something prior to this development that changed his worthiness.  One must wonder the severity of the act in question given the consequence of it.  No matter what the reason in the comics continuity, Marvel is making another prominent character a woman.

This is really good news for those who feel women are underrepresented in comics (which they are).  Thor is one of Marvel's big characters alongside Captain America, Iron Man, and Hulk.  To have that character be represented by a woman is a big step forward for Marvel and for comics in general.

But the question I have now is will the predominantly male comic readership accept this change and will the series sell well?"

What is the future of Spider-Man on film?

Last week Roberto Orci took part in an interview with IGN and in the course of that interview revealed that he was no longer involved in writing The Amazing Spider-Man 3 or whatever it will end up being called. Orci also implied in his comments that the future of the once promising franchise is in a bit of limbo right now. Here is the actual comment by Orci:

I don't know what their plans are for that franchise. I don't ever want to say never, but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I've read probably as much as anyone else. There's a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom -- there's an idea of Spider-Man's going to be one of these characters that's part of our business. He's such a popular character. Spider-Man's not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined.

There is alot to parse out of this quote I think.  First there is the obvious fact that Orci is no longer writing ASM3 or involved in the overall plans for the character going into the future.  We could assume, second, that Orci would have some inside knowledge of what is happening with the franchise considering his former writing partner, Alex Kurtzman, is the one responsible for writing and directing a stand alone Venom film for Sony.  Now with that said, Kurtzman may not know what is happening with the franchise's future either.  But it is safe to assume.  What this all means is that in the halls of Sony there is some uncertainty about where they go from here.

It is good news I think for the franchise to have Orci no longer involved.  I have never been a particularly big fan of him and still don't understand, based on his past work, why he seems to always land these high profile projects.  Except of course for the fact that he will do whatever the studio wants with the script.  I am sure having a yes man on projects like this is a preferred situation for the suits at any studio.  But as can be seen with the critical backlash and unperformance at the box office of Orci's last two projects, Star Trek Into Darkness and Amazing Spider-Man 2, it is obvious that method does not produce films of any real quality or lasting popularity.

Obviously, Spider-Man will continue on film.  Putting the whole Marvel rights issue aside, Spider-Man is still profitable to Sony.  True, ASM2 was not the global juggernaut that Sony had hoped for.  But the power of Spider-Man does not only reside in the global box office.  His earning power really resides in merchandising. Spider-Man can be found on cereal boxes, pizza boxes, fast food happy meals, toy store shelves, and commercials for cell phone companies, and automobile manufacturers.  That is where Spider-Man can earn Sony the real money and is why you won't see Sony stop making Spider-Man films.  Sorry Marvel fans, the rights will never revert back to Marvel anytime in the near future.

With future Spider-Man films coming, just what can Sony do to restore this franchise to its former glory? Can it be saved?  And if so, does it involve another scrapping of what they have done to this point and rebooting it all again?