When my brother called me that Friday afternoon to ask if I
was interested in seeing a movie I said yes. I always say yes to movie
invitations. However, Guardians of the Galaxy was not the movie I wanted to
see. I was still a little miffed that my brother (and primary movie-going
partner) had gone to see the Planet of the Apes sequel without me. But when you
get right down to it, I am a comic-book
fan and I have seen all the Marvel Movies (at least the ones that have been
released to movie theaters – I am still looking for that un-released Fantastic
Four movie) and Guardians of the Galaxy was not going to end my streak. So I
brother grabbed me up after work and we headed to AMC Woburn.
In our teenage years, my brother and I used to head to the
Woburn Theatre for their late Friday night shows after our shifts at the
various restaurants at which we worked. We
would see a 1:00 AM showing of Jurassic Park or whatever action movie was the
most hyped, after a marathon session of NBA Jamz (“He’s ON Fire!”) in the
theatre arcade row. Eventually this theatre started to be run down (besides
they had removed the arcade games) and we stopped going there. Years later, we
would show up there occasionally because we both worked in the area and it was
a convenient location for the small windows of time we had between jobs and
family and the whatnots that sucks up so much time when you get older. When
there was time, we preferred the Fenway Theatre or the Boston Common. Tonight
my brother wanted us to see the movie I was not excited about at the theatre
with the worst seating, the stickiest floors, and the least interesting
concessions.
Why is that me, the comic book fan, was not excited about
the Guardians of the Galaxy movie? I had somewhat enjoyed the comic in the past
but it was far from a favorite. I have been avoiding the most recent
incarnation written by Brian Michael Bendis. I have a Bendis problem. He is at
worst a competent writer but he his style tends to repeat little patterns that
annoy me. His ticks do not mean I avoid anything he writes but when he is
writing books, in which I have only a lukewarm interest I just ignore them. I tend
to think Bendis is at his worst when he is trying to be funny. The GoG comic
was supposedly a humorous adventure book by Bendis. The trailers I saw for the
GoG movie all focused on the humor and not the adventure and I was afraid it
was going to descend into the camp that had ruined many a comic book movie and
TV show. Fortunately, I could not have been more wrong about Guardians of the
Galaxy or the AMC Woburn.
The completely refurbished theatre looked great. The
concessions were All-New (like Marvel Comics) and looked good. They even had
some half-healthy options. By far the most impressive change was in the
seating. Gone were the broken and uncomfortable fold-down seats of the past 30
years. The seats were now giant, plush recliners with cup holders and wide
aisles between them. I remember thinking before the film began that even if
this movie sucked at least I would be the most comfortable I had ever been in a
theatre of any sort. The movie was fantastic. I literally enjoyed every single
moment of the film. It was funny, but not in a campy way. It had adventure with
purpose and characters with heart. I was especially impressed with Batista as
Drax and Vin Diesel as Groot. These characters could have gone bad very easily
and made this the movie I was expecting but they both knocked it out of the
park. I even downloaded the soundtrack to my Nexus 5 and listened to it for
week while riding back and forth to work.
As we were leaving the theatre, I heard several people commenting
about wanting a baby Groot toy. I want one too and I saw that one is being
released soon (unfortunately it does not sing and dance). As we were getting
into the car with smiles on our faces my brother remarked that the Guardians of
the Galaxy movie captured what Marvel Comics are like better than any movie
ever had and I agree with him. His comment may be difficult for a non-comics
reader to understand but it only underscores how much I would like everyone to
see and enjoy this movie.
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