This week at the movies, superheroes get a sense of humor, and James Brown gets the Oscar treatment.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy is a superhero movie, sure, but it’s unlike any other superhero movie out there. It’s a comedy that sends up superhero movies, mocking them and spoofing them, while actually continuing to be a real superhero movie at the same time (After all, it’s Marvel). The premise: a superhero no one has ever heard of (Star-Lord, a/k/a Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt) joins forces with a ragtag superhero army to help save the world (or something). That ragtag army is ridiculous: there’s a raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a moving tree thing (Groot, played by Vin Diesel), a warrior princess (Zoe Saldana, of course), and a beefy musclehead (Drax the Destroyer). And, to add to the fun, you’ve got a list of A-List actors like John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Josh Brolin.
What the Critics Say: Pretty fun, funny, and clever (though not as clever as it thinks it is). Says the Washington Post: “It's the funniest of any Marvel movie yet, lending the film a lightness that goes a long way toward deflating the grandiosity that sometimes inflates and bloats the studio's films.” Writes the New York Times: “Here, a pulse, wit, beauty and a real sensibility have been slipped into the fray, alongside the clockwork guffaws, kabooms and splats.”
Our Take: Probably the only superhero movie I will voluntarily go to see.
Get On Up
Truth is better than fiction—and nowhere is that more true than with the life of funk and soul master James Brown. This biopic tells bits and pieces of his long, crazy, erratic life—from prison to the Apollo. Chadwick Boseman, the star of 42, anchors the drama as Brown himself. Also starring Oscar nominee, Viola Davis, as his estranged mother, Nelsan Ellis (of True Blood fame) as Bobby Byrd, and Dan Aykroyd as Ben Bart.
Perfect For: Fans of James Brown’s music and lovers of bio-pics. Also, this shockingly has a PG 13 rating, so you can take your older kids.
What the Critics Say: They are mixed on the movie overall (some think it’s very well told; others think it is disjointed), but they are all in agreement that Boseman is Oscar worthy. Says the Village Voice: “Get On Up isn't a perfect-picture; there are moments of awkwardness, little gambles that don't quite pay off. But it's one of those experiments that's both flawed and amazing, a mainstream movie (with Mick Jagger as one of its producers) that fulfills old-fashioned, entertainment-value requirements, even as it throws off flashes of insight.” Writes Time magazine: “Incarnating James Brown in all his ornery uniqueness, he deserves a Pulitzer, a Nobel and instant election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Our Take: Looks great, but even if it’s a terrible movie, it’s got hours of James Brown’s music and that’s worth the price of admission.
