"Guardians of the Galaxy" Sneak Peak At This Year's Comic-Con

The filming of the movie has only started recently, but Disney gave attendees at this year's Comic-Con a sneak peak at the new Marvel movie "Guardians of the Galaxy". And if this review of the sneak peak is of any indication, it sounds like this could be another monster hit for Disney and Marvel.

The crowd in Hall H at Comic-Con is not a great representation of the general movie-going public. For the most part, the thousands of people who fill the hall are hard-core fans who are willing to wait as long as 12 hours to get a seat. These are people who have paid good money not only for Comic-Con tickets but for the expense of traveling to the convention and paying for somewhere to stay. These people are dedicated.

I’m probably a better representation of the folks who Marvel will actually have to sell on the movie. Yes, I like blockbusters and comic-book movies but I wouldn’t know a Guardian of the Galaxy from a (more obscure) member of the X-Men. The Guardians of the Galaxy footage was a surprise during the Marvel presentation and at first, fans seemed somewhat wary.

But the footage won everyone (including me) over. The film is from director James Gunn who, until now, has made small, stylishly dark funny films like Super and Slither. Gunn clearly has a very specific vision. The footage was sharp and funny in a way we haven’t seen with other superhero movies. It had attitude to spare and was super charming. Oh and did I mention the bad ass raccoon?

See, I think this is what Disney should be doing, getting directors that are fresh, have a rather interesting and new angle, and willing to try something daring. This is the problem with "The Lone Ranger". It came from a team that struck gold with the first Pirates, and then rode its coattail with the sequels, despite the fact that the subsequent movies weren't that good when compared with the first. Yet, Disney management thinks that this is a "winning" track record or combination. "The Lone Ranger" proves that it isn't. Going with directors with a rather quirky and interesting take on one of these action-adventure-type movie might just be a way to break the monotony of this movie genre. "The Avengers" was one such movie, where fans of the blockbuster, action movie got their fill, while the rest of us were also thrilled at the humor and the tongue-in-cheek aspect of it.

Zz.