This Week in Tickets: 27 August 2018 - 2 September 2018

Not going to lie - I've been an absolute slug this week. I've managed to get some tidying-up done around the house, put a bit of a dent in the pile of comics, and managed to fight the DVR down to 80%, but that's not really what this blog is about.



So, not much until Friday, when I caught the better-than-expected L Storm. Not sure what the "LL" on the ticket where it usually says "ID" means, but they didn't ask for a photo ID. Whether this means AMC trusts me now, they're not going to bother to have ticket-takers check during busy periods, or they're just happy for anyone showing up at certain shows is anybody's guess. On Sunday… Well, hey, why wasn't I aware that those Marvel Imax screenings were just $8? I might have opted for more, even if their chronological scheduling didn't really favor the ones I wanted to see again on the big screen. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was an easy IMAX 3D revisit, though.

As always, follow my Letterboxd for more short stuff, though it sometimes winds up here at roughly the same time.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

* * * ½ (out of four)
Seen 2 September 2018 in AMC Boston Common #2 (Marvel Studios 10th Anniversary, Imax 3D)

Marvel movies are fun enough to be rewatchable, but they're the kind of smart blockbuster that doesn't necessarily reveal more on second or third viewings; so much as they don't expose too many gaps. Guardians 2 works, but the pop culture references are a bit more strained, the enthusiastic violence doesn't become less questionable, and the fun of hearing unexpected tracks on its mix-tape soundtrack is not quite what it was - I started to wonder what it would sound like if Tyler Bates got to score the big moments.

A lot of what works the first time through still works now, though - it's an exceptionally well-cast movie, and writer/director James Gunn gives his cast room to be well-rounded and emotional while also being broad, larger-than-life comic book characters. The best addition is Kurt Russell, who for a while stood as Marvel's best pure villain - malevolent but charming, with goals that make perfect sense from his perspective, and the sort of arch, not-quite-human perspective that lets him underline things like dissecting "Brandy" with less a knowing wink to the audience than a sense that his trying too hard to manipulate his son is part of the character.

And it looks great, the sort of thing you absolutely want to see in Imax or on a 4K HDR set, with popping colors, big open spaces to play in, great effects, and a willingness to embrace the goofier parts of the Marvel Universe - as a Marvel fan, actually seeing a shot of Ego the Living Planet was one of the best moments when I thought "oh, they're going for it" since Thanos first appeared at the end of The Avengers. The big, outer-space action is still terrific, even with a couple of Star Wars movies to raise the bar since.