Poor subtitles may deal blow to superhero film

Cast member Chris Pratt poses at the premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy" in Hollywood, California July 21, 2014. The movie opens in the US on August 1. [Photo/Agencies]

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BEIJING -- Marvel's superhero movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" has received mixed reviews in China, thanks to its poor subtitle translation.

Moviegoers and comic book fans are complaining that the film's poor subtitle translation not only spoiled the fun of watching it, but also made it difficult to understand its humor.

Weibo user "Gudabaihua," who has become popular for uploading and subtitling video clips on social media, said he has identified at least 80 translation mistakes in the Chinese subtitles. "Aside from a lot of mistranslations, the subtitles failed to show the original feel of the movie, such as jokes, puns and homophones. We cannot help but doubt the professionalism of the translator."

While other Marvel comics movies such as the X-men series have been popular with Chinese audiences, the "Guardians" features a team of cosmic misfits whom few outside of Marvel's hardcore fanbase have heard of, adding to its lukewarm reception by viewers.

The comic-book action movie, which opened on Oct 10 in China, earned 191 million yuan ($31.2 million) at the box office in its first three days, falling short of other superhero movies such as "Captain America: the Winter Soldier" and "X-men: Days of Future Past," according to China Film News.

This is not the first time for an imported movie with poor subtitles to cause an uproar. "Men in Black III," "Pacific Rim," "The Hunger Games," and "Skyfall" were all criticized after being screened in Chinese cinemas.