Set to a score of amazing 80’s tunes, Guardians of the Galaxy focuses on an earthling named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) aka Star Lord who now, after being kidnapped from Earth, spends his days wooing women and stealing goods to make money throughout space. After stealing a mysterious orb, Quill becomes a wanted man by a handful of people in the galaxy including Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), a fierce member of the Kree who is supposed to deliver the orb to Thanos. Shortly after Quill obtains the orb, he meets Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), and a little later on, Drax (Dave Bautista), and the gang work together to break out of prison so that they can sell the orb for a huge amount of money. Things change and soon this ragtag group of misfits must eventually work together and alter their mission to prevent Ronan, his number two lady Nebula (Karen Gillan), and their Kree cronies from taking the orb and wreaking havoc in the galaxy.
When James Gunn was hired to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy, mainstream folks were probably like, “who’s that guy?,” but for those of us that eat up independent films we rejoiced at the idea of the guy who made the bloody and hilarious Super, someone who could bring character driven storytelling, odd characters and humor together, being hired for a movie about outcasts and assholes joining forces to save the world. It was a brilliant move on Marvel’s part and one that has paid off huge dividends from my viewing experience and one that they’ll see on their bottom line explode when the box-office numbers start flooding in. The reason Gunn’s film works so well is that everyone gets their fair share of screen-time and development in addition to the inclusion of some really fun action sequences that reminded me a bit of Star Wars space battles. Even when things get silly you can’t help but smile at the thought that this film breaks away from the traditional Marvel mold a bit, bringing something seemingly fresh to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, characters that most people don’t know, providing an opportunity to go into a film without any real expectations. That feeling of unknown doesn’t happen much with Marvel films.
Though I expected it to be entertaining, what surprised me most about the film was how much of a gut buster it was. Guardians of the Galaxy is probably the funniest Marvel film to date but it’s also one of the most exciting to watch. James Gunn and Nicole Perlman have written a relatively tight script but the key to its comical success has to be the timing of the jokes, which is part of the actors responsibility and part of Gunn’s responsibility. While Dave Bautista was not the strongest actor in the film, his character Drax provided some of the best one-liners I’ve heard all year, one of which I’ll be using regularly if I get the chance.
One of my favorite aspects of the film were the characters themselves. There’s some great character development and it’s one of those films where you’d actually rather watch the characters chatting and bickering with each other than seeing action, that’s how enjoyable they are. Sure, they’re a bunch of anti-hero asshole types, but that’s what makes this movie stand-out from all the other Marvel movies, they aren’t your typical heroes, they’re not, for the most part, “super,” they’re a bunch of criminals who have to learn to get along by combining their best skills together in order to complete their objectives. By the time you finish the film there is a good chance some of the current Avengers lose the number one spot in your “top Marvel movie character” lists, I know the pairing of Rocket and Groot has officially made my top three.
Prior to seeing Guardians I hadn’t heard Rocket’s voice but I was extremely skeptical of the casting choice of Bradley Cooper for the role and it was the only thing I was hesitant about walking into the film. That skepticism was erased immediately the second that raccoon spoke. I was so happy to hear a voice that didn’t sound like Cooper, instead it sounded like a character that had been roughed up, living on the streets of NY and finally found what he was good at, blowing things up.
Personally, when it comes to the overall entertainment experience, I found Guardians of the Galaxy to be one of the most entertaining big-budget films I’ve seen all year. It sits up there right next to The Lego Movie for me and is one of those films that I’m looking forward to watching again. Do I think the jokes will be as funny on a second viewing? Probably not, but the way the characters interact with each other is extremely fun and the thought of how the Guardians will fit into the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe is exciting enough for me. Thanks to the tone, story for action balance, and other multi-dimensional aspects, I can easily name Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the most satisfying blockbusters of the year thus far.
Rating: “I am Groot” (8/10)
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