Guardians of the Galaxy is the most advertised Marvel movie to date. It’s the strongest effort produced by Marvel studious yet. Guardian’s is more of a science fiction romp than a superhero flick, scoring a five out of five. More than just a film worth seeing, it’s worth owning in your media library with strong replay value.
Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy is quirky, hilarious at times, balanced in action, character oriented, with a sensational blend of Marvel personalities that do not come off as Star Warscantina oddballs.
Voiced by Bradley Cooper Characters such as Rocket Raccoon will keep you in stitches and at no time do you hear Bradley in the character. Without knowing he is the voice, you could never pick him out. On the trivia front, Bradley cites Rocket’s voice based on Joe Pesci’s character Tommy DeVito in 1990′s Goodfellas.
Vin Diesel as Groot is nothing short of adorable. Unimaginable but true. Zoe Saldana as Gamora is another actress that despite any prejudices you may have for her due to her disdain for comic books, she is fantastic in her part. Only pro wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer is soft on acting. Dave becomes an acceptable Drax due in part to well defined mannerisms and humor.
It’s a story that carefully brings together these group of space misfits. They have hardly anything in common except distrust and fighting ability. We begin on Earth with our protagonist Peter Quill played by Chris Pratt. Chris got into the best physical shape of his life to play the part. Establishing his origin background we quickly and permanently head for space circa 1988.
We find him in space 20 year later on a solo expedition which begins with great gadgets giving you the impression we are deeply immersed in a space sci-fi that meets Indiana Jones. Peter turns on a walkman and begins dancing through a cavern listening to the 1970′s hit Come and Get Your Love by Redbone. You can tell this isn’t going to be your typical Sci-Fi or Marvel flick. If you are familiar with the irreverence of Deadpool, it embodies a bit of that story telling tone without the R rating.
It’s also worth noting that the assorted 70′s and 80′s tunes played throughout the film are not simply well selected tunes that everyone will be seeking out after viewing the film, they have meaning and purpose to the story.
Action ensues establishing Peter as not only a fun loving rogue but an agile Batman like athlete with far superior gadgets. Peter’s adventure immediately leads to meeting all the members that make up the title, Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s not your typical team up. They are not selected by the government to go save the day, instead they realize their worth to each other in a convincing fashion.
The plot is a bit cumbersome at first due to many characters being introduced almost simultaneously but this doesn’t hold the story back at all. No sooner are we given the deepest plot thread, a cohesive story line is established.
As outlined, there’s minimal ties to Earth with Thanos being a distant puppet master. Citing him isn’t a spoiler. He was introduced in the end of 2012′sAvengers. Now you finally see Thanos up close and personal. Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, W) portrays Thanos and Josh’s unique jaw line bone structure lends to his characters form nicely.
Other characters from Marvel are used along the way and only if you know their background from existing canon do you know their fate. Otherwise you don’t think a moment of what the final outcome will be, instead you enjoy the ride.
Most action movies are meant as mindless popcorn time sinks. Here we get characters that you understand their motivations and with payoff to everyone’s agenda.
No scene is abandoned, each is finely crafted in production. Elaborate is the only word to sum it up. With so much care and detail applied the goal of suspending disbelief that we are in a completely silly outer space galaxy is accepted without condemnation.
For anyone that is a fan of Marvel’s comic book universe this is a hit. While some nuances are changed to characters within Marvel, they are great representations in the cinematic Marvel universe. You can’t wait to see how these characters may one day interact with Tony Stark or Thor. In fact Ironman was originally hoped to make a cameo in the film but Robert Downey Jr. is currently only obligated to be in Avengerstitles. As for Thor, some had believed one character in Guardians of the Galaxy would be Angela, sister of Thor. She is not in the film in any way.
In most Marvel films there is an Easter Egg at the end that teases Marvel’s next film in line. There is an Easter Egg to stick around for, but it is NO tie in at all.
