Guardians of the Galaxy

Release Date: August 1, 2014
Director: James Gunn
Screenplay: James Gunn, Nicole Perlman
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin.

Marvel took its chances and they paid off! Sure, every MCU franchise has their own personality, but we are before an entire different animal. And it’s great!

Guardians of the Galaxy is about a group of outlaws that circumstance brought together and now they must save, well, the galaxy from a bad guy that works for the main bad guy in MCU… if all the things that have been interconnecting the movies lately are anything to go by.

It starts in the 80s on Earth, where a young Peter Quill runs away from the hospital where his mother has just died and is instantly abducted. Fast-forward 26 years, and a thirty-something Peter Quill (Pratt) dances his way to steal a mysterious orb. And it’s awesome and the awesome doesn’t stop until the crazy after credit scene is over.

As you can see, Peter Quill/Star-Lord is a scavenger with a heart of gold. Other Guardians include Gamora (Zaldana), adopted daughter of Thanos (Brolin) who wants out of the bad guy team; Drax (Bautista), who wants revenge on bad guy Ronan (Pace) for the murder of his wife and daughter; and Groot (Diesel) and Rocket (Cooper), BFFs and bounty hunters who decide to help. And they are seriously a bunch of adorable dorks. Who kick ass.

While, the movie has many, many great points in their favor, it’s the Guardians themselves that take the prize. We have Quills’ frequent use of 80’s pop culture references as well as his awesome mix tape and Walkman; Drax being very literal and not understanding metaphors (or jokes); Gamora’s innocence despite being a tough warrior; Groot’s protective yet clueless ways, and Rocket’s playful meanness. And they all have quite tragic backstories, even if some of them are just hinted at. Yep, all the Guardians are very easy to like.

Other good guys who are not Guardians are the Nova Corps, planet Xandar’s military force. That’s the place Ronan wants annihilated and that’s why he wants that mysterious orb from the beginning of the movie. The main guys from Nova Corps include Close as Nova Prime and Reilly as Rhomann Dey, the leader and a corpsman respectively. And how good were Close and Reilly? Pretty good as the straight men amongst all the shenanigans, a contrast to the less than righteous Guardians.

As for the bad guys, they still suffer from Marvel’s problem to get villains right. Sure, Ronan, Nebula (Gillan) and Korath (Hounsou) look great and have their moments when they are menacing and badass. But just like with most Marvel villains, their plans end up crashing into the ground. And they aren’t as memorable as Loki (or The Winter Soldier, even if he’s not actually a villain). Hey, at least they are better than Iron Man villains! We also have Thanos, but he was not a main part of the movie. He did look great and had a lovely smile though!

On the not really good or bad side, we have Rooker as Yondu, a Ravager who was Star-Lord’s mentor and boss, and Del Toro as The Collector, who wanted the mysterious orb all by himself but mostly as a collective item. And both were very good at their respective jobs! They didn’t have a lot of screen time, but they were charismatic and, even better, memorable.

What about anything else? It was fantastic! The pace, the script, the visuals, the freaking soundtrack! Oh boy, do I love that soundtrack or what? All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy made me smile a bit too much, and my face was hurting by the time the lights went on.

Congrats, Marvel, your phase 3 is still on a good track. I do want this movie makes bank because it deserves it, and it will hopefully make Marvel take more chances!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

So, Kevin Bacon and John Stamos exist in the MCU! Does that mean those actors could never be part of the MCU as characters, or would that be too meta?

mirella

YAM Magazine geek resident. Cloud Cuckoolander. Seldom web developer. Graphic designer.

10 Responses

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