Guardians of the Galaxy Review

By this point, Marvel Studios is practically unstoppable.  They’re cranking out two movies a year that kill at the box office and generally get good to great reviews.  Even without its two biggest properties (X-Men and Spider-Man), Marvel’s done very well with taking the second string heroes and kicking them up to the A-list.  At this point they could be content just putting out more Iron Man and Captain America films until they stop making money.  Instead they’re expanding beyond the mostly earthbound Avengers with even deeper cut characters like in the new Guardians of the Galaxy.  Directed by cult favorite James Gunn, Guardians is a true blast; a refreshing change of pace from the bleakness clogging up modern blockbusters.

Guardians focuses on Peter Quill (Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt, whose performance here may be his breakthrough), an earthling abducted as a kid and raised by mercenaries.  He’s sent to pick up the MacGuffin in the film, a MacGuffin that can produce devastating effects.  Through his ordeal trying to sell it he comes across Thanos’ adopted daughter & trained assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a warrior with a Spock-like mindset named Drax the Destroyer (David Bautista), an anthropomorphic tree with a three word vocabulary named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and a wisecracking raccoon/science experiment named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper).  As Quill finds himself targeted by villain Ronan (Lee Pace), he gathers his gang of antisocial misfits to become the title group.

Director Gunn, who also co-scripted, has created easily the funniest of the Marvel films.  The film plays like an irreverent Star Wars, as if all of the heroes were Han Solo.  There is some fun with language and tropes of actions movies that’s reminiscent of the dialogue in Airplane!  Also part of the genius of the MCU films: this film rewards fans of the series and the comics, but is just as enjoyable for new viewers.  Even people who have never seen a second of any of the MCU films will get a kick out of it.  While this film also has the most world building of any Marvel film since the Thor series, it never becomes burdensome or too hard to follow.

The one big demerit is the villains.  Ronan, as well as his associates Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou), suffer from the trend in Marvel movies having lackluster villains (except for Loki).  They serve their function, but I was left wanting a little more out of them.  There are also certain character moments that seem underdeveloped, like they know they’ll use it in the sequel even if it probably would’ve made more sense to use in this film.

Despite that, Guardians of the Galaxy is a non-stop good time.  It’s the best space adventure since Serenity, and is up there with the original Iron Man and Avengers for the MCU films.  With blockbusters deciding “dark” and “gritty” are synonymous with quality, Guardians states loudly and clearly that that couldn’t be further from the truth.  The film is clever and hilarious with a memorable team of characters at the center of it.  There is something to say about enjoying the swagger of storytellers who are on a roll, and Marvel is on one right now.

Grade: A-

Miscellaneous Notes (SPOILERS):

-Of course I have to mention the music, which is perfectly curated for stuff that sounds straight out of Reservoir Dogs K Billy’s Super Sounds of the ‘70s.  It works so well for a film that refuses to take itself too seriously.

-Much like Black Widow and Captain America in The Winter Soldier, I’m glad they didn’t have Gamora and Quill automatically become a couple at the end.  They clearly have the chemistry, but it’s a good way to show she offers more than just being a potential love interest.

-Between Rocket Raccoon and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, this has been a great year for cinematic mammals handling weapons.

-Man, the bar just rose really high for JJ Abrams.

-At this point, part of me wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up rebooting Howard the Duck.  They are so confident now almost anything is possible.

-I am Groot!