Guardians of the Galaxy

Director: James Gunn
Screenplay: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman (based on the comic book series created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)
Stars: Chris Pratt (Peter Quill), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Vin Diesel (Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Lee Pace (Ronan), Michael Rooker (Yondu Udonta), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Djimon Hounsou (Korath), John C. Reilly (Corpsman Dey), Glenn Close (Nova Prime), Benicio Del Toro (The Collector), Laura Haddock (Meredith Quill)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Year of Release: 2014
Country: U.S.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the GalaxyGive credit where credit is due: Guardians of the Galaxy was certainly a risk for Marvel Studios, given that Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon have hardly the same name recognition in the popular imaginary as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk. The comic book series on which the film was based is also relatively new, having been launched in 2008, although, like The Avengers, it drew together a number of characters who had appeared in previous series over the year. Comparisons to The Avengers are apt, although the eponymous “Guardians” are more like rough-edged second stringers who, despite not getting the same amount of playing time, are, if we’re really honest, more fun to watch.

In fact, the first half of Guardians of the Galaxy represents the best work we’ve seen all summer in the blockbuster comic book genre, which is now so ubiquitous that it is becoming more and more difficult to find a way to stand out. Co-writer/director James Gunn, best known for the delirious gross-out horror-comedy Slither (2006) and his Rainn Wilson-starring superhero parody Super (2010), bucks the trend by bringing a genuinely irreverent sense of humor to the proceedings, playing up the outlandishness of the series’ premise and characters in such a devilishly casual way that the film’s goof-off tone becomes infectious.

Interestingly, it actually starts on a relatively serious note with a preadolescent boy facing the horror of his dying mother in an austere hospital room before running away and being zapped up into the cosmos by a gigantic space cruiser. We then jump ahead twenty-some-odd years where we find that boy, Peter Quill, has now grown up into a humorously roguish bandit who likes to call himself Star-Lord—even though no one else does. Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation), a perennial supporting player making his leading-man debut, plays Peter with a mix of cock-of-the-walk swagger and sly self-deprecation. He gets the job done, but it isn’t always pretty, and he does it while rocking out to a mix of ’70s and ’80s pop songs that are constantly spinning on his late-’80s Sony Walkman.

Via a series of plot contrivances cooked up by Gunn and co-screenwriter Nicole Perlman, Quill becomes the unofficial leader of a group of oddball outlaws: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a green-skinned assassin who may or may not be working for the film’s arch-villain; Drax (wrestler Dave Bautista), a multi-colored hulk out for revenge; Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a cynical, wise-cracking anthropomorphic raccoon (the result of genetic experimentation, natch); and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a giant tree-like entity who serves as Rocket’s muscle and has exactly one thing he can say: “I am Groot.” There are a bunch of other characters, too, including Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), the blue-skinned bandit who raised and trained Peter but still views him as an enemy, and Ronan (Lee Pace), the film’s power-hungry villain. The plot hinges, as these things often do, on a Macguffin in the form of a small glowing rock that has the power to ... well ... destroy stuff, make people god-like in their powers, destroy more stuff—you get the picture. And that’s where Guardians of the Galaxy starts to come off the rails.

Well, “come off the rails” is probably a bit strong, since Guardians of the Galaxy is, pound for pound, one of the more entertaining and genuinely enjoyable blockbusters of this weary summer season. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed when, after the jaunty, funny, middle-finger-raising opening half, it settles down into yet another pro forma plot about the threat of imminent destruction, the need for antagonists to pull together and fight like a team, and a climax of soundtrack-busting explosions and computer-generated mayhem. As a giant ship was crashing into a beautiful, glistening futuristic city, all I could think was how similar it looked to the giant ship crashing into futuristic San Francisco in last summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness and the giant ship crashing into Washington, DC, in this summer’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). In other words, rather than feeling like I was seeing something new and vibrant and off-kilter and invigorating, I was right back in the same ’ol, same ’ol. Granted, Gunn directs the action sequences with aplomb, and the character building of the film’s first half certainly gives the all-too familiar conventions of the fiery climax some emotional heft, but I still couldn’t help but wish that Gunn had managed to maintain the film’s irreverent spirit right through the end, rather than abandoning it halfway and bowing to the dictates of the genre.

Copyright ©2014 James Kendrick

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All images copyright © Marvel Studios

Overall Rating: (3)




James Kendrick

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