Guardians of the Galaxy

Director: James Gunn

Released: August 2014

Run Time: 121 Minutes

Rated: PG-13

Cast:
Chris Pratt: Peter Quill/Star-Lord
Zoe Saldana: Gamora
Dave Bautists: Drax
Vin Diesel: Groot
Bradley Cooper: Rocket
Lee Pace: Ronan
Michael Rooker: Yondu Udonta
Benicio Del Toro: The Collector

Over the past 15 years we’ve seen a major surge in comic-book based movies.  We’ve seen so many movies from X-Men and Spider-Man to Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Superman, Batman, and The Avengers.  Over the next few years, including 2015, we’ll be witnessing Ant-Man, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, an actual Justice League film, and Captain America: Civil War.  That’s just scratching the surface.  Most of Paramount’s films and Marvel’s in-house movies are interconnected, often directly.  Marvel’s had more success with their movies than Warner Bros. and DC, but it’s still going to be interesting to see where things go.  It’s a great time to be a fan of comic-book movies.  It really is.  Filmmakers like Bryan Singer, Christopher Nolan and Joss Whedon know what it takes to make a good comic book movie.  Others, like Brett Ratner….not so much.  But now, we can add director James Gunn to the list of directors who get it right.  And he got it right with the adaptation of a comic book series that didn’t seem to be as popular as others: Guardians of the Galaxy.

Somewhere in the galaxy on an unknown planet, a mysterious masked figure explores a mysterious old ruin when he comes upon a mysterious orb.  When he takes off his mask we found out that he’s a human named Peter Quill.  Soon, he’s apprehended by hostile forces who try to take him in for questioning.  Escaping with both his life and the orb, he makes his way back to a more civilized world to trade in the orb for some serious cash.  Little does he know that he is not the only one looking for that orb.  A brutal dictator by the name of Ronan the Accuser is searching for the orb so he can destroy the people that persecuted him and his family.  After being attacked by a mysterious green-skinned woman, Gamora, a talking raccoon named Rocket, and a giant tree-like figure, all figures are arrested and sent to prison somewhere in the galaxy.  The story is actually pretty good.  And yes, Virginia, there is a talking raccoon named Rocket.  While most of Marvel’s offerings have been superhero movies, Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t a superhero movie.  Tone-wise it’s more like Joss Whedon’s Firefly or Serenity.  The premise is so off-the-wall crazy it works.  It feels like a combination of Star Wars and Serenity.  It has more aliens though.

When your movie starts with the main character listening to Redbone’s Come and Get Your Love, you’re in for a real treat.  In fact, all these songs from the 60s and 70s play a huge role in the film.  There not just there for the sake of being amusing.  It helps.  One of the funniest scenes in the film has Blue Swede’s Hooked on a Feeling playing.  But there is a real reason for why Star-Lord listens to this music.  The reason is actually fairly sentimental and quite touching, really.  Yeah, this is NOT a movie that takes itself seriously.  In case I didn’t mention it before: Talking. Raccoon.  I honestly regret not seeing this one in theaters, because it is a blast.  I hadn’t really heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics before the movie was announced, so I guess that’ why I didn’t see it initially.  This is by far one of the most entertaining movies of 2014.  It is also one of the most spectacular.  The locations are absolutely stunning.  Not only do you have different landscapes and planets, but the ships and stations are incredibly detailed and enormous.  There is a location called Knowhere, that’s a mining colony set in the head of an ancient being.  It’s huge.  The sets themselves are a joy to behold.  Yeah, they’re enhanced with CG, but the actual sets are big.

If the sets and visuals are big, the action is bigger.  This movie is jam-packed with awesome action and chase sequences that are chock-full of humor.  You’ve got huge air battles around enormous ships that remind you of Star Wars and you’ve also got people on the ground taking on enemy forces.  Fights are well-choreographed and combined with the awesome CG, this movie is just a riot from beginning to end.  The humor in the film isn’t the wink-at-the-audience kind of humor.  It feels genuine given the circumstances and feels more natural given the interactions between the characters.  All this stuff would be for naught if the characters weren’t memorable.  These are some of the wildest characters I’ve ever seen.  We’ve got the green-skinned beauty, Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana; the barbaric Drax, played by WWE vet David Bautista; Rocket the Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper; Groot is voiced by action movie veteran Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker as the mercenary Yondu, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill a.k.a Star-Lord.  Everyone here brings their A game, and just knocks it out of the park.  Groot only says three words at a time, all the time: “I am Groot.”  Michael Rooker almost steals the show.  His character is not only funny at times, but he’s tough nut.  His weapon is unique in which it’s activated when he whistles.  The villains are pretty interesting too.  Ronan the Accuser, played by Lee Pace, is absolutely threatening.  He’s super-strong, carries a massive hammer and is more than willing to slaughter his way across the galaxy to get what he wants.  The one that DOES steal the show is Rocket.  This guy is absolutely hilarious.  He’s a trash-talking raccoon that carries a rocket launcher.

One of the most important things in a movie, as I have said many times before, is the music.  In the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s not just the score by Tyler Bates, but it’s also the songs that Star Lord listens to throughout the film.  You’ve got Blue Swede, David Bowie, Norman Greenbaum, Redbone, Raspberries and The Jackson 5.  It’s a wild selection of music and yet, it works.  It really makes the movie better.  If the movie wasn’t handled as well as it has, it would’ve crashed and burned.  Thankfully, James Gunn was more than up to the task and delivered one of the most eclectic and wild rides of 2014.  I don’t think I can recommend this movie enough.  It’s great fun, with awesome action, great music and amazing characters.  I can’t wait to see where Guardians goes next.  It should be spectacular.  Who knows, it might eventually even tie into the rest of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.  One never knows.  So, yeah, the movie’s a riot.  9.5/10.

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