Much ado has been made about
the huge risk Marvel Studios took adapting Guardians
of the Galaxy (2014) for the big screen. Since The Avengers (2012), they’ve been content cranking out sequels to
their mega-successful franchises of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. Guardians would be a real test of the
Marvel brand with most industry insiders forecasting a modest success and a few
predicting it to be the studio’s first big flop.
Based on a fairly obscure
comic book set in a galaxy far, far away featuring the misadventures of a
ragtag group of aliens led by a human orphaned from Earth, Guardians of the Galaxy enjoyed a resurgence in 2008 but still lacked
the name recognition of the aforementioned superheroes. Furthermore, it was to
be co-written and directed by James Gunn, the B-movie maverick responsible for
modern cult classics like Slither
(2006) and Super (2010), starring up
and comers like Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and professional wrestler Dave
Bautista. The two biggest movie stars – Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel – would
not actually be appearing on-screen, instead providing voices for completely
computer generated characters. Marvel’s canny and pervasive marketing
blitzkrieg paid off. Guardians
smashed opening weekend records for August.
We first meet Peter Quill as
an eight-year-old boy losing his mother to cancer only to be subsequently
abducted by a group of notorious space pirates led by a blue-skinned bandit
known as Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker). They raise the young boy to be a
smuggler and an outlaw a la Han Solo complete with the self-applied moniker
Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). He steals a mysterious orb and plans to sell it on the
Nova Corps homeworld Xandar, ripping off Yondu in the process, which results in
a hefty bounty being placed on his head.
Little does Quill know that
this theft has caught the attention of several interested parties: Groot
(voiced by Vin Diesel) and Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a
mercenary duo, and Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), a powerful Kree alien who
wants the orb so that it can be handed over to Thanos (Josh Brolin), an even
more powerful being last seen at the end credits of The Avengers, in exchange for destroying Xandar, his sworn enemies.
To this end, Ronan sends Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a deadly assassin, to retrieve
the orb.
However, Quill when crosses
paths with Groot, Rocket and Gamora, the resulting chaos has them arrested by
the Nova Corps and thrown into an outer space prison known as Kyln. It is here
that they meet Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a warrior with a thirst for
revenge on Ronan for killing his family. They form an uneasy alliance and break
out of prison to sell the orb with Yondu, the Nova Corps, and Ronan and his
trusted lieutenant Nebula (Karen Gillan) in hot pursuit.
With this film, Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt
becomes a bonafide action star, deftly blending amusing quips with heroic feats.
He does a nice job of also portraying Peter Quill as a man haunted by his past,
like many of his cohorts. All of the Guardians have lost deeply personal things
in their lives and this is what unites them – that, and saving their own lives
and, by default, the galaxy. Zoe Saldana gets to portray yet another alien, but
instead of being buried under CGI as she was in Avatar (2009), the actress sports a striking green look and a
fierce attitude to match. A pleasant surprise comes from the casting of WWE
wrestler Dave Bautista who is excellent as Drax, the gruff warrior that tags
along with the rest of these ne’er-do-wells. It is a lot of fun to see this
athlete bounce off of the other actors and who more than holds his own.
If Quill provides the film
its heart, then Rocket provides the bulk of its humor, stealing almost every
scene he’s in by not just getting to spout the bulk of the film’s funniest
lines, but also the impressive CGI that brings him vividly to life so that he
actually emotes convincingly. Special effects technology has finally caught up
to Groot and Rocket, creating expressive, fully realized characters. Early on,
you stop thinking of them as CGI characters and look at them as part of the
team thanks to the voice work of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper who give Groot
and Rocket distinctive personalities.
The banter between Quill,
Rocket, Gamora, Drax, and even Groot is a large part of the film’s charm. Quill
is the wisecracking smartass while Gamora is all business, Rocket has anger
management issues, Drax doesn’t understand metaphors (making for some pretty
funny exchanges between him and Quill), and Groot just says, “I am Groot” at
key moments. Credit should go to the witty screenplay by Gunn and Nicole
Perlman that plants the seeds of jokes early in the film only for them to
successfully pay off later on.
There is a fantastic mix of
character moments and visual eye candy in Guardians
of the Galaxy as Gunn immerses us in this strange galaxy and the colorful
characters that populate it. His production team has crafted a textured,
lived-in universe that is rich in detail and drenched in atmosphere. The film’s
vibrant color scheme is complimented by a stellar soundtrack featuring songs
from the 1970s and 1980s via a mixtape in Quill’s vintage Walkman that also
acts a touchstone to his childhood on Earth and memories of his departed
mother. As a result, the songs run the gamut from commenting humorously on the
action (“Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede) to also adding poignancy to more
reflective moments (“I’m Not in Love” by 10cc) as well.
The only problem I have with
Guardians of the Galaxy is that its
villainous trio isn’t all that interesting. Ronan and Nebula look cool, but the
former is yet another power-mad baddie that Marvel likes trotting out in all of
its films with only a few notable exceptions, and the latter suffers from Darth
Maul syndrome – a character with a badass reputation but with very little
actual proof of such. It’s no surprise that Loki and the Winter Soldier are the
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strongest villains – they both have deeply personal
and compelling motivations for what they are doing, which is something that is
lacking with Ronan. As for Thanos, he only gets a cameo this time out with
hints that he might figure more prominently in either Guardians 2 or The Avengers 3,
but that’s a long way off. Fortunately, our heroes are so interesting and so
much fun to watch that the lack of substantial villains is a minor quibble at
best.
Gunn has pulled off a real
coup with this film. He maintains a tricky balancing act of creating a gonzo
space opera full of weird characters and loaded with a dense plot while somehow
making it palatable for mainstream consumption without compromise. After the
debacle that was the Star Wars
prequels, cinema needed a good space opera to expunge the bad vibes of George
Lucas’ movies. Only Joss Whedon’s Serenity
(2005) bravely stepped up and showed everyone how do it right, but now Guardians of the Galaxy joins it by
providing an alternative for those hungry for an entertaining science fiction
film, fulfilling a need that Lucas was unable to with his prequels.
Guardians of the Galaxy is an unabashed science fiction film full of exotic
aliens, power-hungry villains, and exciting spaceship battles with the fate of
the entire galaxy at stake. It is also a funny film – as close as Marvel has
come to making a full-on comedy. Their other films have had humor, but were
largely dramatic in nature. Guardians
inverts this formula so that it is largely comedic with dramatic moments and
the result is another entertaining and engaging film from Marvel who continue
their impressive winning streak. More importantly, this film opens up the
Marvel Cinematic Universe in a big way by introducing an entire galaxy for its
increasing number of characters to inhabit.
Loved it every step of the way man! Cool how almost all the credit for how the film has turned out goes to Gunn, he's the mastermind behind the films "feeling", Gunn is the heart of Guardians of the Galaxy!
ReplyDeleteFrancisco Gonzalez:
ReplyDeleteGunn really hit this one out of the park in a big, big way. So happy to see him score with this film without losing his distinctive style in the process.