Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Review
"You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardian of the Galaxy."
-Peter Quill
I'd like to start off by saying that I believed in this movie since I first heard of it's production and when the trailer debuted in February I was 100% sold. The summer was pretty exciting in terms of films that were releasing and although not all of them reached their full potential, Guardians of the Galaxy went far beyond my expectations. And I had some damn high expectations. Director James Gunn brought these odd ball characters to the big screen and made them one of Marvel's biggest hits so far. This is saying a lot coming from the the company that brought us The Avengers back in 2012, followed by Iron Man 3 in 2013 which both grossed over one billion dollars each. James Gunn directed Slither and Super, two films with budgets that pale in comparison to the giant that is Guardians of the Galaxy. But have no fear, Gunn had no problem with this transition and made a film that left a strong impression on everyone who watched it.
Now where do I begin? In recent years, Marvel has brought all sorts of superheros into our homes that were not necessarily household names. Lets take Iron Man for example. Good luck coming across someone who doesn't recognize the name now, but ask that question ten years ago and the results would be very different. I think by now it is safe to say that they have done it again with the Guardians. In the comics the team has been made up of different combinations of characters which makes the final choice for which guardians to put on the big screen more interesting.
Let's start off with Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord played by the hilarious Chris Pratt. He's the face of the Guardians, a charismatic, daring and cocky earthling among the dozens of strange alien lifeforms we're introduced to in this film. The movie starts off with a young Peter Quill back on Earth alongside his dying mother. Honestly it was a rather depressing and in-your-face intro, maybe for shock value, maybe just to form an instant connection with Peter Quill. Either way it was a scene that really gave us some insight into Quill's past. We then soon learn that he was abducted from Earth directly following his mother's death and was raised by Yondu (Michael Rooker, Walking Dead) and his group of outlaws called the Ravagers. It is important to understand that although these characters are independent of our beloved Earth's mightiest heroes, they are existing in the same universe. And not only that but all their paths will eventually cross and we are faced with some familiar elements in this film, despite the very unique world that Gunn created.
Guardians of the Galaxy introduces to us the fourth infinity stone that we have seen so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The previous three were the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, the Aether in Thor: The Dark World, and less obviously the mind gem in Loki's staff that crossed over multiple films. Guardians of the Galaxy introduces us to an all powerful orb that causes great devastation and is capable of destroying all life on a planet if it falls into the wrong hands.
The film kicks off with Star Lord acquiring the orb and being hunted down by our main antagonist's goons. Every good superhero film is very dependent on a formidable villain because it wouldn't be very much fun to watch if there wasn't any strong opposition. The big baddy of Guardians was definitely one of the darkest villains I've seen in the MCU thus far. Ronan the Accuser is his name and genocide is his game. Ronan is an extremist whose sole purpose is to acquire the power orb and destroy Xandar, a planet that homes billions of people that have apparently oppressed his people for many generations. Now that Star Lord has the Orb in his possession he becomes a big bulls eye for many interested parties in the galaxy, Ronan being his biggest threat.
Here Gunn introduces us to the rest of the team. Gamora played by Zoe Saldana is a daughter of Thanos, an enemy that Marvel has a lot in store for in the next couple of years. But her and her sister Nebula, played by Karen Gillian, are working for Ronan when Gamora takes on the task of obtaining the Orb for Ronan. She is an interesting character because she has grown up surrounded by evil and death but still is good at heart and cannot stand by while a whole planet is wiped out. Despite all this she has the skills of a merciless assassin and will not think twice in stopping anyone in her way.
Now we also have the duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot who together took the world by storm. They bring so much humor and heart to this film and it's just magnificent. Rocket Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper, is essentially a lab experiment. He was scientifically manufactured and he is simply kick-ass with his vast knowledge of weapons and technology. He's also a sarcastic little bastard and doesn't get along greatly with others which adds a nice dynamic to the film. His partner in crime is Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel, a tree-like creature who has the power to regenerate his limbs if damaged or severed, and grow or shrink at his discretion. He is also only able to say the words 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot', exclusively in that order. They also have this Stewie/Brian relationship where Rocket is the only one who can translate what Groot is saying to the rest of the team. Rocket and Groot tend to work on the wrong side of the law as bounty hunters, which is how they were able to track down Star Lord so quickly once word was out of his wanted level. It is at this point that these four meet. Gamora and Rocket and Groot all attack Star Lord at the same time in attempt to get what that want when all four are arrested by the Nova Corps who are the police on Xandar.
In prison is where our four Guardians meet the last to-be member of the team, Drax the Destroyer played by Dave Bautista the WWE heavyweight super star. I'll be honest coming into the film I was expecting him have the least impressive performance but I'm glad I was wrong. He wasn't anything out of this world but he put on a solid performance of Drax. Very literal, with a tragic past, and as his name implies a straight up killing machine. I knew Bautista would be physically capable for the part but his acting chops weren't too bad either. After an altercation with Gamora, Drax decides to join up with our characters to plan a prison escape and eventually go after Ronan. One of the things I love about the film is that each member of the team had a different reason and motive to work together, but they all slowly begin to care about each other, however bumpy the road was.
Their adventure is nothing short of epic for a number of reasons. For one it was just a beautiful film to look at. It's clear that James Gunn put his all into this film. The special effects were phenomenal. The worlds he created were a spectacle, taken straight from source material. I for one did not follow these comics prior to the film but I can only imagine how amazing it must have been for long-time Guardians fans to see these worlds come to life on the big screen. I have even seen people claim this film to be the Star Wars of our generation and it's hard to argue against that. Epic is just such a good adjective for the film because that's what you feel when you watch it.
I also think that this film succeeded where the Thor films failed and that is in comedy. This movie legitimately had me laughing out loud numerous times and consistently. It's a perfect blend of drama, action, good narrative and humor. For me the humor in the Thor films are really forced and dry and retracts from the experience, the exact opposite of what Gunn brought us. What also made the film great was the fact that the stakes were actually very high. If the Guardians could not stop Ronan then a whole planet would have been unjustly annihilated in the blink of an eye.
What I've loved about the Marvel movies in this past few years is that when I watch, I know I'm watching a movie independent from it's predecessors, but also a film that is part of a larger universe. This credit goes out to Kevin Feige the president of Marvel studios. He's in charge of finding great writers and directors for these films that ultimately all intertwine. But it is more important for the film to be good on its own and then worry about how it connects to the rest of the films and this film accomplished this flawlessly. Guardians of the Galaxy was such a fun movie to experience. From start to finish you feel a range of emotions from happy to excited to even sad. What really adds these emotions is the amazing soundtrack. Gunn meticulously selected hit songs from the 70's and 80's and wove them into the film in such a perfect way. I found myself listening to these songs weeks after I watched the film. It never stops entertaining and delivers such an epic story that you can't forget it.
James Gunn introduced the world to these misfits that make up the Guardians and the world fell in love with them. If you don't believe that, the proof is in the pudding, with Guardians recently passing the 700 million dollar mark globally. Sure it may not be the highest grossing film of 2014, but for a property that the majority of the audience had never heard, this is a very large profit. A very well deserved profit. Maybe some big names like Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper attracted some viewers, but so what? I was all for anything that would expose audiences to this great film. With strong supporting performances from Michael Rooker, Karen Gillian, John C. Riley and even Benicio Del Toro, it made the film even better. My only complaint is that the movie wasn't longer! I can't see myself giving this film anything less than a 10 so that's what I'm giving it, a 10 out of 10. All I can say is that I can't wait for James Gunn to take us on the ride that will be Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Now where do I begin? In recent years, Marvel has brought all sorts of superheros into our homes that were not necessarily household names. Lets take Iron Man for example. Good luck coming across someone who doesn't recognize the name now, but ask that question ten years ago and the results would be very different. I think by now it is safe to say that they have done it again with the Guardians. In the comics the team has been made up of different combinations of characters which makes the final choice for which guardians to put on the big screen more interesting.
Let's start off with Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord played by the hilarious Chris Pratt. He's the face of the Guardians, a charismatic, daring and cocky earthling among the dozens of strange alien lifeforms we're introduced to in this film. The movie starts off with a young Peter Quill back on Earth alongside his dying mother. Honestly it was a rather depressing and in-your-face intro, maybe for shock value, maybe just to form an instant connection with Peter Quill. Either way it was a scene that really gave us some insight into Quill's past. We then soon learn that he was abducted from Earth directly following his mother's death and was raised by Yondu (Michael Rooker, Walking Dead) and his group of outlaws called the Ravagers. It is important to understand that although these characters are independent of our beloved Earth's mightiest heroes, they are existing in the same universe. And not only that but all their paths will eventually cross and we are faced with some familiar elements in this film, despite the very unique world that Gunn created.
Guardians of the Galaxy introduces to us the fourth infinity stone that we have seen so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The previous three were the Tesseract in Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, the Aether in Thor: The Dark World, and less obviously the mind gem in Loki's staff that crossed over multiple films. Guardians of the Galaxy introduces us to an all powerful orb that causes great devastation and is capable of destroying all life on a planet if it falls into the wrong hands.
The film kicks off with Star Lord acquiring the orb and being hunted down by our main antagonist's goons. Every good superhero film is very dependent on a formidable villain because it wouldn't be very much fun to watch if there wasn't any strong opposition. The big baddy of Guardians was definitely one of the darkest villains I've seen in the MCU thus far. Ronan the Accuser is his name and genocide is his game. Ronan is an extremist whose sole purpose is to acquire the power orb and destroy Xandar, a planet that homes billions of people that have apparently oppressed his people for many generations. Now that Star Lord has the Orb in his possession he becomes a big bulls eye for many interested parties in the galaxy, Ronan being his biggest threat.
Here Gunn introduces us to the rest of the team. Gamora played by Zoe Saldana is a daughter of Thanos, an enemy that Marvel has a lot in store for in the next couple of years. But her and her sister Nebula, played by Karen Gillian, are working for Ronan when Gamora takes on the task of obtaining the Orb for Ronan. She is an interesting character because she has grown up surrounded by evil and death but still is good at heart and cannot stand by while a whole planet is wiped out. Despite all this she has the skills of a merciless assassin and will not think twice in stopping anyone in her way.
Now we also have the duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot who together took the world by storm. They bring so much humor and heart to this film and it's just magnificent. Rocket Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper, is essentially a lab experiment. He was scientifically manufactured and he is simply kick-ass with his vast knowledge of weapons and technology. He's also a sarcastic little bastard and doesn't get along greatly with others which adds a nice dynamic to the film. His partner in crime is Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel, a tree-like creature who has the power to regenerate his limbs if damaged or severed, and grow or shrink at his discretion. He is also only able to say the words 'I' and 'am' and 'Groot', exclusively in that order. They also have this Stewie/Brian relationship where Rocket is the only one who can translate what Groot is saying to the rest of the team. Rocket and Groot tend to work on the wrong side of the law as bounty hunters, which is how they were able to track down Star Lord so quickly once word was out of his wanted level. It is at this point that these four meet. Gamora and Rocket and Groot all attack Star Lord at the same time in attempt to get what that want when all four are arrested by the Nova Corps who are the police on Xandar.
In prison is where our four Guardians meet the last to-be member of the team, Drax the Destroyer played by Dave Bautista the WWE heavyweight super star. I'll be honest coming into the film I was expecting him have the least impressive performance but I'm glad I was wrong. He wasn't anything out of this world but he put on a solid performance of Drax. Very literal, with a tragic past, and as his name implies a straight up killing machine. I knew Bautista would be physically capable for the part but his acting chops weren't too bad either. After an altercation with Gamora, Drax decides to join up with our characters to plan a prison escape and eventually go after Ronan. One of the things I love about the film is that each member of the team had a different reason and motive to work together, but they all slowly begin to care about each other, however bumpy the road was.
Their adventure is nothing short of epic for a number of reasons. For one it was just a beautiful film to look at. It's clear that James Gunn put his all into this film. The special effects were phenomenal. The worlds he created were a spectacle, taken straight from source material. I for one did not follow these comics prior to the film but I can only imagine how amazing it must have been for long-time Guardians fans to see these worlds come to life on the big screen. I have even seen people claim this film to be the Star Wars of our generation and it's hard to argue against that. Epic is just such a good adjective for the film because that's what you feel when you watch it.
I also think that this film succeeded where the Thor films failed and that is in comedy. This movie legitimately had me laughing out loud numerous times and consistently. It's a perfect blend of drama, action, good narrative and humor. For me the humor in the Thor films are really forced and dry and retracts from the experience, the exact opposite of what Gunn brought us. What also made the film great was the fact that the stakes were actually very high. If the Guardians could not stop Ronan then a whole planet would have been unjustly annihilated in the blink of an eye.
What I've loved about the Marvel movies in this past few years is that when I watch, I know I'm watching a movie independent from it's predecessors, but also a film that is part of a larger universe. This credit goes out to Kevin Feige the president of Marvel studios. He's in charge of finding great writers and directors for these films that ultimately all intertwine. But it is more important for the film to be good on its own and then worry about how it connects to the rest of the films and this film accomplished this flawlessly. Guardians of the Galaxy was such a fun movie to experience. From start to finish you feel a range of emotions from happy to excited to even sad. What really adds these emotions is the amazing soundtrack. Gunn meticulously selected hit songs from the 70's and 80's and wove them into the film in such a perfect way. I found myself listening to these songs weeks after I watched the film. It never stops entertaining and delivers such an epic story that you can't forget it.
James Gunn introduced the world to these misfits that make up the Guardians and the world fell in love with them. If you don't believe that, the proof is in the pudding, with Guardians recently passing the 700 million dollar mark globally. Sure it may not be the highest grossing film of 2014, but for a property that the majority of the audience had never heard, this is a very large profit. A very well deserved profit. Maybe some big names like Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper attracted some viewers, but so what? I was all for anything that would expose audiences to this great film. With strong supporting performances from Michael Rooker, Karen Gillian, John C. Riley and even Benicio Del Toro, it made the film even better. My only complaint is that the movie wasn't longer! I can't see myself giving this film anything less than a 10 so that's what I'm giving it, a 10 out of 10. All I can say is that I can't wait for James Gunn to take us on the ride that will be Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
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