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For me a summer movie needs to be two things to be great. It needs to be big and it needs to be fun. Get these two qualities down and you will have my attention during the flick and my money in the bank. Thankfully The Guardians of the Galaxy delivers on both fronts!
Coming from director James Gunn, who before this was directing movies like Slither and writing for movies like Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead and Troma features like Tromeo and Juliet and Terror Firmer. And now he has been handed the keys to a new property based of a property not well known to the general public; myself included. I know characters like Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and the majority of the X-Men; but this time I am going in pretty much cold. Not a whole lot of potential for premature fanboy squee on my end. This movie needed to earn it. But James Gunn manages to deliver with an excellent combination of likeable characters and excellent use of humor.
We are introduced to 12 year old Peter Quill in 1988. His mother having just passed away from cancer, the young boy runs out to be alone. While in a grassy opening, the grief stricken boy is abducted by aliens (if this seems to be completely random, fear not they do explain this later in the movie). Fast forwarded 26 years later and the young Quill has grown up, taking on the name of Star Lord (Chris Pratt). The adult Star Lord is introduced on the hunt for an ancient orb artifact. The orb is the MacGuffin of this movie, and even Star Lord makes a crack about it being as such while referencing several famous movie MacGuffins such as the Maltese Falcon. Star Lord wants to sell it hoping to make a quick fortune. Problem is there are several other parties interested in the orb. One is his intergalactic benefactor the space pirate Yondu (Michael Rooker), and the other are the forces of the Kree zealot Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). Yondu wants the orb to sell it for himself, but Ronan wants it for far more nefarious purposes that involve the Mad Titan himself, Thanos (Josh Brolin), who makes his cinematic debut. And while he is in the movie, the main antagonist of the flick is still Ronan. As the film progresses we learn more about the orb, and more about its importance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to Star Lord we are introduced to the rest of the Guardians who are pulled into the conflict. This includes Thanos’s adopted daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana), intergalactic trouble maker Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), the plant of literally a few words Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and the vengeful Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista).
The film’s plot is pretty simple. We have the MacGuffin, bad guys want MacGuffin, heroes save the universe. It is a standard comic book plot, but it is also has to have a simple plot in this case because this movie introduces us the viewer to an unexplored part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We have already met the alien race the Chitauri in The Avengers and Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector from the end credit scene in Thor: The Dark World, but now we are introduced to a butt load of new players. We are formally introduced to the Kree Empire, the Nova Corp of planet Xander, the space pirates The Ravagers, and various other races seen throughout the film. We are also introduced to various aspects of intergalactic politics. We are introduced to the bad blood between the Kree and Nova Corp, we learn they have just signed a new peace treaty, and we know that certain parties are not happy with the new peace agreement. So with all this universe building being done in the movie, the writers are forced to keep the plot simple for the sake of the audience. Otherwise the filmmakers risk turning the movie into an overstuffed and complicated mess.
While the plot is slim, the characters are fun as hell! Star Lord as a rogue space pirate is greedy, a smart ass, a bit of a man whore, but also a loveable goof ball. Gamora is supposed to be the cold and heartless assassin, but turns out has more humanity and heart then some of her counter parts. Drax is the vengeance obsessed bruiser who has a score to settle with Ronan. In addition has the quirk of being from an alien race who happens to be very literal in their speech. Meaning puns, metaphors, and turns of phrases are wasted on him. Groot’s sole vocabulary seems to be “I am Groot.” In any other case this could be a weakness but Vin Diesel has a record of making likeable characters with limited vocabularies. Remember The Iron Giant? And as their resident gun nut and boarder line psycho is Rocket Raccoon. Between the little raccoon with a big gun, his wise cracks, and Bradley Cooper’s performance; the character is simply a lot of fun. In addition to the main characters there are some very strong side characters by some excellent actors. John C Reilly, Michael Rooker, Glenn Close, and Dijmon Hounsou all put in excellent performances.
In addition to the fun characters, the use of humor really shines through. There are plenty of jokes, funny scenarios, and moments that will have you wondering “what the hell were they thinking?” while laughing your ass off. The jokes are well written, but the performances are delivered by quite a few actors who have proven they have comedic chops. In addition there are more than a few awesome cameos. Stan “The Man” Lee makes his usual cameo. Additional cameos include Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, Nathan Fillion, Rob Zombie, and a scene at the very end of the credits with a cameo from a comic book character Mark F can appreciate.
The only faults I can see to this film are relatively minor. The world this film is building is pretty damn massive. So you might be so focused on the new backgrounds and visual splendor, you might miss a line or two of dialogue. It happened to me. But thankfully the plot is easy to follow, so you will probably won't miss much. And if you are like me, you can pick up what you missed the second time around.
This is not a typical Marvel super hero movie. It is based off a niche Marvel property, but James Gunn finds a way to make it work. He presents a very unique, action packed, funny, and fun flick for the masses. This is what a summer blockbuster should be, and is an oasis in a desert of mediocre summer movies. If you see one movie this summer, this is the one to see.
For me a summer movie needs to be two things to be great. It needs to be big and it needs to be fun. Get these two qualities down and you will have my attention during the flick and my money in the bank. Thankfully The Guardians of the Galaxy delivers on both fronts!
Coming from director James Gunn, who before this was directing movies like Slither and writing for movies like Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead and Troma features like Tromeo and Juliet and Terror Firmer. And now he has been handed the keys to a new property based of a property not well known to the general public; myself included. I know characters like Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and the majority of the X-Men; but this time I am going in pretty much cold. Not a whole lot of potential for premature fanboy squee on my end. This movie needed to earn it. But James Gunn manages to deliver with an excellent combination of likeable characters and excellent use of humor.
We are introduced to 12 year old Peter Quill in 1988. His mother having just passed away from cancer, the young boy runs out to be alone. While in a grassy opening, the grief stricken boy is abducted by aliens (if this seems to be completely random, fear not they do explain this later in the movie). Fast forwarded 26 years later and the young Quill has grown up, taking on the name of Star Lord (Chris Pratt). The adult Star Lord is introduced on the hunt for an ancient orb artifact. The orb is the MacGuffin of this movie, and even Star Lord makes a crack about it being as such while referencing several famous movie MacGuffins such as the Maltese Falcon. Star Lord wants to sell it hoping to make a quick fortune. Problem is there are several other parties interested in the orb. One is his intergalactic benefactor the space pirate Yondu (Michael Rooker), and the other are the forces of the Kree zealot Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). Yondu wants the orb to sell it for himself, but Ronan wants it for far more nefarious purposes that involve the Mad Titan himself, Thanos (Josh Brolin), who makes his cinematic debut. And while he is in the movie, the main antagonist of the flick is still Ronan. As the film progresses we learn more about the orb, and more about its importance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to Star Lord we are introduced to the rest of the Guardians who are pulled into the conflict. This includes Thanos’s adopted daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana), intergalactic trouble maker Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), the plant of literally a few words Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and the vengeful Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista).
The film’s plot is pretty simple. We have the MacGuffin, bad guys want MacGuffin, heroes save the universe. It is a standard comic book plot, but it is also has to have a simple plot in this case because this movie introduces us the viewer to an unexplored part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We have already met the alien race the Chitauri in The Avengers and Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector from the end credit scene in Thor: The Dark World, but now we are introduced to a butt load of new players. We are formally introduced to the Kree Empire, the Nova Corp of planet Xander, the space pirates The Ravagers, and various other races seen throughout the film. We are also introduced to various aspects of intergalactic politics. We are introduced to the bad blood between the Kree and Nova Corp, we learn they have just signed a new peace treaty, and we know that certain parties are not happy with the new peace agreement. So with all this universe building being done in the movie, the writers are forced to keep the plot simple for the sake of the audience. Otherwise the filmmakers risk turning the movie into an overstuffed and complicated mess.
While the plot is slim, the characters are fun as hell! Star Lord as a rogue space pirate is greedy, a smart ass, a bit of a man whore, but also a loveable goof ball. Gamora is supposed to be the cold and heartless assassin, but turns out has more humanity and heart then some of her counter parts. Drax is the vengeance obsessed bruiser who has a score to settle with Ronan. In addition has the quirk of being from an alien race who happens to be very literal in their speech. Meaning puns, metaphors, and turns of phrases are wasted on him. Groot’s sole vocabulary seems to be “I am Groot.” In any other case this could be a weakness but Vin Diesel has a record of making likeable characters with limited vocabularies. Remember The Iron Giant? And as their resident gun nut and boarder line psycho is Rocket Raccoon. Between the little raccoon with a big gun, his wise cracks, and Bradley Cooper’s performance; the character is simply a lot of fun. In addition to the main characters there are some very strong side characters by some excellent actors. John C Reilly, Michael Rooker, Glenn Close, and Dijmon Hounsou all put in excellent performances.
In addition to the fun characters, the use of humor really shines through. There are plenty of jokes, funny scenarios, and moments that will have you wondering “what the hell were they thinking?” while laughing your ass off. The jokes are well written, but the performances are delivered by quite a few actors who have proven they have comedic chops. In addition there are more than a few awesome cameos. Stan “The Man” Lee makes his usual cameo. Additional cameos include Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, Nathan Fillion, Rob Zombie, and a scene at the very end of the credits with a cameo from a comic book character Mark F can appreciate.
The only faults I can see to this film are relatively minor. The world this film is building is pretty damn massive. So you might be so focused on the new backgrounds and visual splendor, you might miss a line or two of dialogue. It happened to me. But thankfully the plot is easy to follow, so you will probably won't miss much. And if you are like me, you can pick up what you missed the second time around.
This is not a typical Marvel super hero movie. It is based off a niche Marvel property, but James Gunn finds a way to make it work. He presents a very unique, action packed, funny, and fun flick for the masses. This is what a summer blockbuster should be, and is an oasis in a desert of mediocre summer movies. If you see one movie this summer, this is the one to see.