"You just saw one of the funniest, action-packed movies of the year just now. You're welcome."
Ah, now it all makes perfect sense.
Guardians of the Galaxy is the last (and easily the most hyped) Marvel movie of the year. It is also the biggest gamble the studio has made since.... well, ever! It's a risky and ambitious project to adapt to the silver screen because prior to this films release and inevitable success, no one had ever heard of these guys! Heck when I heard that Marvel was going to make a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy, I thought they were talking about that Zach Snyder animated movie The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. Does anyone remember that film? I never saw it, but that was the first thing that came to mind.
Nonetheless, the first trailer made it loud and clear that this movie was gonna be something completely different from all of the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the tone and visuals. And talk about a breath of fresh air because Guardians of the Galaxy is everything we wanted it to be and then some!
For a film as off-the-wall as this, the plot is pretty straightforward. Chris Pratt plays an outer-space outlaw named Peter Quill a.k.a Star-Lord. He is on the run from an intergalactic super-villain named Ronan the Accuser played by Lee Pace because Quill stole something that he wants. And what he wants will give him the power to destroy the galaxy. Star-Lord comes across an assassin named Gamora played by Zoe Saldana, a revenge-hungry psychopath played by WWE star Dave Bautista, a giant tree-like creature called Groot played by Vin Diesel and a foul-mouthed, gun-smokin', genetically modified Raccoon named Rocket played by Bradley Cooper. Forming the Guardians of the Galaxy.
I am a huge science-fiction fan. I crave movies that take place in outer-space and on strange planets. And we get so much visual eye candy that it was like looking through the Hubble Telescope at the most colorful galaxy in the sky! This is without a doubt the most visually unique comic book film I've seen since Hellboy: The Golden Army. The futuristic technology, spaceships and weapons were all designs that I hadn't seen before. Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't just have the distinct, colorful visual style of The Lego Movie, it also has the characters and humor too!
Chris Pratt is perfectly cast as the wise-cracking Peter Quill. Pratt expertly walks the line of womanizing scoundrel and lovable underdog. I mean how can you not love a character that gives himself a nickname because no one else does? Zoe Saldana is also a lot of fun as Gamora. She and Pratt have feisty chemistry together. Dave Bautista really surprised me as Drax. Is his acting terrific? Not really. But come on, they didn't cast this professional wrestler for a deep, tour-de-force performance. They needed a buff dude that can get angry at the drop of a hat. And he does that very well. And it's awesome. What is perhaps the most interesting aspect these three lead characters share is that they all have interesting, heartfelt and surprisingly emotional backstories. Which was something i didn't expect all three leads to have!
But regardless of how terrific Star-Lord, Gamora and Drax were, everyone who walks out of this movie is going to be talking about Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. Talk about getting lost in a role! This character might be a thief on screen, but he steals every scene he's on screen!
Vin Diesel as Groot is essentially the Chewbacca of the movie. He might not say much, but you'd be surprised how emotive and likable of a presence they made a walking, 8-foot tall tree. The only words he can say are "I am Groot" and only in that specific order. And like Han Solo with Chewbacca, Rocket can understand Groot and I found it extremely funny how he was able to have essentially a one-sided conversation with a character that says the same thing over and over again.
I am a lover of film scores and while Tyler Bates score is fine, it's completely overshadowed by the absolutely fabulous soundtrack! The song choices for certain scenes add another level of comedy that just makes it even funnier. Ever since that first trailer debuted I haven't been able to get Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede out of my head. And I'm not complaining!
I have but two issues with the film. Ronan the Accuser is your typical, one-dimmensional, generic baddie with no backstory or character arc. The only things kind of cool about him is the actor that plays him and the way he looks because his costume and makeup are terrific. What is it with Marvel movies and their villains recently? This is the tenth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we've only had one really terrific villain in Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
Luckily, my second issue is more of a personal flaw than an actual drawback. With this being the last Marvel Cinematic Universe film until The Avengers: Age of Ultron, I was hoping there would have been a post-credits scene teasing about what was in store. What we got instead was Howard the Duck. And I am not even joking. I guess writer/director James Gunn thought it would be rather clever to include such an obscure 80's science-fiction reference, but I was disappointed. Again, a very small issue I had in a movie that was filled with so much great stuff!
Final Report: Guardians of the Galaxy might sound ridiculous on paper and look even more ridiculous in the trailers... and that's because it is. And that's precisely what makes it so terrific! It knows exactly what it is and just rolls with it. It has all the comedy, colors, emotion and Chris Pratt of The Lego Movie, with a hysterical on-screen team and a toe-tapping soundtrack to boot!
Hooked on a Feeling? Nope. I'm hooked on this movie.
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