The Guardians of the Galaxy are basically the Marvel universe’s weird cousins. They are mostly castaways from a much more obscure comic book series playing second-fiddle to the likes of the X-Men, Captain America and Iron Man. But anyone with weird cousins knows that at the family reunion they are usually the ones you have the most fun hanging out with. They’ll blow up the ant hill on 4th of July, get too drunk at Christmas or tell your Uncle who tucks his golf shirts into his jeans to loosen up. These weird cousins have also combined to create the most uniquely fun comic book movie of the last 5-years.
It’s no small feat in our preconditioned world of tent pole filmmaking to introduce an entirely new cast of heroes (including a talking tree and raccoon,) set the film in a massive space-scape filled with ridiculous alien monsters and completely pull it off. But that is exactly what Guardians did.
The film’s prologue begins with a 10-year old Peter Quill at his ailing mother’s bedside. Stricken with cancer, Quill’s mother passes a present to her only son before she dies sending him into a grief-stricken spiral. As he runs off to be alone he”s almost immediately abducted by aliens and whisked into space.
The film picks up 20-years later as a grown Quill (Chris Pratt) lands on a deserted planet to seemingly forage for scraps and trinkets to sell on the black space market. When he stumbles across a very shiny orb it’s not long before an evil band of mercenaries (led by a creepy, contact-lens wearing Djimon Hounsou) is hot on his trail for his new possession.
The mercenaries were sent by the evil Ronan (Lee Pace) who knows the orb possesses the powerful infinite-stone which would make his evilness SUPER evil. Not leaving this opportunity to chance he sends his super sexy green sidekick Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to retrieve the orb and kill Quill in the process.
On the other side of the equation is Quill is a known-felon. There is an outstanding 40,000 unit (great currency name) bounty on his head. This makes him a quickly wanted man by many of the Galaxy’s best bounty hunters – including the two weirdest – Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel.) This collision of Quill’s problem happens in one of many virtuoso, Indiana Jones-style chases and is really when Guardians takes off.
The plot is standard Marvel BS and Director James Gunn knows it. He only uses the good v. evil quest for the orb as a shell to bring these characters together for what amounts to one of the better scripts this year. Gunn excels at the online casino quieter moments like the scene where the Guardians are all thrown in jail and have to put aside their differences to band together and escape. His exceptional snark and wit is imbued in characters like Rocket and Quinn who share constant barbs between laser battles. Their interplay with the straight laced groupies – Gamora, Drax (Dave Bautista,) and Groot – got bigger laughs than any straight comedy I’ve seen this year.
Don’t worry though; the film doesn’t skimp on the action. The best thing that can be said is Gunn clearly hired great choreographers as he gets several incredible, slow-motion 3D hero shots throughout many of the pinnacle sequences. Unlike many of its predecessors, Guardians has a clear visual palette and never strays throughout. The film is eye-popping and colorful and the action employs much less shaky cam than most super hero movies.
And I would be more than remiss if I didn’t mention the massive stable of incredible actors Gunn has at his disposal. From John C. Reilly to Glenn Close to Benecio Del Toro the film never ceases to roll out the A-list support. Everyone -including the principal actors – seems to be having a blast which only adds to the admirable depth of emotion.
Buoyed also by an incredible soundtrack (all taken from Quill’s Awesome Mix Volume 1 – Walkman cassette) the film skirts by only minor issues to a rousing if fairly predictable finish. Momentum is a tricky thing and Guardians is all momentum. But it navigates its relentless pace deftly with only a few hiccups. This is a Marvel movie after all and their ridiculous need to tie every ounce of their universe together leads to scenes that feel tacked on purely to advance to the next Avengers – everybody get in the same movie – movie.
But, by loosening the reigns just a bit, Marvel has allowed a very talented filmmaker/writer to shine with the weirdest group of characters a major studio picture has seen in some time. I’m not sure I thought I would take to a talking tree and raccoon but low and behold they won me over. Guardians may not be the best movie I’ve seen this summer but it’s certainly one of the most breezy and fun.
In the immortal words of Groot, “I am GROOT.”
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Guardians of the Galaxy Opens August 1 Everywhere
