Another Wave Of Overwhelmingly Positive Reviews For GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Hit
It currently has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and now a number of reliable UK and US based outlets have weighed in with their thoughts on Marvel and James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Hit the jump to find out how the movie earned that score...
Critics are hooked on a feeling after watching Guardians of the Galaxy, with CBM's Nate Best calling it a, "sci-fi romp through the galactic Wild West with a group of characters that you won’t want to end", and a number of UK based publications like Empire and Total Film having nothing but good things to say. Now, all of the Hollywood trades have weighed in with their opinions, and you can find a round-up of reviews from those and a number of other sites below. It sounds like Marvel Studios have another winner on their hands with James Gunn's biggest movie to date, and while its box office performance remains to be seen, a sequel being announced on Saturday at Comic-Con perhaps wouldn't be too surprising! What do you guys think of these reviews?
Possibly one of the funniest (and strangest) Marvel movies yet, James Gunn and his cast deliver an infinitely entertaining space opera that's really something quite special. J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars" movie now has even more to live up to. [9/10]
Source: Coming Soon
Guardians also finds itself largely free from the brand-building baggage that's plagued recent superhero films (Amazing Spider-Man 2 being the biggest culprit). Thanos aside, the film largely operates without reference to the wider Marvel universe - there's no crammed in Captain America cameo or fleeting Nick Fury appearance, instead the focus is on telling a good story, and on these terms Guardians succeeds. Future instalments seem almost assured - let's just hope they match the high standards set by this excellent debut outing. [4/5]
Source: Digital Spy
But whip-smart, pop-literate, self-aware humour saves the day (and the universe, come to think of it). The movie practically satirises itself as it goes along, glossing over its own absurdity in the process. It's a mode that has served previous Marvel successes – such as Avengers Assemble – very well, though it could, itself, be wearing thin. Still, freed of all that semi-serious superhero baggage, this has few ambitions beyond providing a goofy crowd-pleasing laugh – unless you count setting up another summer franchise. It's zero-gravity in every sense.
Source: The Guardian
Those feel like minor grievances in a film with many positives; from its well-drawn characters to the tactile world-building and much more, this is as good a foundation you can hope to build on with characters you quickly learn to love. The film concludes with a caption promising that the Guardians of the Galaxy will return, and on this evidence we can only hope that it’s sooner rather than later. [****]
Source: HeyUGuys
Since Disney will be rebooting the classic franchise with Episode VII next year anyway, James Gunn’s inventive space opera, sourcing somewhat minor characters from the Marvel universe, could serve as an appropriate warm-up — or even launch a franchise of its own eventually. Guardians should see robust response in its opening days and stands to capitalize significantly overseas. [***]
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
One of the biggest pleasures is the way that the film feels, even more so than this spring’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” a deviation from the Marvel formula, a gloriously, defiant weird movie that nevertheless proves to be an enormous crowd-pleaser. The final credits promise that "Guardians Of The Galaxy Will Return," and for once, you’re actively looking forward to it. [B+]
Source: The Playlist
Guardians' cheerful, hectic aesthetic is closer to one of the crackpot fantasias of Guillermo del Toro than Marvel’s own increasingly house-styled output, which reassures you, even in the wake of the Ant-Man debacle, that the studio hasn’t entirely lost the will to experiment. Who could have guessed that, after six years of hawkish franchise-building, the new instalment in cinema’s mightiest serial would be such a delirious one-off? [****]
Source: The Telegraph
Technical matters are all top-notch, with high marks to cinematographer Ben Davis (“Kick-Ass,” “A Long Way Down”) and music supervisor Dave Jordan, who put together an ace collection of '70s radio hits (including “I'm Not in Love,” “Hooked on a Feeling,” “Cherry Bomb”) as both a thematic touch and perfect propulsive material for action sequences. The 3-D is the best on-screen all summer, lively and light and nicely used in action bits inspired as much by Chuck Jones as they are by George Lucas. “Guardians of the Galaxy” will hardly stall or stop concerns that Marvel's riding a soon-to-pop bubble that can't last forever, but it still has enough scrappy heart and smart humor to make it seem like the best possible kind of product, one where the talent of all involved makes it easy to enjoy their hustle.
Source: The Wrap
If the wayward denizens of “Star Wars’” Mos Eisley Cantina rose up and demanded their own starring vehicle, it would probably look something like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” an alt-“Avengers” in which a ragtag band of misfits and mercenaries make the world a safer place almost by accident. An unusually prankish and playful Marvel Studios vehicle, director James Gunn’s presumptive franchise-starter is overlong, overstuffed and sometimes too eager to please, but the cheeky comic tone keeps things buoyant — as does Chris Pratt’s winning performance as the most blissfully spaced-out space crusader this side of Buckaroo Banzai. While these “Guardians” seem unlikely to challenge the box office benchmarks set by their Marvel brethren, this inaugural outing should nevertheless inject some much-needed life into Hollywood’s sagging summer fortunes.
Source: Variety