Release Date {UK}: 31st, July 2014
Director: James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn & Nicole Perlman
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel
Certificate: 12A
Running Time: 121 Mins
Premise:
Through a series of events, a mysterious object capable of destroying worlds is brought into the hands of an abducted human light years away from home, a talking raccoon and tree, a master assassin, and a revenge stricken maniac. Together may must band together to prevent the galaxy's destruction.
To put it shortly, Guardians Of The Galaxy is the biggest gamble that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (consisting of hits such as Iron Man, Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Thor, etc.) have so far played after the 6 years and 9 movies before this tenth installment... Hiring a director more known for his work in horror and indie flicks to produce a massive, 'silly' space adventure based on one of Marvel's not-so-well-known hero teams in a franchise where the furthest away from the usual earth scenery has been on a god-ly realm called Asgard about a demigod who posses a hammer that can summon lightening is a bold move that could've tipped Marvel's bank account one way or another.. but boy, has GOTG been successful.. and boy, does it deserve it.
Although we have come to recognise the lighting and general feel of a Marvel film which is undeniably present in this, for once it feels fresh and inventive, and doesn't come across as a no-brainer by the end of the credits that we know where the next film in the bunch is heading. The film is jam-packed with humour found in the dialogue, visuals, slap-stick, or the pure reaction to seeing a raccoon have an argument with a 20-30 year old man about coming up with a plan, but we are never laughing at the film when it's unintentional. A long-lived complaint about what I feel is the weakest in the series- Thor: The Dark World is that the humour is just too constant and comes at every single wrong moment which is for the most part valid, but Guardians finds a variety of jokes to tell centering around different topics so there is something there for everyone and it works because in the first five minutes, we've already witnessed the opening credits synchronising with our main hero dancing around to Come Get Your Love by Redbone which sets the tone flawlessly.
All the performances are fantastic with the guardians having immense chemistry together which is even more remarkable considering two of the five leads are CGI creations voiced respectively by Cooper and Diesel. Pratt is perfectly cast as the Han Solo, Captain Kirk amalgamation who calls himself Star Lord and brings genuine heart to everything he's tasked with. Saldana is satisfying as Gamora, but the character isn't particularly compelling which is disappointing because it's obvious that it's not Saldana sleeping on the job. Wrestler turned actor- Bautista has great comedic timing as Drax the Destroyer who is bitter about avenging his dead wife and daughter, but that doesn't stop him from encouraging some big laughs from the audience. Although Diesel does a good job as the voice of Groot who is only capable of introducing himself with three words, and he was my favourite of the group; in reality, anyone could have played him especially in an age of dubbing and months of post-production. Cooper brings his full A-game to the table as Rocket Raccoon who pulls off offending people because of their haircuts to delivering drunken speeches about his existence to being bloody awesome. The make-up and CG work on Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot are excellent, detailed, and you don't even think about the behind the scenes aspect of them while watching the film.
The rest of the supporting cast are great featuring small but memorable contributions from Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, Benecio Del Toro, Glenn Close, and so on... But unfortunatley the villains fall a little flat on the writng department with not much information given on their back story or motivations, so Lee Pace's Ronan The Accuser, and Karen Gillan's Nebula come across as minor people who can accomplish major things which is a shame. The visuals of this movie are stunning with some gorgeous cinematography, wonderful practical sets and effects as well as coputer animated ones, and a leggitimate soul and unique-ness behind it all from the 70s and 80s songs behind used to wonderful character balance.
Verdict:
Despite the villains coming across as a little bland and undefined compared to their far more memorable protagonist counter parts; this is an outstanding gem on the Marvel Cinematic Universe shelf that doesn’t enter new narrative territory, but nevertheless is brave, confident, visually ecstatic, and very, very fun[ny]. – 8½ /10 | Go See It!