Guardians of the Galaxy – Film Review
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel
Release Date: Out Now
Peter “Starlord” Quill (Pratt), a wise cracking interplanetary salvager comes into the possession of an ominous orb. Unaware of its power or meaning, he quickly finds himself to be a high-priced mark and reluctantly teams up with Gamora (Saldana), Rocket (Cooper), Groot (Diesel) and Drax (Bautista) in Guardians of the Galaxy. Based on the Marvel Comic, the film also features Lee Pace, Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker.
As the success of the Marvel Movie Universe continues, the franchise is expanding to other characters and intellectual properties. What’s interesting is that Guardians of the Galaxy is one that doesn’t involve itself so much in a build up to the next Avengers film. Although there are some connections and references, the word is that this is the beginning of a franchise separate to the expansive Avengers saga (although the jury’s inevitably still out for a crossover).
The truth is that this makes sense; from this film alone it is evident that the characters and elements of Guardians of the Galaxy are expansive enough within themselves to justify their own franchise.
There are so many elements and characters involved in the film that it’s actually a bit tricky keeping up during the first act. While the moment at hand is always very clear, the overall plot gets a little lost once or twice. What carries the film well is Chris Pratt’s character Peter Quill. The film manages to pull you into seeing him as a sympathetic character very early on and he is clearly centered as the film’s human protagonist. He guides the audience through the bizarre world of colourful characters and creatures, employing a sarcastic and self-aware humour along the way.
Chris Pratt himself proves very charming and likable in this job, as per usual. And in those moments where we get lost in the film’s overall events, a quick piece of exposition or a gear turning scene is never far away; the film moves along quickly enough to stay entertaining.
But there is still an overall issue with the film, which is that there is never any real sense of peril. All the set pieces are wonderful in their action or setting but there’s very little tension or sense of danger. On top of that, the sarcastic sense of humour, while sharp and well delivered, takes you out of the film a little, leaving you wishing it would take itself a bit more seriously.
This is part of the reason that it is missing tension. The movie overall comes off as very casually laid back and, in a way, televisual. This is an attribute of modern blockbusters that is worryingly increasing.
The best word to describe this issue is that the film itself feels diluted. This is also coupled with the fact that the film falls into the now common Marvel Movie formula that’s been recurring since The Avengers, escaped only by Iron Man 3.
Without giving too much away, the final climax felt too similar to the concluding events of Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (as well as The Avengers itself). Heck, even Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness had these elements.
But despite all this, the film still impressively manages to be thoroughly enjoyable. First of all, it finally accomplishes what the likes of John Carter and Green Lantern didn’t quite pull off; it creates an old fashioned, swash-buckling world of science-fiction wonder and adventure. The kind of thing Star Wars rejuvenated, re-popularised and then subsequently ruined years later.
It’s not pioneering but it is refreshing to see a movie that truly wants you to believe in this world. The stunning CGI landscapes prove reminiscent of matte paintings from the old days but the film chooses to rely appropriately on prosthetics and built sets to pull you in.
The varied cast of characters does provide a wonderful tapestry and there are too many great performances to mention. However, Dave Bautista’s performance as Drax stands out, as his ridiculous bravado and humour to the character was particularly appropriate to the film’s somewhat silly tone.
Some characters do however feel underused, none ever feel overused, and there is a sense of an overcrowded cast. As well as this, there isn’t a rock solid reason for why the main collection of characters decide to band together, but at the same time you do end up rooting for them to. As stated, the film isn’t pioneering but it really draws from the right stuff, giving a mix of the likes of Farscape, Flash Gordon, Krull, Buckaroo Banzai and of course Star Wars.
In essence there’s a very B-Movie sense to the film, which is likely credited to its director’s origins with Troma Entertainment and Lloyd Kaufman (who gives a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo). While this diminishes certain elements, there is still something very relaxing and nice about the film not having that over-intense edge that blockbusters have been accumulating, with the far end of the stick being the much lamented Transformers series.
The result is a film that really feels like a fun Saturday Morning Cartoon, which is a wonderful thing even if it comes with a more casual and televisual feel to the cinema screen.
The fact that films like this and Captain America: The Winter Soldier can bring some great variety to the franchise (at least in tone, if not in story structure) inspires faith in the future “phases” of the Marvel Movie Universe. It shows a genuine invitation for creativity into the business, which is the kind of thing that initially sparked the invention of so many comic book characters and worlds.
It’s true that alarm bells have gone off with the news of both Edgar Wright and Drew Goddard’s departures from their Marvel projects, but this film proves a pro that competes with the formerly mentioned con.
Ultimately Guardians of the Galaxy is really fun. It’s not the smartest or the sharpest, but it provides a warm and uncynically friendly presence to the big screen, which has been missing of late.
With plenty of action and story beats to keep things rolling, it will delight audiences as a somewhat blurry but energetic romp with fun humour, stunning visuals and warm adventurous atmosphere.
Score: 4/5
Written by Seamus Hanly
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