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We all know by now that Marvel Studios is the dominant force for creating comic book movies. No one has come close in creating such a cohesively combined cinematic universe with their massive log of properties. Unless you've been living in a cave for the past 6 years then you have most likely have seen, or at least know about, one of Marvel's films. From Iron Man, Thor, Captain America (and their respective sequels) all the way to their team up in the Avengers Assemble it's safe to say Marvel Studios has become an established brand in comic book to film adaptions. And whats all the more impressive is the studio is yet to have a flop! There may have been one or two films that didn't live up to others but Marvel has consistently pumped out fun, engaging, well made films that have brought the comic book genre to new heights.
So when Marvel made the announcement that their next film was going to be Guardians Of The Galaxy it left most people saying "who are they?".
It's a relatively unknown property and big risk for Marvel to bring in a new franchise that most people haven't heard of let alone have read one of the comics. I've even spoken to massive comic book fans that have never heard of Guardians Of The Galaxy until they heard news of it being made into a movie. So there was a lot of rumour and speculation on various movie sites and talk shows that this could be Marvels first flop. And it was safe to assume that considering it is such a weird unknown property that involves a talking racoon and a walking tree set in space. But with James Gunn in the directing chair (Slither 2006, Super 2010) and a slew of of stars such as Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt attached, it gained steam and more people than I thought started to take notice. But how does Marvel's biggest risk to date fair on the big screen? Does it live up to it's predecessors in the Marvel cinematic universe?
The story revolves around the lives of five different outcasts in the cosmos of the galaxy. It starts off with the lead character Peter Quill A.K.A Starlord (Chris Pratt) who is abducted from Earth as a young boy and raised as a thief in space. After taking a contract to steal a mysterious orb from a desolate planet. He encounters some bad guys after the same item who are under the service of Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace), the radical leader of the Kree, who is fighting an ancient war between his people and the Xandarians. Starlord evades capture with the orb in his possession but refuses to share the takings with his gang leader Yondu (Michael Rooker). In turn Yondu places a bounty on Starlord's head, attracting the attention of Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a genetically altered, highly intelligent, talking raccoon and his bodyguard Groot (Vin Diesel), a sentient walking tree who can only communicate through the use of three words "I am Groot". But it's not just these two on the hunt for Starlord. After failing to gain possession of the orb the first time Ronan sends Gamora (Zoe Saldana), an orphan turned assassin raised by the mad titan Thanos. Resulting in the four of them having a showdown on the Nova Corps homeworld of Xandar. All four of them end up being arrested and sent to a maximum security prison floating in space. This is where they meet Drax The Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who has a personal vendetta against Ronan for the murder of his wife and daughter. With the five of them now together they decide to put aside their differences and must work together to escape the prison in order to sell the orb to The Collector (Benicio Del Toro). However when they learn of the orbs true power and what Ronan plans to do with it, they must find a way to put there selfish desires behind them in order to save the galaxy.
The script is surprisingly tight for a Marvel movie who I know have had loop holes in some of their movies that dig away at you over time. But I think most credit goes to James Gunn's Direction. He's been known for his ruthless attention to detail and has even has said in an interview he has no problem or hesitation removing scenes from a final edit if it doesn't serve the purpose of the film. Even if he personally liked them. He keeps the movie going at a great pace so that you are constantly engaged with whats happening. And the humour is great! It strikes a fine balance with the serious tones of the film so that you're never really feeling "Damn that was depressing". Instead it will hit you with a serious note and then immediately pick you up with that trademark James Gunn humour.
But you can't have a good film without a cast that's going to deliver and the cast in Guardians' is just a delight to watch. Each of the five main characters bringing a special quality to the film individually but where they truly shine is when they are on-screen together. They all have these great and specifically individual personalities where people will be discussing which character out of the five were their favourite. I love how you quickly gain a solid sense of their backstory without too much time wasted on trying to explain it in detail.
The visual effects are fantastic and the whole film in general is shot well but you would expect that from a budget of $170,000,000. What stood out to me and what I thought was a great addition to this film was its soundtrack. It's a collection of 80's and 70's songs that are cleverly connected to Peter Quills most valued possession. His cassette mix tape from Earth when he was a child, appropriately titled "Awesome Mix Vol. 1". You'll be grinning stupidly whilst singing along to tracks like Blue Suede's "Hooked On A Feeling" or Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love".
There are some problems with the film however and although they're small problems it did, for me personally, take away from the film a little bit. The plot isn't anything fantastic. In fact it's pretty simple and straightforward, perhaps a little thin. Also I thought the films villain, Ronan The Accuser, didn't have any character development. There was no insight or explanation to why he was the way he was and just became this very boring, generic villain. The same could be said to other characters other than the guardians for example if it wasn't for Glenn Close playing Nova Prime I wouldn't have even acknowledged the character. Same could be said for Djimon Hounsou's character Korath who was basically just a throw-away character. But not all the the secondary characters were bad. I really liked Michael Rooker as Yondu, who by the end of the film you realise how much of a badass he is and why the other characters are right to be afraid of him. Also I thought Karen Gillan put in a good performance as Nebula and I look forward to seeing her character again.
There was one thing though that bugged me, and it's very minor, was the fact Peter Quill could be out in space with nothing but his normal clothes and a mask on and not freeze instantly, and when he does take his mask off and start to freeze he magically shakes it off once he's rescued, with no sign of frostbite or hypothermia. I know it's a stupid thing to get annoyed about considering this movie had a talking raccoon and a walking tree but that's how my mind just functions.
I had my reservations going into this movie. I went to the cinema by myself so I could accurately judge this movie for myself without any distractions and although I usually can't stand the thought of being alone in a cinema, mainly because it defies the process of sharing a movie experience with people I have come to know and love. I actually loved every second! Not once did I think about how I was alone in a cinema amongst the average movie going audience, as they conversed amongst their friends and loved ones. I was fully engrossed and engaged. Guardians Of The Galaxy to me was almost similar to watching Star Wars for the first time as a child. It gave me a sense of wonder and excitement by introducing me to loveable characters and a whole new universe that was exciting and obscure yet somehow made you feel like you could believe it. Although it had some of its own problems Guardians Of The Galaxy is an extremely enjoyable journey that I recommend all of you should take.
RATING: ★★★★☆
So when Marvel made the announcement that their next film was going to be Guardians Of The Galaxy it left most people saying "who are they?".
It's a relatively unknown property and big risk for Marvel to bring in a new franchise that most people haven't heard of let alone have read one of the comics. I've even spoken to massive comic book fans that have never heard of Guardians Of The Galaxy until they heard news of it being made into a movie. So there was a lot of rumour and speculation on various movie sites and talk shows that this could be Marvels first flop. And it was safe to assume that considering it is such a weird unknown property that involves a talking racoon and a walking tree set in space. But with James Gunn in the directing chair (Slither 2006, Super 2010) and a slew of of stars such as Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt attached, it gained steam and more people than I thought started to take notice. But how does Marvel's biggest risk to date fair on the big screen? Does it live up to it's predecessors in the Marvel cinematic universe?
The story revolves around the lives of five different outcasts in the cosmos of the galaxy. It starts off with the lead character Peter Quill A.K.A Starlord (Chris Pratt) who is abducted from Earth as a young boy and raised as a thief in space. After taking a contract to steal a mysterious orb from a desolate planet. He encounters some bad guys after the same item who are under the service of Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace), the radical leader of the Kree, who is fighting an ancient war between his people and the Xandarians. Starlord evades capture with the orb in his possession but refuses to share the takings with his gang leader Yondu (Michael Rooker). In turn Yondu places a bounty on Starlord's head, attracting the attention of Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a genetically altered, highly intelligent, talking raccoon and his bodyguard Groot (Vin Diesel), a sentient walking tree who can only communicate through the use of three words "I am Groot". But it's not just these two on the hunt for Starlord. After failing to gain possession of the orb the first time Ronan sends Gamora (Zoe Saldana), an orphan turned assassin raised by the mad titan Thanos. Resulting in the four of them having a showdown on the Nova Corps homeworld of Xandar. All four of them end up being arrested and sent to a maximum security prison floating in space. This is where they meet Drax The Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who has a personal vendetta against Ronan for the murder of his wife and daughter. With the five of them now together they decide to put aside their differences and must work together to escape the prison in order to sell the orb to The Collector (Benicio Del Toro). However when they learn of the orbs true power and what Ronan plans to do with it, they must find a way to put there selfish desires behind them in order to save the galaxy.
The script is surprisingly tight for a Marvel movie who I know have had loop holes in some of their movies that dig away at you over time. But I think most credit goes to James Gunn's Direction. He's been known for his ruthless attention to detail and has even has said in an interview he has no problem or hesitation removing scenes from a final edit if it doesn't serve the purpose of the film. Even if he personally liked them. He keeps the movie going at a great pace so that you are constantly engaged with whats happening. And the humour is great! It strikes a fine balance with the serious tones of the film so that you're never really feeling "Damn that was depressing". Instead it will hit you with a serious note and then immediately pick you up with that trademark James Gunn humour.
But you can't have a good film without a cast that's going to deliver and the cast in Guardians' is just a delight to watch. Each of the five main characters bringing a special quality to the film individually but where they truly shine is when they are on-screen together. They all have these great and specifically individual personalities where people will be discussing which character out of the five were their favourite. I love how you quickly gain a solid sense of their backstory without too much time wasted on trying to explain it in detail.
The visual effects are fantastic and the whole film in general is shot well but you would expect that from a budget of $170,000,000. What stood out to me and what I thought was a great addition to this film was its soundtrack. It's a collection of 80's and 70's songs that are cleverly connected to Peter Quills most valued possession. His cassette mix tape from Earth when he was a child, appropriately titled "Awesome Mix Vol. 1". You'll be grinning stupidly whilst singing along to tracks like Blue Suede's "Hooked On A Feeling" or Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love".
There are some problems with the film however and although they're small problems it did, for me personally, take away from the film a little bit. The plot isn't anything fantastic. In fact it's pretty simple and straightforward, perhaps a little thin. Also I thought the films villain, Ronan The Accuser, didn't have any character development. There was no insight or explanation to why he was the way he was and just became this very boring, generic villain. The same could be said to other characters other than the guardians for example if it wasn't for Glenn Close playing Nova Prime I wouldn't have even acknowledged the character. Same could be said for Djimon Hounsou's character Korath who was basically just a throw-away character. But not all the the secondary characters were bad. I really liked Michael Rooker as Yondu, who by the end of the film you realise how much of a badass he is and why the other characters are right to be afraid of him. Also I thought Karen Gillan put in a good performance as Nebula and I look forward to seeing her character again.
There was one thing though that bugged me, and it's very minor, was the fact Peter Quill could be out in space with nothing but his normal clothes and a mask on and not freeze instantly, and when he does take his mask off and start to freeze he magically shakes it off once he's rescued, with no sign of frostbite or hypothermia. I know it's a stupid thing to get annoyed about considering this movie had a talking raccoon and a walking tree but that's how my mind just functions.
I had my reservations going into this movie. I went to the cinema by myself so I could accurately judge this movie for myself without any distractions and although I usually can't stand the thought of being alone in a cinema, mainly because it defies the process of sharing a movie experience with people I have come to know and love. I actually loved every second! Not once did I think about how I was alone in a cinema amongst the average movie going audience, as they conversed amongst their friends and loved ones. I was fully engrossed and engaged. Guardians Of The Galaxy to me was almost similar to watching Star Wars for the first time as a child. It gave me a sense of wonder and excitement by introducing me to loveable characters and a whole new universe that was exciting and obscure yet somehow made you feel like you could believe it. Although it had some of its own problems Guardians Of The Galaxy is an extremely enjoyable journey that I recommend all of you should take.
RATING: ★★★★☆
By Matthew Trick
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