Marvel brings us their new group of heroes. J.P. gives us his take on the long-awaited “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
(Walt Disney Pictures / Marvel Studios)
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 121 min.
Cast Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou with John C. Reilly, Glenn Close as Nova Prime and Benicio Del Toro as The Collector
Director: James Gunn
Producer: Kevin Feige, p.g.a.
Studio Synopsis:
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
Directed by James Gunn (“Slither,” “Super”) and written by Gunn and Nicole Perlman, the all-star cast includes Chris Pratt (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Moneyball”) as Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Avatar”) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (“Riddick”) as Drax the Destroyer, featuring Vin Diesel (“Fast and Furious”) as Groot, two-time Academy Award® nominee Bradley Cooper (“American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) as Rocket, Lee Pace (“The Hobbit,” “Lincoln”) as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker (AMC’s “The Walking Dead”) as Yondu, Karen Gillan (BBC TV’s “Doctor Who”) as Nebula, two-time Academy Award® nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Amistad,” “Gladiator”) as Korath, with Academy Award® nominee John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) as Rhomann Dey, six-time Academy Award® nominee Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction”) as Nova Prime, and Academy Award® winner Benicio Del Toro (“Traffic”) as The Collector.
The creative team includes director of photography Ben Davis, BSC (“Wrath of the Titans,” “Kick-Ass”); production designer Charles Wood (“Thor: The Dark World”); BAFTA-nominated editor Fred Raskin (“Django Unchained,” “Fast Five”); editor Craig Wood, ACE (“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Rango”); Academy Award®-winning editor Hughes Winborne, ACE (“The Help,” “Crash”); Academy Award®–winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”); and composer Tyler Bates (“Watchmen,” “Super,” “Dawn of the Dead”). Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige, p.g.a., produced the film. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Nik Korda and Stan Lee.
J.P.’s Take:
Marvel is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle the second time around with “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Having garnered much success with super team-up “The Avengers,” they’ve decided to take a gamble on the fairly unknown “Guardians” ~ dusting them off for a big screen. To my surprise the gamble paid off.
Let me back track a bit and give you a brief history. The comic series, created by writer Arnold Drake and penciler Gene Colan in 1969, was featured in Marvel’s Super-Heroes reprint issue #18. Over the years, the battalion of galactic warriors underwent numerous personnel changes, with the most recent versions updated by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The assemblage consisted of 31st century demigods and outcasts – turned reluctant heroes – who take on interstellar villainy in edgy outer space escapades. Director/writer James Gunn (“Slither,” “Super”) and co-writer Nicole Pearlman (“Challenger”) have taken cues from the current comics to create an other worldly excursion … complete with an assortment of humanoid aliens, awesome space crafts and surreal backdrops and sets.
“Guardians” is Marvel’s take on the space western pairing up a group of misfits, whose self interests take precedence over saving the universe. Being that this is Gunn’s first crack at sci-fi/action, he directs this cosmic odyssey with ease and much to viewer amusement. Going for raw comic book hijinks and ultra futuristic visual appeal rather than conventional hero tropes, he develops tongue–in–cheek antics; adding slickly performed stunts. Much of the film’s guffaws is funneled through wisecracking dialogue spouted by the characters, especially that from Rocket (voice by Bradley Cooper).
The event surrounding 8 year old Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) sets the stage for the story. In 1988, immediately following his mother’s death, Peter Quill was abducted by Ravagers from Earth. This ruthless gang of space mercenaries is led by a blue skinned humanoid with a southern accent named Yondu (Michael Rooker), who practically raises Quill as one of his own. Flash forward 26 years later, Quill (a.k.a. Star Lord), now an adult, is roving the desolate surface of planet Morag. Armed with two double barrel laser pistols and a walkman loaded with classic rock tunes, he carries out Yondu’s orders to steal a mysterious orb. That is until Korath (Djimon Hounsou) shows up with small Kree army to ruin his plans. A battle ensues between them, but Quill escapes with his life and the orb. Quill was to bring the orb back to Yondu, yet instead he travels to the planet Xander where his plans are to sell the orb for a sizable profit. This infuriates Yondu which he sends a bounty out on PQ’s head. All the while, Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), a Kree zealot, hears of this powerful orb and enlists the aid of a deadly assassin named Gamora (green hued Zoe Saldana) to retrieve it. Once Gamora tracks Quill to the planet’s surface, her pursuit is foiled by a couple of bounty hunters. Rocket, a belligerent genetically altered raccoon, and a tree like creature named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), whose only form of communication is saying his name “I am Groot,” expressed in intonation are those bounty hunters.
Nova Prime Irani Rael (Glenn Close) and corpsman Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly) of Nova Corp, Xander’s homeland security, has the four of them arrested and sent to Kylin, a prison. There they meet Drax the destroyer (WWE wrestling star David Bautista), whose family was killed by Ronan and holds a life long vendetta towards him. He also vows to kill Gamora for her association with Ronan.
Karen Gillan (“Doctor Who”), who plays the organic machine assassin Nebula, gives an equally stealthy and vicious performance as Saldana. Both Gamora and Nebula are the adopted daughters of a Titan named Thanos. Thanos (voiced by an uncredited Josh Brolin) is one the baddies to play close attention to for his cross-worlds connection with other heroes in the Marvel-verse. Last, but certainly not least, is Benicio Del Toro as the eccentric Taneleer Tivan (a.k.a. the Collector). All cast members gave memorable applaudable performances.
The plot relies on common devises allowing the characters to decide whether or not to join forces for the common good or foil each others plans. There is also a certain amount of child like giddiness, which adds fun to the mix. However, the mischievous atmosphere doesn’t over power the film or allow it to become excessively stupid. Much of the later half of the movie as usual is loaded with endless battles. Yet, viewers won’t be bogged down with them. If they went on any longer, it would have led to serious boredom. As I mentioned above, the visuals are top shelf as they’re given the 3D treatment. Off hand, I’m still a fan of the 3D format despite what the critics say about it.
Overall, even if you don’t know anything about “Guardians of the Galaxy,” you can still follow along without getting lost. In fact, I became more intrigued by this story. In the end, it was clearly stated that a sequel is coming; however, don’t expect any tid bits into the next outing.