After two viewings in three days, here's my review for Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ok, first of all, I went into my first viewing of Marvel's latest escapade already a committed fan and very much aware of who the titular gang of misfits were. However, despite this, Guardians of the Galaxy was always going to be the biggest leap of faith Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had taken to date. The reason being, regardless of all the so-called 'True Believers' like myself out there chomping at the bit to see this film, Marvel Studios will always have Hollywood to contend with, and Hollywood runs on the opinion and, most importantly, hard-earned money of film-goers of all shapes and sizes. The lowdown is, despite the unbridled success of Avengers Assemble in the summer of 2012, the collective crowd of non-Marvel Comics fans would take some good convincing to go and watch a team that basically includes a talking Raccoon with an unhealthy ammunitions fetish, and a walking humanoid tree with a very limited vocabulary, team up to go on a space adventure. It was always going to be 'the movie' for Marvel. The one that would make or break their Phase-by-Phase Universe-building masterplan, that Kevin Feige claims will run till at least 2028. So, did they pull it off? In the now immortal words of Rocket Raccoon, "Oh, yeeeaaaahhh".
Guardians of the Galaxy has every right to be crowned "Best Marvel Film Yet". It's hilarious, thoughtful, feel-good, good-looking, has tonnes of effortless swagger and, in some moments, heart-breaking. First up we have Peter Jason Quill, who very much likes to get the word around that he's to be known as Star-Lord. He is very much your Han Solo-type character. He travels here and there, sleeping with women he has no intentions of getting to know or staying with, he steals mysterious artifacts that he does have intentions of fencing to any interested broker, and, essentially, he has an impossibly cool ship (the Milano), which is tastefully decked out in red leather. He is, not surprisingly, immediately likeable (unfortunately not relatable). Boy would I love to be Star-Lord. See what I mean? The Han Solo of the 21st Century. He's played wonderfully by Chris Pratt, who has certainly come a long way really fast. I was always convinced he would pull effortlessly pull off Star-Lord's charisma and charm. The real challenge would be to nail those tender moments where comedy has no place and we, the audience, is meant to stop, and just feel. I tell you what, the guy's a natural. I was sold very early on, but there is a moment near the end of the film where I came to the conclusion in my mind, no one would've been able to balance all these emotions and manage to captivate fans as convincingly as Chris Pratt. Perfect casting number one.
Next up, is also the second major casting that was announced in the film's production stages. Zoe Saldana brings beauty and dangerous presence to the role of Gamora, an intergalactic assassin and adopted daughter of the Mad Titan Thanos (glimpsed in the Avengers Assemble mid-credits sting). Unlike Pratt, I needed no convincing on whether this was an inspired casting or not. Saldana showed the world she was no stranger to athleticism and knife-skills when she took to the complete motion-capture role of Neytiri in James Cameron's Avatar. The experience shows straight from her introduction, as she is sent by Kree extremist Ronan the Accuser, to intercept the aforementioned Star-Lord on the planet Xandar (still with me?). Acting as a neat way to introduce multiple characters at once, this doesn't go to plan, as a delightful double act are also hot on the heels of Pratt.
Arguably the two members of this eclectic cast with the largest Hollywood reputation find themselves on voice-over duty. In hindsight probably not a bad idea at all as these two bounty-hunters, potentially, could've been the Jar-Jar Binks combined of Marvel movies. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover Trilogy, Limitless, A-Team, Silver Linings Playbook) takes on the role of Rocket, who, let's face it, is a straight up RACCOON. To non-comic readers anyway. He absolutely kills it as the loveable rodent as we are treated to some perfectly-timed wise cracks and some serious firepower. His relationship, his bromance, with Humanoid plant Groot, showcases, in my opinion, some of the best CGI in cinema history. They really are magnificent works of art. Best of all, thanks to Groot's (very) limited dictionary, we are treated to some properly hilarious banter between the two, that I'm sure isn't a coincidence that it resembles Lassie 'talking' to her owner. Comedy gold at times.
Last but not at all least we have yet another wrestler-turned-actor in the form of former WWE star Dave Bautista (Batista) as Drax the Destroyer. Even though I already knew the intricacies of the vengeance-driven backstory of the hulking brute, overall it didn't hit as hard as say, Gamora's or Quill's. I mean, the motivation was there, but I just didn't feel it in my heart as much as I did the others. Don't get me wrong though, Bautista actually gets my vote for biggest surprise of the movie. He seriously has some of the best quotes and definitely brings the muscle and ferocity to the role. In short, he did what was required of him and, like the other four Guardians, is a welcome addition to the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Above all this, all these fantastically entertaining misfits, the one aspect of this movie that stands above the rest, is the superbly chosen soundtrack, aptly named "Awesome Mix Volume 1 by Star-Lord. Without it, the unique tone of the movie simply wouldn't exist. Right from the beginning we witness Quill prepare himself for a heist of the film's MacGuffin, by plugging in his 1980's Walkman (his only memory of Earth) and lose himself in Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love", whilst delightfully dancing through ruins akin to Raider of the Lost Ark. I myself have already downloaded it off iTunes.
In the end, the only (slight) negative point I can give to the film is the fact that the villain, Ronan, although incredibly powerful, just felt generic to me. Just another villainous fanatic who wants to bring death and destruction to the Universe. Yes, Christopher Ecclestone's Malekith, I'm looking at you. This is most definitely the only sour patch in an otherwise flawless adventure that delves in to far reaches of Cosmic Marvel, and pulls a blinder. It's both the funniest movie you'll see this year, and the coolest. It made me feel 10 years old again. There's so many other points in the film I want to rabbit on about, but the verdict's already confirmed. It was as soon as the credits rolled on my first viewing.
Verdict: 9.5/10
Guardians of the Galaxy is the best Marvel outing to date. Not to mention being a kick-ass sci-fi odyssey with buckets of humour, wit, gripping action, and heart-warming relationships. Roll on the Blu-ray!
