Sunday 27 July 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy review


Guardians of the Galaxy (12A/PG-13, 121 mins)
Director: James Gunn
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Marvel cinematic universe took a step away from typical comic book shenanigans towards more serious fare earlier this year with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

It’s all colour and flash again though for Guardians of the Galaxy, which arrives amid high anticipation levels as the summer’s last major blockbuster. It’s also the most standalone film set in this world, linked to previous Marvel entries only by post-credit Easter eggs in Avengers Assemble and Thor 2.

In fact in tone, humour and backdrop the film it most closely resembles is Serenity, and it’s unlikely to be a coincidence that the director of that film and Avengers Assemble are one and the same. Endlessly glib but rarely smug, it’s a thrilling diversion filled with more funny lines and perfectly timed comedic beats than many out-and-out comedies.

It’s not all yucks though, and there’s a danger of it sinking under the weight of its own ambitions during an opening salvo that can border on gibberish. We’re bombarded by character names and place names to the extent that it seems like there might be an in-between film somewhere that we haven’t seen where we were supposed to have learned all this.

That sense of confusion begins straight away with a prologue set on earth in 1988, where teenager Peter is confronted with the death of his mother. Moments later he’s whisked away by a spaceship and we jump without ceremony to outer space, where the adult Peter (Chris Pratt) is an outlaw adventurer in the Indiana Jones mould.

In a way it’s refreshing that over-explanation isn’t a problem, but a little more time spent on details might have been nice. But that passes reasonably quickly and what it boils down to is pretty much a treasure hunt between a bunch of interested parties who are after an orb that Peter has pilfered.

His efforts land him prison alongside a ragtag group of criminals and mercenaries. It takes quite a while for this lot to actually be announced as Guardians, and what it might be that they're guarding the galaxy from, but it’s worth the wait. The threat turns out to involve Lee Pace and Karen Gillan as murderous aliens whose stories and motivations are hashed out during the gibberish phase.

Despite the initial setbacks, it evolves into an effortlessly entertaining fantasy adventure. It’s an astonishing piece of world-building, filled with evocative locations, wildly imaginative gizmos and gadgets and some amazing characters. No one is able to steal the show among the Guardians because everyone, both the character and the actor playing them, is fantastic.

It’s a star-making turn from Pratt, who uses his roguish charisma to move up from amiable supporting roles in Her or voicing the lead in the Lego movie. Zoe Saldana is his match as the bloodthirsty Gamora, and while less might have been expected from wrestler-turned actor Dave Bautista, his portrayal of the vengeful Drax is as heartfelt and funny as any of the Guardians.

The computer generated Guardians are great too: Rocket, a raccoon with a plan voiced with real fizz by Bradley Cooper, and a walking tree voiced by Vin Diesel who can only say “I am Groot”. There’s an exuberance to the violence too, facilitated by all of the main characters being completely psychotic.

Pause for a moment to put Guardians of the Galaxy under any serious scrutiny and perhaps there isn’t really very much there. The plot is minor and the finale suffers from the same big-fight syndrome as most movies of its ilk, but it’s so slick, so entertaining and so funny that its flaws are easily overlooked.

11 comments:

  1. wtf is Avengers Assemble? You are literally the only person that calls it that, Avengers Assemble is the dumb animated TV show not the movie that grossed $1.5 billion in the box office. It kind of ruins your validity as a reviewer if you don't know what the biggest movie in the Marvel universe is named...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the country I live in it's called Avengers Assemble, so why would I call it anything else?

      Delete
    2. How dare you not be where I'm From sir!

      Delete
    3. Yeah him and the 63 million other people who live in the UK. Films have different titles throughout the world. It kind of supports your validility as an idiot.

      Delete
    4. That is hilarious! Well played!

      Delete
  2. Lies. What country was the official title 'avengers assemble'? Acording to IMDB, none. It was a moniker adapted during production by the actors. Never an official name. Douche

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uh, according to IMDB, it most certainly is known as "Avengers Assemble" in the UK:

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt#akas

      "UK Avengers Assemble"

      Douche.

      Delete
    2. In the UK it's called Avengers Assemble. Get over it.

      Delete
  3. The name of the movie (Marvel's The Avengers) was changed due to the popular tv show from the '60 and the terrible movie adaptation with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman. They thought there would be confusion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sure Paul's not too worried about it. He's probably doing better than the guy who made the comment in the first place. Relax.

    ReplyDelete
  5. jervaise brooke hamster9 August 2014 at 20:31

    Paul, just with regards to "The Inbetweeners Movie 2": NUKE THE BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY, NOW, WITH A 50 MEGATON DEVICE ! ! !.

    ReplyDelete