You guys, Guardians of the Galaxy is what we were all hoping it would be. A fun, thrilling, pop colored concotion of fun jokes, thrilling action, and a rag tag group of heroes that include a talking raccoon and a sentient tree. Marvel has figured out the perfect way to tap into our inner fan and with Guardians of the Galaxy has found a great film to fits its mold and expand the universe.
The movie tells the tale of the aforementioned Guardians. When Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) arrives on a distant planet and steals an orb, he has no idea what kind of intergalactic shenanigans he’s about to get into. He quickly finds out when he arrives back in Nova, and his buyer doesn’t want the orb , and he gets into a city spanning fight with Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), which ends with them all being arrested and thrown into a maximum security prison where they meet Drax (Dave Bautista). But what was so special about the orb? Well it turns out that Ronan the Acuser (Lee Pace) has been tasked with finding the orb and using it to conquer the universe. After a harrowing battle, this rag tag group has to come together and stop him before he takes over the world.
Guardians of the Galaxy succeeds on many levels, the first of which is the script. Written by director James Gunn and Nicole Perlman (who I got to interview at Comic Con), the movie just realizes that in order to land it has to be the perfect blend of silly and serious, and boy do they land it. There is nothing in this script that feels out of place and they find such great ways to not only maximize characters, but set up a plot that homages to other films while crafting its own path. Guardians of the Galaxy is also so sure of itself and well crafted that the world jumping and science elements don’t even bother. Also, this movie is flat out hilarious. I don’t remember laughing so much during a Marvel film as I did with this one. I mean the jokes they were able to derive from the simple line “I am Groot” are astounding. You probably won’t find a movie more enjoyable this summer than this one.
Helping balance the humor, heart and action is James Gunn. He, in my opinion, is the only director who has come close to matching the sheer awesomeness of Joss Whedon, in terms of Marvel directors. Under Gunn’s direction, there isn’t a moment that feels wasted or unsure about what it needs to convey. His action beats are amazing and fluid, which is something you can’t be too sure of these days. I thought he made some brilliant choices with regards to the choreography of the scenes (that prison escape is magnificent) as well as with the IMAX/regular size shots. This is the first movie I’ve seen in Imax format where the switches between ratios didn’t even bother me a tiny bit, and that’s because Gunn knows just what shots and formats to convey what he needs to.
However, what really makes Guardians of the Galaxy soar is the acting. There is not a weak link amongst the cast. You will find just as much joy from Karen Gillan’s android-esque delivery as Nebula as you will with Lee Pace’s over the top dramatics as the villainous Roman. Zoe Saldana delivers quite the “I’m tough but can be sensitive” performance as Gamora, using every ounce of what she learned on Avatar and Star Trek and bringing it to this role. I also really loved Chris Pratt as Peter Quill. It’s one thing to be funny, and we all know Pratt is hilarious, but it’s quite another to be funny and charming and lust worthy and an asshole and a hero all at the same time and yet he makes it look easy. The MVPs of the movie are Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, neither of whom appear in body but whose vocal work is just top notch. Diesel only says one line but every variation on that line is hilarious and Cooper, man, you wouldn’t even know it was him. What he does with his voice, crafting the intense intelligence, anger, and emotion is really special to witness.
There isn’t much more to say other than you should run, not walk, to see Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s one of the most enjoyable movies of the year and one of Marvel’s best on screen efforts.
Grade: ***1/2/**** (A-)