Guardians of the Galaxy Review

The crew all together in prison in Guardians of the Galaxy

Photo Credit: Marvel Studios

Guardians of the Galaxy

B+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

The first prison break sequence of the latest marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy, is pretty analogous of the entire film. The sequence involves our five heroes breaking out of a high security prison using a fun and wacky plan. The sequence works because of the characters and their interactions with one another, the sharpness of the dialogue, and the wackiness of all of it. Sadly the plot feels a little bit derivative, the sequence is a prison break after all. Guardians of the Galaxy as a whole is exactly that, a fun and cool romp through the galaxy with great characters that sadly fails in the plot and villain department in a big way.

The prime thing that Guardians gets right are the characters. The five main characters Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradly Cooper) a talking raccoon, his talking tree/muscle Groot (Vin Deasil who gets to say one line all film), the tough guy that is on a mission of revenge Drax (Dave Bautista), and the alien daughter seeking revenge Gamora (Zoe Saldana) all get a certain amount of back story, however brief, and by the end of the film we not only get a since of who these characters are but also why they are important. This is especially true for Quill, whose character arc is really satisfying and moving, really giving a center to the film. Rocket and Groot are also super characters, Rocket provides most of the laughs with his snappiness, and Groot gets a lot of millage out of his one phrase “I am Groot.”

The other thing that co-writer and director James Gunn gets right is the snappiness of the jokes and the references. Quill’s constant references to 80’s pop culture, whether be it through the music or the awesome Footloose nod (which made me laugh way to hard), add a lot of fun to the film, as does the banter from the always funny Rocket. The film really seems to know its tone and everything including its climax follows that tone. If there is a complaint it might be it may take certain things a little bit too lightly. The climax of the film is quite funny but maybe doesn’t have the impact it could have had if it were taken more seriously.

The main problem with Guardians, though, lands squarely in the territory of the plot. The plot never breaks out of generic Marvel film territory, nor does it crack the problem of an origin story. The characters, like in many a Marvel film, are out for some strange galaxy ending Macguffin that if placed in the wrong (and in this film underdeveloped) hands could cause catastrophe. The film plays around with these plot ideas but never really escapes them in order to do something truly new. This is also an origin story which means there is a ton of exposition that at times feels forced. There are times where the plot is spoken directly to the audience unnecessarily because the goals of the villains are poorly shown and executed, causing myself to groan a tad throughout scenes of the film.

The true and ultimate revelation of Guardians of the Galaxy is Chris Pratt, action star. It’s not that Pratt hasn’t been amazing in the past (Parks and Rec has been a prime example of how lovable the man can be on screen) but never could I ever have envisioned him doing a role like this. Thankfully he’s awesome in the role, playing a little bit of a more rugged and funnier version of a Luke Skywalker. Bradly Cooper is practically unrecognizable as Rocket but still plays the role of the Han Solo character quite well. Dave Bautista does what he needs to do well, and that’s snare and be tough while getting to be the butt of a joke or two. Zoe Saldana is the weakest of the five but that’s mostly because she’s underused compared to everyone else and her character’s back story is a little rushed and underdeveloped.

Technically the film uses a ton of CGI, Star Wars Prequels levels of CGI, but ultimately manages to make it look decent enough. Rocket and Groot are magnificent looking creations with tons of detail and an extraordinary range of facial and physical emotion. The rest of the vistas look fine and the alien creatures mostly look like different colored versions of humans. The score is fine but it ultimately takes a backseat to the awesome 80’s soundtrack that while obvious, is used extraordinarily well throughout the film.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a good first crack at the obscure side of the Marvel universe. It’s a fun, wisecracking film that never quite escapes the generic superhero mold nor manages to rise above the origin story. As solid summer fun though it’s a blast, and a great way to put an end to the main summer movie season.