James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel Studios’ most
ambitious feature yet, marking the first time the Marvel Cinematic Universe has
veered away from the core Avengers characters to tell an offbeat intergalactic
yarn involving a talking raccoon, a sentient tree and The Runaways’ “Cherry
Bomb.” It’s also the most fun you’re going to have in a theater this summer.
Guardians begins in a familiar Earth setting back in 1988, where
a young Peter Quill sits outside his dying mother’s hospital bed as he tries to
tune out the rest of the world with a Sony Walkman — arguably the film’s most
central MacGuffin. After his mother dies just a few moments later, Peter flees
the hospital and is abducted by space pirates led by the morally ambiguous
Yondu (Michael Rooker). Fast forward a few years and we meet Peter as a grown
man (Chris Pratt), who has become an intergalactic treasure hunter who goes by
the self-ascribed moniker “Star-Lord.” He’s in search of a mysterious orb we
later learn houses one of the Infinity Stones, powerful items that grant their
bearer incredible destructive powers. Collect the whole set and get a free gauntlet
while supplies last!
Anyhow, Peter’s quest for the orb soon aligns him with an
odd assemblage of characters, including Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the adopted daughter
of the mad titan Thanos; Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a muscled warrior seeking to
avenge his family; Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a quick-tempered, furry science
experiment; and Groot (Vin Diesel), a tree creature with an extremely
limited vocabulary. Once united, the rag-tag crew seeks to prevent the
villainous Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) from using the Infinity Stone for his
own nefarious means.
This movie is goofy as hell,
always embracing its own absurdity while somehow never crossing over into
self-parody. Much of the fun throughout comes from the interaction between the
incredibly strong ensemble cast — an impressive feat since two of the main
characters are digital creations. Pratt’s Star-Lord is a swaggering,
quick-witted Han Solo-type who clashes nicely with Saldana’s no-nonsense Gamora.
Rocket and Groot will go down as one of modern cinema’s most memorable comedy
parings, digital or otherwise, while Bautista’s surprisingly gets some of the
movie’s biggest laughs as a naïve barbarian who just can’t wrap his head around
metaphors.
There are visual thrills, sure, with harrowing space battles
and elaborately staged shootouts. Yet, perhaps the best special effect in
Guardians is its ability to be uproariously funny without being cynical or
mean-spirited. In fact, this might even qualify as a “feel-good” movie. There,
I said it.
Keen-eyed Marvel fans will notice plenty of Easter eggs throughout
the film, including nods to the comic source material as well as previous
Marvel Studios films. It goes without saying that you should stay through the
end credits for what is, in my opinion, one of the best post-credits sequences
of all time.
I’d love to be “that guy” and point out a few reasons why
Guardians doesn’t live up to the hype, but I’m hard-pressed to recall any
specific gripes about the film. It’s action-packed, it’s hilarious and it’s
loaded with fan service while being inclusive of casual moviegoers. And yeah, I’m
saying that about a movie starring a gun-toting raccoon.
