Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Directed by James Gunn
Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel
As a child Peter Quinn is abducted by an alien space ship. 26 years later you might know him under a different name, Star Lord! No? Star Lord, come on. To save the galaxy he must form an alliance with a band of criminals to stop the evil Ronan who is determined to destroy anything in his way.
This is the first Marvel film set away from members of the Avengers and was a bit of a risk to try and make this successful as the audience is now having to become accustom to a group of new characters. But the easy flow of the film and the non-stop action and comedy will keep you thoroughly entertain throughout. The witty one liners from all the characters really keep the film from becoming too serious in those quieter moments while at the same time they don’t distract from the story that is being told.
As the film is based in the far reaches of the galaxy the character of Peter Quill helps keep the audience grounded with his constant stories of Earth and with his mix tape of music which plays throughout the film acting as the films soundtrack. Its a very clever way of making a modern day film have the nostalgic feel of the 70’s and 80’s without being set in that time and works brilliantly. Being a Marvel production the film needs to cater for both children and adults and this film does just that by interlacing funny superhero type characters with some adult based jokes that children wouldn’t get.
The film isn’t entirely about Quinn though. Before the film I was a bit worried about Dave Bautista playing Drax because as a wrestler I have always thought he was a bit wooden but I was pleasantly surprised by his dry performance as Drax and he had some great lines to perform. Bradley Cooper as Rocket and Vin Diesel as Groot both provide voices in the film and if I didn’t know it was them I think I would never have guessed. Other noticeable mentions go to John C. Reilly and Peter Serafinowicz who both add that extra bit of comedy to film but in there own unique way.
Recommend
As a different direction for the Marvel Universe I was really looking forward to see how it would work and I wasn’t disappointed. Constant action and comedy throughout make this film a great watch and left me wanting to watch it again. Having already announced a sequel it will be very interesting to see where this will go. Surely the Guardians of the Galaxy are going to need some extra help to take out Thanos? I am looking forward to seeing Peter Quill meet Tony Stark.
As with all Marvel films there is a post credit scene at the very end of the credits.
TheFriedGold rating – 8/10 – Shines as bright as a Star…….Lord
Film Fact
Bradley Cooper cited Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci’s character in Goodfellas (1990)) as an influence on Rocket Racoon’s voice.
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