Hello :-)
Marvel are the
bookends of the 2014 blockbuster season. They kicked things off in April with
‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ and now they’re wrapping it up with
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’.
‘Guardians…’
follows five outlaws in a fight to save the planet of Xandar from a band of
rebel aliens. After scavenger Peter Quill aka Starlord (Chris Pratt) steals a
mysterious orb he finds a bounty on his head put there by space pirate Yondu
(Michael Rooker). Super Assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is sent after Starlord to
retrieve the orb by Kree rebel leader and azure nutjob Ronan (Lee Pace).
That all seems
like a paint-by-numbers search for the MacGuffin and it’s hard not to make it
sound like that when you’re laying out the basics of the plot. Thankfully
Marvel, in their infinite wisdom, have made ‘Guardians…’ much more than that.
There is a quite
a lot of setting up elements that will be tied into the Marvel Cinematic
Universe at a later date but it’s done in a super fun way. In fact everything
about this film is super fun. It’s got the same irreverent humour as the Iron
Man movies and Marvel seems to be relishing their reputation as the perky yang
to DC’s moody yin.
It’s gorgeous to
look at as well. In terms of colour it reminded me of the opening scenes of
‘Finding Nemo’ when Nemo is on the back of Mr Ray with his class mates. The
sheer amount of colour and vibrancy in each frame just adds to this fairground
of a movie.
Although rumour
has it that (and if the recent Ant Man furore is anything to go by) Marvel like
to keep their Directors on a tight leash, it must be said that James Gunn’s
name is printed through the centre of ‘Guardians…’ like a stick of rock. I’m a
fan of his previous output and it’s lovely to see that he’s been able to
channel his brand of humour into this project.
Another pleasant
surprise is how even handed the film is with its characters. The film’s focus
could so easily have been Starlord and whilst he is a major player, Gunn hasn’t
short changed the other four Guardians.
The performances
are fantastic across the board. Chris Pratt continues on his upward career
trajectory as Peter Quill. With a gorgeous mix of charm and arrogance if you
aren’t a bit in love with him now, you will be by the end of the film.
Zoe Saldana is
great as Gamora. I did start to panic when the film appeared to be taking her
character in a particularly clichéd direction but thankfully they didn’t go
through with it. Her being pitched against Nebula is nice and their final fight
scene is fantastic.
A pleasant
surprise is Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. As a Professional Wrestler, I
wasn’t expecting much but Bautista puts in a good show with a nicely deadpan,
fantastically physical performance.
Stealing the
show is the wonderful tag team of Rocket and Groot. Many (including myself) had
doubts about Bradley Cooper’s casting as the voice of Rocket but he’s
brilliant. Consistently getting the best gags there’s also another level to the
character that’s surprisingly poignant, not bad going for an anthropomorphic
Raccoon. Groot managed to steal the heart of everyone in the screening I
attended, in spite of his limited vocabulary. If you have children to buy for
this Christmas be prepared to be buying a fair amount of Groot based merchandise.
There’s a lovely
set up to Thanos as the big bad with Ronan as his underling, in a way not too
dissimilar to the Chitauri and Loki in ‘The Avengers’. I’m enjoying this Puppet
Master approach to the character and it’ll be good to see how Taneleer Tivan
aka The Collector fits into the jigsaw too.
‘Guardians of
the Galaxy’ is a riot. Super fun but not at the expense of character
development, this film is the love child of Star Wars and Indiana Jones with a
liberal helping of R-rated language. This is a much over used phrase but
‘Guardians…’ really is a game-changer, expanding Marvel’s horizons beyond our
own pale blue dot and into the stars.
And, you know, a foul mouthed Raccoon shooting
guns… what’s not to love?!?!
After that fun
lets have some
Reasons to be
cheerful :-)
1. Frozen are getting an animated short due out in 2015! For those who can’t wait for a
second dose of Arendelle it looks like you’ll be getting it in Spring next year
:-)
2. Teaser Trailer for Agents of Shield Series 2! I’m beside myself waiting to find out
what’s happened to Fitz…
3. New characterposters are out for Mockingjay Part 1. They’re all very dark and moody but if
you’re anything like me your first thought is “OH MY GOD IT’S FULTON REED!” (Fulton Reed of the Mighty Ducks was my first childhood crush!)
That’s all for today
:-)
Goodbye till
Next time!
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