Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Producers: Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Stan Lee, et al.

Director: James Gunn

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language

Runtime: 121 min

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comic

The talk going into Guardians was a mixture of excitement, due to the stellar trailers Marvel had released, and skepticism, regarding whether Marvel could take a collection of unknowns and make the audience care about them. The answer to that concern is a definite “yes,” they can and they will. At various times throughout the movie I found myself thinking; “Wow, Rocket is stealing the show,” ten minutes later, “I never thought Dave Bautista would be playing my favorite character,” then “Somehow, using three words, Groot is owning this scene!” It turns out I didn't leave the theater with a favorite character, just a smile on my face.

The movie starts out with an emotional hammer, and from there snowballs into an interplanetary jaunt to stop Ronan The Accuser from doing very bad things to Xandar the home of the Nova Empire. While the 'bad things' are there to tie this film into the others of the Marvel Cinematic Universe they are not the highlight of the movie. This movie shines in the action scenes and the humorous banter. James Gunn and Nicole Perlman have penned a script that gives nearly every character their moment. Nearly everyone, because one deficit that I noticed was a lack of those kind of moments of Zoe Saldana's Gamora. I think perhaps the fight with Nebula that was teased in the trailers was supposed to be that moment, but I felt that it was one of the few actions scenes that suffered from poor lighting, and possibly, questionable editing. Between that lack of a moment for Gamora, and the feeling that she was needed to be the 'serious one' left me wanting a little more from the script for her.

While that's a quibble with the presentation of one character, I did notice something else that bothered me. The scenes that were intended to be emotional/sentimental just felt off. It was as if the movie stuttered each time the audience was expected to feel for the characters. Gunn's direction of action and humor were great. The heavy scenes? They felt a little jarring, and not in a good way.

The supporting cast does its job well, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, and Djimon Hounsou all fit. Sadly, it is hard for me to see Michael Rooker these days without thinking of Merle Dixon, not that Merle is a bad character, but come on; a blue Merle, in space, with a metal mohawk?! Karen Gillan, as Nebula, was good enough for me to hope she pops up again, although she sounded a little too much like a Disney villian at times. Ronan looked awesome, menacing and scary.  Lee Pace plays a great villan, he had never stood out to me in his previous roles, but this one has me hoping to see more of him in the future.

Conclusion: For the most part great action, very funny dialogue and a good time at the movies. See this one with a crowd, it's definitely a movie made for the movie-going experience. Aside from minor issues this was a great introduction to a side of Marvel we hadn't seen before, and it left me excited to see what will come next for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Possible Spoiler: If I can't buy a dancing Baby Groot toy I'm going to be upset.

Rating: 8.5/10