Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – Film

“Guardians of the Galaxy”

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After “salvaging” a mysterious orb, Peter Quill finds himself being pursued by Ronan the Accuser, a member of the Kree Empire.  To save the universe, Quill joins forces with Rocket, the machine gun wielding cyber-enhanced, mechanical genius, raccoon; Groot, a Flora Colossus; Gamora, former ally of Ronan, adopted daughter of Thanos; and Drax, the overly muscled, overly literal, revenge seeking, Destroyer.

This latest installment in the Marvel Comics universe is a wonderfully good time!  It is the first fully “outer space” comic book film.  A visual spectacle which is an entertaining story in its own right while helping set up for Phase 2 of the Marvel movies.  As usual, I will not address the changes made from the comic book canon to the film adaptation.  I acknowledge there are changes, I look at the film alone.

Peter Quill (Star-Lord) is a character with whom is very easy for the audience to connect.  Chris Pratt really brings to life a sense of deceptive frivolity.  He also gave a good sense of Quill being the “Captain Kirk” of the Marvel movies. (More specifically, as my friend, Brad said, “Captain Kirk with a hint of Barney Fife.”)  Once that connection is in place, it becomes easy to empathize with the more exotic members of the team.  Zoe Saldana, as Gamora, unable to bear the cruelty of Ronan or her adoptive father, Thanos, she betrays them and joins Quill and the others to save the universe.  Bradly Cooper, as the voice of Rocket, the feisty, angry-at-life, outlaw cyborg-Raccoon, with Sean Gunn as the motion-capture actor.  Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, the, loyal, kind-hearted, resourceful, Flora Colossus, a tree creature, with Krystian Godlewski as the motion-capture actor.  And a surprisingly talented Dave Bautista, as the revenge driven Drax.

Watch for an enjoyable range of smaller roles and cameo appearances, including Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser (yes, I include him as a smaller role, although he is the principle villain, as the film didn’t explore his character overly much); Karen Gillian, as Nebula; Benicio Del Toro, as the Collector; Michael Rooker as Yondu; Glenn Close as Nova Prime; and Djimon Hounsou as Korath.

The film featured a moving soundtrack.  I mean literally “moving.”  I was dancing in my seat for half the movie to “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”, “Hooked on a Feeling”, and more.

As with all Marvel movies, be sure to watch through the end of the credits to get your geek on.

This was a refreshingly good summer flick, I gave it 5 iced teas.