What… I was not ready for that movie.
Watching the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, I thought two things: I hope this isn’t a movie that just rides Chris Pratt for his wits, and that song (Hooked on a Feeling, Blue Swede) is pretty catchy.
The film opened with a really heavy scene. And I mean really heavy, it makes the audience really feel for child Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and I feel it was a really unique choice as the general consensus of this film was that it was going to be a light hearted comedy. I’m sure most people in the cinema were surprised. However it then flowed into a more comedic sequence, introducing the adult Peter Quill as he dances his way to collect the infinity stone, this quickly flows into a action/chase sequence. This opening really set the tone for the rest of the film. There is a equilibrium between comedy, action and tragedy, the film seamlessly flows through each of these different themes, creating an entertaining and emotional ride for the audience. The film knew when to be funny and when to be serious, they didn’t sit on the fence making the viewers feel awkward about whether to laugh or cry.
What I thought made this movie great were the characters and the soundtrack. I absolutely loved the soundtrack. A constant reminder of Peter Quill’s human heritage, James Gunn perfectly sets the mood for all of his scenes with a 70s or 80s pop song. On paper that makes no sense for an inter-galactic space movie to have 70s and 80s hits playing in the background, but Gunn combines it perfectly.
Meanwhile the characters were all very different and diverse, yet all came together to form a strong bond. Gunn provides just the right amount of backstory and set up for each character so that it is clear what their personality, goals and flaws are over the course of the film. It is critical to create characters that the audience genuinely care about and fear for their wellbeing when they are threatened. Gunn did just that, he created a band of misfits that the audience just fall in love with. Another great thing about this movie is that it didn’t take too long for the characters to meet and join forces. Sometimes in films it is just annoying when you know that eventually they will team up, but for most of the film you’re sitting there watching them fight each other, waiting for them to team. When this happens you just lose all the nice bonding and ‘family’ moments that the characters share as they interact with each other.
Meanwhile the characters were all very different and diverse, yet all came together to form a strong bond. Gunn provides just the right amount of backstory and set up for each character so that it is clear what their personality, goals and flaws are over the course of the film. It is critical to create characters that the audience genuinely care about and fear for their wellbeing when they are threatened. Gunn did just that, he created a band of misfits that the audience just fall in love with. Another great thing about this movie is that it didn’t take too long for the characters to meet and join forces. Sometimes in films it is just annoying when you know that eventually they will team up, but for most of the film you’re sitting there watching them fight each other, waiting for them to team. When this happens you just lose all the nice bonding and ‘family’ moments that the characters share as they interact with each other.
Just a couple things I wanted to point out:
Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is an awesome character, with a really intriguing backstory. With Thanos as her adoptive father, what is not to love?!
Groot was a really awesome character, with heart and depth, regardless of the lack of speech, but was it really necessary that Vin Diesel played Groot.
The villain, Ronan, was a little ‘meh’. Knowing Thanos was out there in that universe, and that Ronan was just a puppet didn’t make his defeat very satisfying, however you know that there is a greater threat out there.
This movie had a real Star Wars feel to it. Personally, there was a bit too much fighting in spaceships for my liking, I would’ve preferred more combat.
The visuals were stunning. Rocket and Groot were brilliant. The colour palette really jumped out at you, I also really enjoyed how this film didn’t take the ‘dark’, ‘raw’ and ‘realistic’ Dark Knight route, instead it stands alone.
The visuals were stunning. Rocket and Groot were brilliant. The colour palette really jumped out at you, I also really enjoyed how this film didn’t take the ‘dark’, ‘raw’ and ‘realistic’ Dark Knight route, instead it stands alone.
The glue of this whole movie is its humanity. The silences, the quiet scenes, the knowing glances and acknowledging nods make all the difference. It allows the characters to be relatable and loveable.
In my opinion this is probably the best marvel film to date… but it’s not better than the Avengers. No, that doesn’t make sense. What I mean is that Guardians of the Galaxy is a better film, whereas Avengers just had a lot of significant superheroes that had stand alone movies leading up to it, and so it has to be considered on a different level, since the characters and stories have already been fleshed out.
In conclusion Guardians of the Galaxy is very entertaining, very touching and very enjoyable. Definitely give it a watch!
PS
I don’t quite know how James Gunn did it.
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