'Guardians Of The Galaxy' A Review

Guardians Of The Galaxy is an action-comedy space opera, the latest installment in the ever expanding Marvel cannon. The film opens on young Peter Quill at the death bed of his mother, shortly after her emotional passing he is picked up by an alien space ship. Flash forward twenty years we see Quill(Chris Pratt) an outlaw and space thief on an abandon planet braving a perilous cave, Indiana Jones style, for a mysterious artifact. Through the attempted sale of this artifact Quill hooks up with Rocket, a walking/talking genetically modified raccoon with an attitude, Groot, a humanoid tree, Drax The Destroyer, an alien warrior, and Gamora, an alien assassin. A loose partnership is formed.

The film is truly ensemble driven, with each member of the fivesome sharing dramatic focus and comedic relief. Pratt is more or less the lead, which he carries with his go to charm and playfulness but he consistently and effortlessly shares the focus. The other two stand outs are Rocket and Groot, both CGI creatures but nonetheless incredibly emotive and empathetic. Groot especially garners the most sympathy of any character a remarkable feat given his only lines are "I am Groot." Dave Bautista current WWE wrestler as Drax is passable although clearly out of his thespian depth. Zoe Saldana is striking and powerful but doesn't deliver as much as she has in past roles. On top of the 5 there is a parade of worthwhile cameos, each with unique perspectives and costuming/make-up design. Sometimes a large number of cameos can be detracting but in this instance it is delightful because they are all justified and offer individual flashes of interest.

The soundtrack of the film is an effective weave of action score and 60's and 70's hits taken from Quill's mix tape given to him by his mother. The Earthly pop songs are a surprisingly effective compliment to the otherworldly setting. The action sequences are impressive which certainly benefit from IMAX and/or 3D. But the story is what is truly engaging- an interesting group of people, an amazing adventure, lots of laughs. The film falters slightly towards the end relying on a severely predicable climax and conclusion. The general freshness however isn't lost.

The most striking element of the film is its humor and sense of fun. A popcorn-eating, soda-slurping, summer movie you can get behind. Easily the best Marvel movie in years, it seems some of its vigor comes from the fact it is not a superhero movie, a genre ridden into exhaustion.

See It.