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"Guardians of the Galaxy"

When Things Get Bad, They'll Do Their Worst

Move over Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk-there’s a new sheriff in town.  After this weekend, into the superhero hall of fame will be added the names of Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot, otherwise known as “The Guardians of the Galaxy” and if there’s any justice in the world, every child in the universe will now quickly include “I am Groot” as part of their everyday vocabulary. 

Marvel Studios has become a box office elite squad over the last few years by focusing on characters that have had a few decades to live in the pop culture consciousness.  Long before we ever saw Thor yield the hammer, or Iron Man strap on his jet boots, even non comic book aficionados could name most of the founding Avengers, or at the very least pick them out of a line up.  Now, with “Guardians of the Galaxy”, Marvel is boldly going where no man has gone before as it puts much lesser known heroes, albeit reluctant ones at best, front and center in this sure to be summer blockbuster launching into theaters August 1.  The results speak for themselves- this scrappy, fast paced, witty (think Robert Downey Jr. times five) space adventure with the heart of gold is probably the most fun you’ll ever have in a movie theater this summer. 

“Guardians of the Galaxy” quite simply is about a group of misfits that learn to do something good from doing everything wrong. Without giving away too much of the plot, brash adventurer Peter Quill, played to comedic perfection by Chris Pratt, finds himself the object of an  unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan (Lee Pace), a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket (Bradley Cooper) a gun-toting raccoon because quite frankly doesn’t every movie need a gun-toting raccoon, Vin Diesel as my personal favorite, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the revenge-driven Drax, (Dave Bautista) the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

If all of this weren’t enough, throw in a visually stunning movie from sets to costumes and make up that give the film a very “real” and space-age feel. Couple it with a script that is one of the tightest and freshest that has come across the screen in a long time where every joke lands, and every action is motivated by character and you have “Guardians of the Galaxy”.  

But the icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the sundae is the use of music. It’s built into the movie that Peter Quill’s mother gave him a mix tape when he was kid in 1988 and that it’s the only thing he has to remember her after he’s abducted. Songs from this tape, all pop, soul, and rock songs from the 1970s, play throughout the movie and are indicative of the tone the movie strikes. Quill is very much a human in the midst of all these weird aliens and the music really drives that point home. He doesn’t lament being taken away from his family, but he needs this music to feel like a person. And it’s all great music, by the way.

So, let’s review: A brand new band of misfit, unlikely superheroes, hysterical one liners mixed with fast paced, non stop action and a score that will have you singing along for months to come-put “Guardians of the Galaxy” on your must see on opening day movie list this weekend.

One very important thing to note, in spite of what it takes to save the galaxy, no raccoons or trees were harmed in the making of this adventure.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” opens everywhere on August 1

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