"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
Get
Social and Join with other fans:
