It was always going to be a gamble putting and ensemble together like The Guardians Of The Galaxy. Besides being not very well known, the characters themselves range from the normal to the insane, not to mention bizarre.
Compromising of Rocket, a talking, bad ass raccoon (Voiced by Bradley cooper) Groot, a gigantic, walking tree with a 3 word vocabulary voiced by Vin Diesel, Gamora an alien assassin played by Zoe Saldana, a muscle bound maniac christened drax (Dave Bautista) and a not so famous outlaw called Starlord (Chris Pratt). You’d be hard pushed to find this unsavoury lot in a cantina in Mos Eisley. Either way, Marvel studios have taken a big gamble here and once again, the fledgling studio has come up trumps.
This unlikely bunch soon find themselves teaming up to keep a mysterious orb (that holds unlimited power and destruction) “found” by Starlord out of the wrong hands. And those wrong hands belong to Ronan the accuser (Lee Pace) who has been tasked by Thanos (Josh Brolin) with finding it as well as tracking down Gamora.
The movie wastes no time in introducing its unlikely heroes with each character getting a solid few minutes of screen time before they all find themselves in the one place and then subsequently ending up in prison. It's during these introductions that you get to sample some of the wonderful visuals that are offer throughout. Visually guardians is a sight to behold. From galactic prisons, to futuristic cites, this is pure and utter eye candy. Coupled with some brilliant set pieces, audiences are in for an absolute treat from director James Gunn. It really needs to be seen on the biggest possible screen. IMAX being the preferred option. Sadly this reviewer saw it on a smaller screen and having seen the 17 minute preview on IMAX, the sheer scale of the movie really deserves nothing but the biggest screen you can find. Guardians Of The Galaxy has some of the best visuals you’ll see this year.
Opting for traditional animation instead of motion capture, the computer generated characters, namely Rocket and Groot, steal the show time after time. They've got a unique comic feel about them, but are entirely realistic and believable. The chemistry between the pair is insane, hilarious and incredibly sweet. Who though raccoons and trees loved each other so much.
Gamora in the other is a little under used and compared to everyone else just looks like a cheap version of a slender hulk. However she is quite bad ass and when she is given the opportunity and she does work quite well. Drax holds his own against Starlord in the humour stakes, with the scared, muscle bound maniac having some of the funnier lines of the movie. Chris Pratt’s Starlord, is cheeky and funny as you'd expect, and while not completely downright hilarious he is very likeable. Audiences might be expecting more humour from the Parks and Rec star, but his role, while given ample chance for giggles, also gives him an opportunity to be a Han Solo type character, which he absolutely nails and thus providing more depth to his character. As mentioned above, it’s Rocket and Groot who steal the show. Bradley Cooper brings such an immense likeability to Rocket, that it’s impossible not to like him. Vin Diesel only has 3 lines in the movie as Groot, but the delivery and emotion that’s delivered depending on the situation will make you laugh, angry and at one point could well reduce you to tears. To his credit, Vin Diesel really has come up with the good here.
The supporting cast made up of everyone from Karen Gillen, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close and Michael Rooker are equally as good as the main leads, with Rooker’s blue faced Yondu being a particular standout, with quick and hilarious one liners as well as a real bad ass demeanour.
However, as solid as the cast are, they feel a little bit unbalanced. James Gunn was always going to be under pressure to match Joss Whedon’s epic balancing act in the avengers, and while he succeeds most of the time, in places you are left wanting more and not necessarily in a good way. However these gripes are small and Guardians of the galaxy delivers one of this years most entertaining movies. It's an absolute rocket of a movie in places and has fantastic set pieces and wonderful little touches, not to mention nods to other sci fi movies, especially Star Wars. Fasten your seat belts and go see this. One of Marvel’s finest movies to date. Galactic fantastic!
