Guardians of the Galaxy ***** (2014, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker) – Movie Review

Entertainment is back! Guardians of the Galaxy is so much fun! This is the summer blockbuster we’ve been waiting for after all those boringly serious popcorn movies. Virtually a comedy, certainly a sci-fi spoof, definitely a Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark homage, this is the most fun we’ve had from one of these movies for ever. Music, soundtrack, visuals, story, sense of humour, it’s a retro-style throwback to the 80s movies that folks used to love, still do when they come on TV.

The boldest stroke of this Marvel comic-book blockbuster is to put centre stage its quirky comedy while delivering plenty of thrilling superhero action, against a convincing inter-galactic setting and daring to have a bit of suffering and sentiment thrown into the brew. And boldly too it isn’t all CGI-ed out of existence, with old-style practical effects being used in style for special body and face make-up.

Hereby movie stardom is finally conferred on the likeable Chris Pratt, who manages to be both heroic and funny as an American pilot named Peter Quill, who, by the way, would prefer it if you called him Star-Lord. Following in the footsteps of Harrison Ford. Pratt is not your usual super-hero, he’s your American average Joe kind of everyman space hero. That’s you and me, if we were so lucky. Pratt has slimmed down, muscled up and got gym fit for action since his tubby days, not too much though, just enough, and now is the movies’ cuddliest super-hero.

Just as his Mother died of cancer in the late 80s, Peter was abducted as a boy from Earth and is now an inter-galactic outlaw, who finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan (Lee Pace). The orb is what Hitchcock called a McGuffin, and the script conveniently tells us it’s The Maltese Falcon or the Ark of the Covenant. Everybody wants it because it’s incredibly valuable, but nobody’s got any idea of what its value is, or even actually what it is. This is great. It means neither the film nor I have to explain it. Meanwhile, all the actors can get on with it, rushing around and fighting and whatnot to their hearts’ content, and ours.

Peter links up with a talking tree called Groot (voice of Vin Diesel), a talking vicious mutant raccoon called Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper), a huge hunk of a vengeance-seeking tattooed warrior called Drax (Dave Bautista) and a fighting-fit woman with a green face called Gamora (Zoe Saldana) as the Guardians of the Galaxy to sort things out in the far reaches of space. All these characters are enormously successful, setting up a must-see sequel. Among all the film’s many fun characters, Michael Rooker is outstanding as Yondu Udonta and John C Reilly twinkles amusingly as Corpsman Dey. Also-rans are Karen Gillan’s badass Nebula (unrecognisable under her makeup and fake accent), Djimon Hounsou’s Korath, Glenn Close’s Nova Prime and Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector.

Admittedly the talking shrub doesn’t have much to say for itself – ‘I am Groot’ is about all – so Diesel shouldn’t be thinking of giving up the Fast & Furious franchise any time soon, but luckily Rocket has plenty to say for himself, almost all of it funny.

It’s all a huge credit to co-writer/director James Gunn, who also wrote the story and screenplay for Scooby-Doo (2000), Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Slither (2006).

Let’s hope it’s a huge hit, because if it’s not, the studios will fall back on the boringly serious popcorn movies. And that would so not be good. The end says ‘Guardians of the Galaxy will return’, so let’s hope they’ll keep their promise.

It was a huge hit, grossing $333 million in the US, and Guardians did return. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is released on 28 April 2017 in the UK and 5 May 2017 in the US . And then James Gunn will return to write and direct ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ for Marvel Studios. He says: ‘So, yes, I’m returning.’

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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