Watching the Marvel cinematic universe unfold over the past few years has been immensely enjoyable, resulting in hours of viewing and discussions with Marvin on what makes it awesome.
Ever since Marvel Studios started churning out their annual film releases, it's been a common gripe that the X-Men and Spider-Man properties should be returned to the comic book publication company that produced them so that they could be done "right". While I agree with that sentiment (there's no forgiving what 20th Century Fox did to Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), I also agree with the comments made by other fans of the cinematic universe that doing so would have not forced Marvel to dig deep into their arsenal of characters. Focusing on X-Men would not have led us to the largely entertaining Avengers.
Nor would those new to the comics like myself be introduced to the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) was abducted by the alien Ravagers following the death of his mother. Twenty years later, he lives a life as a womanizing pirate and scoundrel, even stylizing himself as Star-Lord. After tussling with soldiers of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) over a mysterious orb, he finds himself in a heap of trouble, eventually ending up in prison with assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), genetically engineered raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), tree-like humanoid Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and maniac Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) . Gamora convinces Peter that they should ensure that the orb doesn't fall in the hands of Ronan and Thanos, who would use it to destroy the planet of Xandar. The five form an unlikely team that just might end up saving a planet.
Every Marvel superhero or supergroup film gets its own feel, and Guardians of the Galaxy is no different. Director James Gunn set out to create a space opera confection that featured strange worlds and even stranger characters, and pulled it off spectacularly. One setback that you can expect when watching a sci-fi film set in space or other worlds is that audiences might feel less inclined to feel empathy towards the plight or danger faced by inhabitants of other planets. But James Gunn was able to pull it off by assembling an excellent cast who portrayed beautifully fleshed out characters and infusing universally appreciated humor at every possible turn.
The members of the Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be characters worth empathizing with despite their a**hole reputations, with each one carrying their own personal demons that explain some of the reasons why they have less than stellar reputations in the galaxy. Each one has distinctive personalities that make it easy to see how the members both complement and contradict with each other, creating memorable scenes and dialogues that kept the film buoyant even if you're not watching the exciting action sequences. Based on Marvin's descriptions (since he read the comics), I already knew what to expect from Quill, Gamora and Rocket, but I didn't think that I would have equal love for Drax and Groot. Dave Bautista was an actor I expected to just bank on being the muscle in the film, but his delivery of the character's formal speech pattern and rather literal understanding of what others are telling him was one he pulled off successfully. Groot, on the other hand, wasn't just beautifully designed, but Vin Diesel's different intonation of the one line he spouts in the film made it possible to believe that he actually imparted a different meaning each time.
Considering that this is the first film of a franchise (the sequel is already slated to be released on July 28, 2017), it's understandable that it would heavily focus on the characters that would make up the Guardians of the Galaxy. To a certain extent, that makes the short screen time of Glenn Close (as Nova Prime Irani Rael), John C. Reilly (as Corpsman Rhomman Dey) and Benicio del Toro (as The Collector Taneleer Tivan) completely understandable. I would have wished, however, that the film also gave us more insight on the personalities and intentions of Ronan the Accuser and Nebula (Karen Gillan). A more thorough fleshing out of the series's main villains would have given the story more weight (also, because you can never have enough Lee Pace on your screen, even if he is covered in lots of makeup). But this is a niggling complaint that's overshadowed by the overall success of the film for me.
In the end, James Gunn successfully pulled off in making audiences love a ragtag bunch of a**holes who could actually be heroes, even if they still plan to do future mischief that could cause the very galaxy they are trying to save a lot of grief. It should be interesting to see how the Guardians of the Galaxy would fit in the wider Marvel cinematic universe, especially since Gunn hinted on a possible cross-over with the Avengers in the future.
I always wondered why they chose "You're Welcome." as the film's tagline during promotions. After watching the film, it makes perfect sense. And if you don't get it, then you have to watch Guardians of the Galaxy to do so.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Comedy, Film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Must-Watch, Sci-fi, Superhero
