Ain't no franchise high enough: Guardians of the Galaxy surpasses expectations

by Jon Petre

Guardians of the Galaxy is sort of the Wes Anderson of the Marvel universe; that quirky yet fun little sideliner

Even the poster screams A New Hope!

that we all enjoy, but nobody expects much from. When Marvel decided to produce the film, I'll admit that I didn't really know what to think. Judging by their track record, this could've been anything--just look at the difference between Avengers Assemble and Thor: The Dark World for example. But I'm pleased to say that Guardians came out firmly on top this evening. The Guardians themselves rival the Avengers in terms of entertainment value, and they hands down beat them when it comes to all around awesomeness.

We start off on a somber note, with our main character Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) or Starlord at his mother's deathbed, after which he is abducted out of the blue...by blue aliens. That was in 1988, and if his Walkman is and mixtape are anything to go by he's been stuck in quite a laid-back, fun-loving past, which is the way Pratt portrays Quill throughout the film-- which, I have to say, is really pulled off well. Quill is thrown in with a group of alien misfits (yes, including a living tree played by Vin Diesel and a raccoon with the voice of Bradley Cooper) in a race to track down a mysterious orb, that is said to be the most powerful weapon in the galaxy.

What I loved about this film is that Gunn (our director) managed to make me fall in love with five characters straight away, without the need for a background movie for each of them. Unlike the Avengers, and some of those still sucked, not to mention their god awful sequels. No, there's a real bond with the characters, and it's all the more testament to Gunn that he managed that with just one film. Kudos. The best example is Groot, the tree man-- literally all that he says is "I am Groot" and I still think he's great. The characters are very easy to like and I feel that this would be a very easy watch. Quill is a better group leader than the Cap, by the way.

Guardians was 122 minutes of interesting dialouge and better action. I know I keep on comparing this to the Avengers, but that's the closest example I can think of. Whereas Avengers Assemble is a good hour of placid cinema and then an hour of the Greatest Action Sequences Money Can Buy,  Guardians manages to keep the action spread out over the whole film, I think by creating a more laid back atmosphere. It's easier to spread it out when there's less of an expectation, less of a quota of "unless we do x the world will be y'ed", more of a "let's do this...with 80's music".

Watch out, Avengers. We's a comin'.

In the same way, the world itself seemed cool. One of the biggest successes of, say, Star Wars, was that there was lots of background outside of the Jedi/Sith conflict--Mos Eisley Cantina, for example. Guardians had that, and in some ways the characters were just little people caught up in a big conflict. I like that, it's closer to real life.

My only qualm would be that Ronan, the baddie, was a bit faceless. But isn't that the way with these movies? I mean, look at Christopher Eccleston from Thor: The Dark World. What was his name again? Exactly. Ronan was a cut above that but the point still stands. However, if you notice, While Ronan wasn't so original, his presence still added to the Guardians themselves and developed their characters more fully. Think of him as like a catalyst for exposition and justification.

All in all, this is a solid five out of five. A good classic, that's well on its way to taking on the bigger boys and challenging the popularity contest. Oh, and stick around till the end. The after-credits scene will either make you laugh or cry. I cried.

5/5