Review: Guardians of the Galaxy
EntertainmentReviews September 29, 2014 Admin
PHOTO CREDITS: OFFICIAL MOVIE POSTER
BY DANIEL LEIBOWITZ
Guardians of the Galaxy is basically the epitome of a summer sci-fi blockbuster. Chris Pratt gives an excellent Han Solo-esque performance as Peter Quill, aka “Star-Lord”, showing off his “roguish” charm and good looks in a very convincing “space pirate” performance and leads the impressive ensemble cast consisting of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a “no-nonsense” alien orphan, Drax (Dave Bautista), a warrior seeking revenge for his slain family, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a tree with a very limited vocabulary, although he does manage to learn a new word, and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a lovable talking raccoon.
The movie begins in 1998 with a young Peter Quill witnessing his mother’s death, getting one final gift from her and then his prompt running away and getting abducted by a group called the Ravagers, space pirates led by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker). Pretty typical affair for a young boy. The story picks up 26 years later on a planet called Morag where Peter Quill, now going by the pseudonym Star-Lord, steals an orb, revealing how much he has changed from the little boy who ran away… by promptly running away from Korath, a lackey of Ronan, (the big bad guy played by Lee Pace) who is looking for said orb. He then makes a decision to not return to Yondu, who retaliates in a typical space pirate manner by setting a bounty on Quill’s head. This introduces the next group member, Gamora, one of Ronan’s assassins, followed by the genetically engineered raccoon, Rocket, and the tree, Groot, two bounty hunters after Star-Lord. They promptly get arrested, most likely for having a giant fight in the middle of a heavily populated city. In the prison they’re brought to, the final part of their team is introduced, Drax, your stereotypical brooding hero whose family was killed by the big bad guy. The movie then continues on with the main characters discovering what the orb is, realizing why the big bad guy wants it, and uniting with the Ravagers to defeat said big bad guy, finally culminating in an epic final battle where the power of friendship is on prominent display. Oh, and of course there was the typical side story of Gamora and Star Lord’s potentially intimate relationship, but you probably guessed that by now.
The film was an exquisite comedy. In the theater, none of the jokes seemed to fall flat, with laughter accompanying every scene. The plot of the film was a tad bit cliche: your typical “big bad guy wants something the potentially morally ambiguous good guy has; good guy gathers a band of misfits to repel the bad guy through the power of friendship” affair. However, the film seemed to acknowledge that and play on it, yet still retains a decent plot line that didn’t rely completely on humor, a scenario that similar movies can fall into.
Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is a rather strong action comedy and also manages to be breathtakingly beautiful throughout some scenes. While it is rather typical, it manages to avoid the dreadful realm of “so cliche it’s cringe-worthy” and lands somewhere in the middle, being cliche while also having a rather decent plot line, if you’re really watching it for that. Nevertheless, Guardians of the Galaxy is definitely worth the watch.
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