Picture the scene: it’s 2012, The Avengers is smashing at the box
office and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige decides to call a meeting. “Alight
guys, I think we should do another superhero team-up. Except this time it’s in
space. The team members will include a Han Solo/Indiana Jones hybrid, two
green-skinned warriors – you know, like the Hulk, just not played by Mark
Ruffalo – a talking raccoon and a walking tree. It can’t fail. Whaddya say?”
And you thought Thor was a tough
pitch.
With its galactic setting and abundant supply
of colourful alien life forms, there were enough early signs indicating that Guardians of the Galaxy could’ve ended
up as Marvel’s Green Lantern, a similarly-themed
blockbuster with zero charm and sporting one of the most inept scripts in
recent memory. Luckily, Feige and director James Gunn are aware of the potentially
laughable subject matter and smart enough to play to its strengths. But while
it’s safe to say that Guardians is an
irreverent joyride of a movie, it’s also not the most focused of
Marvel’s films to date.
The plot, as is becoming too often the case
with summer flicks, could’ve easily been written on a napkin. Or rather, a
bunch of napkins scattered across a table. It all revolves around yet another
MacGuffin called the orb, which our heroes try to steal, sell and subsequently
retrieve by bouncing from planet to planet and encountering all sorts of outlandish
characters along the way. Of course, one of them happens to be an
ominously-cloaked figure who wants to use said orb for destroying the galaxy
(just because), which calls for some urgent guarding and who are you gonna
call? Granted, it’s all light-hearted stuff and a very different kind of genre,
but after The Winter Soldier’s more layered,
intelligent script from earlier this year, it still feels like something of a
step-down.
In fact, the worst thing you could say about Guardians of the Galaxy is paradoxically
also the best compliment you can pay, i.e. that the flimsy plot is just an
excuse to stick five very funny and very entertaining characters on-screen. As
previously hinted, Chris Pratt plays Peter Quill as a wiseass rogue who’s just
as quick with a quip as he is with a blaster and revels in charming the
intergalactic ladies with dated pop culture references (“I want to tell you
about the legend of Footloose”).
Former WWE champion Dave Bautista could’ve simply let his pecs do the acting
for the role as Drax The Destroyer, yet proves to be a better actor than Hulk
Hogan ever was by adding some welcome anguish to his character. Zoe Saldana’s
high-kicking Gamora is the only player that feels slightly underwritten,
although she does get a few good lines in as well.
Predictably, it’s the two CGI (and most
merchandise-friendly) characters that steal the show. Despite only being able
to repeatedly utter the same sentence – “I am Groot”, delivered by the
gravelly-voiced Vin Diesel – the Guardians’ resident “dumb tree” is an
intriguing creature to be around and one capable of spearing goons with a
branch one moment, before breaking the fourth wall with an endearing smile the
next. Rocket Raccoon on the other hand is a gloriously verbose creation. Voiced
to great effect by Bradley Cooper, he’s an impulsive little critter who gets
all the best lines but also, as evidenced in one scene, might be harbouring a
tragic past. It’ll be interesting to see how he’s developed in future
instalments.
All five make for original characters in their
own right, but together they’re a winning blend of personalities and certainly
a more explosive mix than the more clean-cut Avengers – it’s just a pity they’re
short-changed by a screenplay that could’ve had bit more oomph. It’s almost tempting
to say that Guardians of the Galaxy
works more as a vehicle to introduce us to a new breed of space-hopping heroes,
rather than a well-rounded, entirely satisfying film. Still, you’ll have fun
watching it and it certainly wins the prize for Most Inspired Soundtrack in a
Marvel flick. “Hooked on a Feeling”, “Spirit in the Sky”, “I Want You Back”…
it’s a wonderfully nostalgic playlist. And speaking of nostalgia, you’ll never guess who pops
up in the end credits sequence…
4/5
