The GeeksOUT crew reviews Guardians and tells you if it's worth your money.
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Debating whether or not you're going to spend your hard earned pennies on another summer blockbuster? Here, let us share some thoughts...
Jeff:
Saddest first five minutes of a movie since Up! The movie did a great job introducing the crazy characters and making the audience care about them. It was a fun, fun movie with nonstop laughs. At times, the audience was laughing so hard that I missed the next joke, which made them laugh even harder! This is not a dark and broody movie, it does not take itself too seriously. Rocket and the Star Lord do a great job keeping the tone up and even Drax starts to enjoy himself (in a non-stabby way)! Some of the aliens (the girls) wore a bit too much body paint, and nothing else...but (alien) sex sells...The weakest links, for me, might have been Nebula, who was just very angry, and Yondu, who was basically just a blue Michael Rooker. Go see the movie. You will laugh.
Jano:
GotG was a great summer movie: fun, bombastic enough, great visual effects and very engaging performances. Zoe Saldaña continues to cement her niche in the genre but the clear standout is Chris Pratt who transforms his sitcom sidekick persona into a hero with nebulous plans and a charming, very charming smirk. As a bonus, the humor and the music were very well integrated into the story, not just for a timely relief.
Bill:
Apparently, I like Guardians less than everyone else. Good stuff: It had some nice moments (mostly due to Rocket and Groot, who are a fun team), the effects are very pretty, and Chris Pratt was a great lead: But it felt overstuffed - too many villains and too much backstory to give anything real weight, and Karen Gillan in particular was under used. And the action scneces were compentent, but the audience never got up and cheered for anything.
Aaron:
Not to get all hipster-y, but I was reading Guardians of the Galaxy before it was cool. So after plans for a movie were first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, it's no surprise that I spent the subsequent two years more or less foaming at the mouth in anticipation.
I'm happy to say that the movie delivers in spades. That's not to say it's perfect - Ronan the Accuser, the main villain, is reduced from the morally nuanced figure of the comics to a one-dimensional villain, about as memorable as any Marvel Studios villain not named Loki (which is to say, not at all). And I'm still largely indifferent to Zoe Saldana's Gamora, who seems overly feminized relative to her comics persona.
But those gripes are relatively minor in the scheme of things. The action is great, the comedy mostly works - much of it thanks to leading man Chris Pratt - and Rocket and Groot are utterly PERFECT. Wonderfully expressive animation and some great acting - yes, Bradley Cooper's casting works, and Vin Diesel manages to bring way more nuance than you'd think possible to the role of a character with a very, very limited vocabulary.
The worst thing about the movie is that we have to wait until 2017 for a sequel. It's gonna be a long wait.
(Oh, and can we get some more Cosmo in GotG2, Gunn? Please? What's here in this movie isn't nearly enough.)
Andy Dwyer's washboard abs, an anthropomorphic raccoon, and a talking tree. One of the best-used licensed soundtracks I've seen. 3D that really does add immensely to the experience. A space station located inside a giant godlike alien's severed head. A wonderfully deft
balance of action and character-driven comedy.
GotG ain't perfect, but what is? The most entertaining movie I've seen this year and a riposte to those who claim Marvel Studios' films are
too samey.
I haven't stopped singing Cherrybomb since Thursday. That "Awesome Mix" soundtrack? Awesome indeed.
As a Guardians n00b, I have to say that the film struck that all too perfect balance of exposition and inside jokes. Though it definitely had "bro" movie momements - sincere character breakthroughs never last long. Instead, some outer space equivalent of a fart joke always clears the air. (It's ok to feel feels, Hollywood!)
Other moments of "bro": Zoe Saldana's Gamora gets a lingering ass shot as she climbs some stairs. Yes, it's a nice ass, but seriously, are we still doing this? Also, speaking of ass, Karen Gillan's Nebula kicks some, but never delops beyond cold-hearted, singularly evil-purposed robot. The screening may have been in 3D, but her characterization never made it past 2D. (A problem for many villains, come to think of it.).
1. Over and above Gunn & Perlman's admirably efficient script and the deeply satisfying special effects, what sells this movie is the performers. The full cast is great. Pratt doesn't lose his unforced
Parks and Rec charm as a leading man and never seems overwhelmed. I admire the way Zoe Saldana didn't allow (I'm assuming it was her) Gamora to be overly sexualized based on past costumes & writers. Rocket and Groot
AREthe new R2D2 and C3PO, they just are. But I was most moved by Bauttista's performance as Drax--how awesome for this guy to have been plucked from wrestling stardom (and a few "acting" roles here and there) to become a superhero movie star. I'd initially thought the choice to make his character totally literal was just a clever way to direct a non-actor, but it was a fully realized and enjoyable performance and I totally bought the character's delighted, surprised journey from loner to Guardian.
2. "Friendship Saves the Day" ending was D_U_M_B, but what can you do?
3. Ronan was most satisfying Marvel villain not named Loki; I want 2 of whatever Lee Pace was on.
As someone who isn't a fan of superheroes in general, I often find the self-important and serious tone of most comic movies to be somewhat alienating and even a little silly when I have no emotional context for why these characters are supposed to matter in such a big way. Paradoxically, the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy is so irreverent and so purposely frivolous ends up giving the movie a surprising and unexpected amount of emotional resonance with me, and it felt refreshing to see Marvel do something with slightly less fanboy burden and expectation attached to it. Superhero movies often feel bloated and bogged down with a certain sense of sameness to me, and the directors seem constricted by all the rules and confines of continuity and, well, making everything fit into an eventual Avengers film. James Gunn has actually managed to infuse this movie with personality, and I appreciated how different it was from other Marvel films both visually and tonally. Chris Pratt is a charming and perfectly cast lead, and Vin Diesel manages to convey more layers of nuanced emotion in the repetition of three words than he has in any other film where he's appeared with full dialogue.
But Marvel still seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with women.
