DIRECTOR: James Gunn LEAD CAST: Chris Pratt, Zoe Zaldana, Dave Bautista,
Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker SCREENWRITER:
James Gunn, Nicole Perlman PRODUCER:
Kevin Feige EDITOR: Craig
Wood, Fred Raskin, Hughes Winborne MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Tyler Bates GENRE: Science
Fiction, Superhero (Sci Fi) CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis DISTRIBUTOR: Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
LOCATION: United States RUNNING TIME: 122
minutes
Technical assessment: 4
Technical assessment: 4
Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating: V 14
Hurt beyond
words by the death of his mother from cancer, the grieving boy Peter Quill
(Wyatt Olef) bolts from the hospital to a grassy knoll but, alas, he is sucked
in by a spaceship, abducted by aliens presumably. Next we are shown a grown up
and wise-cracking Peter (Chris Pratt), dancing to the songs of the 70s he had
enjoyed as a boy. He is now one
among a band of intergalactic thieves and, calling himself “Star Lord”, is in
fact on a mission to steal an orb.
He succeeds but the orb, it turns out, is coveted by so many others,
among them the terrorist Ronan (Lee Pace), The Collector (Benicio del Toro),
the war lord Thanos (Josh Brolin), and lesser characters interested in selling
it. Besides losing the orb to one
of them, Peter is arrested and imprisoned; and there he and fellow
inmates—Thanos’ daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the genetically engineered
raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a tree-like creature called Groot
(voiced by Vin Diesel), and a hulk called Drax the Destroyer (wrestling champ David
Bautista)—band together with one aim in mind: to retrieve the orb.
Any
movie with a hero who dances to 70s tunes while kicking around dinosaur-rodents
in a grungy cavern can’t but be an entertaining movie. Despite some loopholes in the plot, Guardians of the Galaxy deserves a
bunch of medals for being Marvel’s most surprising production to date. Not only because it is so lighthearted
and breezy (and therefore un-Marvel-ous) but also because it has the swagger to
put its heart on its sleeve, confident that the audience will love it
nonetheless. At first it looks
like another story about another superhero playing cute, until the would-be
Guardians start popping and zapping into the picture. And it is in the interplay of these characters that the
movie finds its redemption.
Values,
there are many. Teamwork, for
one. Self-sacrifice for the
greater good is another. Character
transformation is yet another.
These five Guardians are all rascals one way or another and are after
the orb for their own selfish agenda: Peter Quill the intergalactic thief and
smuggler is the payroll of Ravager Yondu (Michael Rooker); green-skinned Gamora
is sent by her father Thanos to grab the orb from Peter; gun-toting bad-ass
raccoon Rocket is taking out his anger for having been experimented on
countless times; Rocket’s sidekick Groot who has only three words to say—“I am
Groot”—all throughout the movie; and meathead Drax who joins the bunch to
avenge the killing of his wife and child.
No one would have recruited these five to work as a team, but the movie
glides on the charm of these characters.
Rivals become allies, agreeing to set aside their individual aims in
order to secure the orb and keep it out of reach of the genocidal maniac Ronan. In the end, Groot justifies his supreme
sacrifice by saying, this time, “We are Groot.” If action movies can fill the outer spaces with heart such
as Guardians of the Galaxy has done, then it is hoped that the dancing twig as
the credits roll is a subtle set up for a sequel.
