Guardians of the Galaxy (Part 1 of 2)

 

Guardians of the Galaxy (Part 1 of 2)

It works as a comedy and as a Marvel Comics drama.  Somehow, James Gunn managed to make a 2^nd level comic book into an amusing action/comedy movie.  Gunn gleefully embraces the sheer quirkiness of the material and runs with it full steam.  While the movie is certainly on the sillier side of things, it clearly fits into the overall Marvel Movie Universe as it answer certain questions about all those super powerful weapons.  Throw in a bit of Trek, Wars and Indiana Jones into this mix and you get GOTG.  GOTG is fun and funny, but it also tells a well-written story with characters you can like. 

The story deals with a human “tomb raider” finding a powerful object and having everyone hunt him down to get him and the object.  He meets up with a group of misfits and they rip through space together in an adventure. 

On the surface, the movie seems like a fun (almost Michael Bay-ish) action popcorn movie, but there’s way more going on.  Every character has a reason to do what they do, and they each have rich back-story to them.  Some of those back-stories aren’t fully explored and probably will be fleshed out later on.  Characters truly have some nice interactions and that’s more than you can say for a Michael Bay movie. 

Here's a rundown of the main crew. 

Peter Quill : Chris Pratt is great as the slacker/professional theft. We actually get a pretty good story arc for this character. Quill is sort of an anti-hero turned hero. He's kind of a Han Solo type character with a team of misfits. You get the type of person he is when he's dancing in the opening credits scene.  A sequel will probably open up more about his background, which this movie partly answers...somewhat.  And, he likes listening to old music tapes. 

Gamora : The daughter of Thanos and she is a kickass female warrior. She plays a rather larger role in the story. I really like her, and you get the hint that she hates working for Thanos.  The love-subplot also works between her and Star-Lord.

Drax : He's my one of my favorite characters because he takes everything literally. Figures of speech go over his head completely. He has a lot of great wrestling moves in his fight scenes. You can see this character causing a lot of trouble for the crew in later films. 

Groot  : “I am Groot.” Even though he doesn't say much, this CGI character is very cool. It is mannerism and expressions that really bring out this character than his single phrase. One of the running jokes I like with this character is he just keeps showing up just in time when the other characters discuss money, and he wants his piece. Groot is another one of my favorite characters, but he is a complete mystery. (Though, the Collector does have some interest in him.) He’s like the anti-Jar-Jar.

Rocket : He is simply the standout character. He is a raccoon that has an attitude, but is extremely smart. He is a tech-head as well as being a kick-ass bounty hunter. He and Groot make a neat team, and you can clearly see the Han and Chewie connections. I wasn't sure about Bradley Cooper casting, but his voice works well as this anti-hero. We all get a touch of his back-story and I feel bad for him because there is sense of self-loathing under the surface. Oh, there’s even a Ranger Rick reference!  He reminds me of Hannibal from the A-Team.  Just watch the movie and you will see what I mean.  

Oh, remember that police lineup scene in the trailer?  It is completely different than the movie version.  They even animated the CGI characters completely different such as Groot.  

This shot is different in the movie.  Note the arms.