Guardians of the Galaxy

So release weekend for Guardians of the Galaxy has passed by and already people are asking if Guardians is better than The Avengers. To which I would answer, "Read my review!" So here I am today reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy! And first, regarding the first question, I would say right off the bat, that this movie is the best movie that Marvel has released yet based on risk and execution of vision that makes the initial risk pay off BIG TIME, and that comparing the two movies isn't really a fair comparison (kinda like apples to oranges). But keep reading.

Even the poster for the movie is epic. Like Disco epic. Like when you strut to disco.

Btw, I wanted to start right off by saying I am so biased about this movie and already decided that it was good from the moment it was announced and I saw the first teaser trailer. So if you can get over the fact that I will be fanboying hardcore this review then great.

Guardians of the Galaxy if you are familiar with them (which I and they, the movie makers and the team themselves, assume you aren't) is an origin story of the team. Starting off with space scavenger Peter Quill who steals (unknowingly) a priceless relic and upon trying to pawn it off for a large amount of credits starts a chain of events that results in the fortuitous meeting between him and the rest of the initially misfit members and sets them off on a course for intergalactic fun and oh yes saving the day.

Guardians is expertly casted with Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) playing Peter Quill/Star-Lord. He brings a natural smart alec bravado and hubris into his role that it's easy to suppose that this may be how Pratt is in real life. He doesn't skip a beat as Star-Lord who is always biting his thumb at everyone who looks down on him and our cliche notions of a hero, which just makes him lovable in a Dennis the Menace sort of way. Zoe Saldana plays a great Gamora, daughter of Thanos and expert assassin. She exudes deadliness, but her beauty gives hint to the fact that she may still have a heart that feels, and Saldana delivers on that in spades. Drax the Destroyer is played by WWE superstar Dave Bautista (btw did you know he's 45!?), who delivers hands down the most surprising performance of the bunch. He's big, angry, and kind of an oaf and his one-liners are delivered by someone who is clearly a talented actor and not just a wrestler. Finally, we have our two CG team members (whom by the way were excellently portrayed in visual and voice) Rocket and Groot. Rocket is voiced by Bradley Cooper, and honestly I tried to listen for him but I just couldn't tell which means he did a great job. He brings the right amount of snark to rocket's personality. And finally, a big round of applause to Vin Diesel who voices Groot. If you don't know this already,
Groot is a living tree being (kinda like the ents from LOTR) and he only says one thing. But between the CG team pulling every bit of expressiveness from the character and Diesel's many different ways of saying the same thing over and over, it was easy to tell that even with the same words, that Groot was saying something different every time.

Perfect casting, and excellent acting by every member.

Guardians is awesome intergalactic fun from the first to the last minute. The movie was a huge risk for marvel because the Guardians are a bunch of unknowns, but they know it and they punk rock bite their thumbs at you in the most refreshing way, flipping the cliches of the superhero movie on its head. The characters are brash and misfit and the story throws them into the washing machine spin cycle, but they emerge solid, complimenting one another in the perfect ways. The soundtrack off of Quill's awesome mix adds to the flaunting of swagger that this film has. But in the undercurrents of the film, it shows that yes we all have our differences, but when we can stop guarding ourselves and start guarding one another, together we can become something greater, and in this case, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Some people have been asking me if this movie is little children appropriate. My answer is NO. Marvel handled the PG-13 rating on the film perfectly. The violence is a given because it's an action movie. The crassness is what I am worried about for young minds who do not have a mature sense of humor. There is some cursing and also some offensive gesturing done by Star-Lord that the kiddies may pick up on.

This gesture is not censored in the movie. It's so funny, just not for your impressionable kids.

Comparing Guardians to the Avengers is like comparing the punks to the jocks. You know the jocks can win and most of the time do. The bothersome thing can be when they know that they can win and they're kinda cocky about it, so you wish every once in awhile someone would come along and knock them down a peg. People who don't care about the status quo and who aim to topple it. Those are the punks, and it's their grit, moxie, and devil may care attitude that eventually helps them win that one time over the jocks. That's the Guardians of the Galaxy. This is the best Marvel movie released to date. They took a huge risk and the risk had a huge payoff. Stick it to the man and watch this movie! Preferably in IMAX 3D.

Blessings~!