The Guardians of the Galaxy are a team that’s close to my
heart. They’re my crew, my guys. A bunch of misfits awkwardly thrust together,
their missions usually staggered and suicidal, yet somehow the bond of
friendship between these guys is stronger than anything you find in the
Avengers. The Avengers was a great film, why? Because it leapt in head first
from the very start, full steam ahead, with action and fun and a story that
could get going from the first scene and never let up. This was possible because
every character within it had been established in a film all their own, the
slow parts already taken care of, as it were. What do you do when you start a
new film, and have to echo the same breakneck pace of story, with five all new
heroes and a handful of new villains, without the time to fill in the
backstory?
Guardians gives us hints at our heroes’ backstories, but
this is no origin tale. Who they were perhaps isn’t too important, it’s who
they are from now on that counts.
We open on our hero, Star-Lord. The sad story of the loss of
his mother haunting his past, Peter Quill was raised to the stars by the
happening by of the mercenary Yondu, and has spent his entire adult life among
the world beyond. Our introduction to our new leading man sees him searching
the mysterious ruin of an alien city, his treads light, observations keen, like
a trench-clad Indiana Jones. That is of course, until he pulls out his beloved
1980’s era Walkman. Headphones on, Star-Lord dances and skips his way through
the ruins with a swagger to rival Jagger. He’s got a sass smarmier than Tony
Stark, and with it he saunters into the ruin to reclaim the film’s whole MacGuffin,
the orb.
It’s a bit tired that the whole film, and indeed pretty much
all our heroes and indeed our villains revolve around the orb. But then that is
of course, pretty damn comic book: someone’s always trying to steal an Infinity
Gem or a Cosmic cube, and wield the terrible power it grants. Simple as this
premise is, story driven this film is indeed not. It takes a while to get
started, and a few of the earlier scenes involving the protagonists are a
little shaky. Our first introductions to Ronan, Gamora and Nebula happen all in
one scene, which is a little much to swallow, especially to those members of the
audience not familiar already with these characters.
A little better paced with their introduction are the films
class act duo, Rocket and Groot. Both these characters are charming, funny, and
well implemented. Rocket is crass and sharp from the first moment, as he almost
narrates his own introduction scene. His buddy Groot being weird from the first
moment, drinking from a water fountain. They’re bounty hunters, it’s an easy
enough setup, and we don’t really need to know much more. The narrative here takes
place on the idyllic future world of Xandar, the home to the Nova corps. The
Nova corps are an intergalactic police force, and boast some tremendous
character actors amongst their number, with Glenn Close, John C Reilly and
Peter Serafinowicz all making appearances. It’s here on Xandar that our heroes
are dragged together in a simple cohesion of events, Star-Lord trying to sell
his stolen orb, Gamora on a mission from Ronan to steal it from him, and Rocket
and Groot eager to catch the bounty on Star-Lord. It happens fast, they seem to
be buddies awfully quickly, but it does the job. In short order four of our
five heroes are thrust together, interacting. Hints at Rocket’s and Gamora’s
past are suggested throughout these scenes, giving a little extra flesh to what
we know about them, but we’re not dragged into any heavy exposition to slow
down the narrative. It keeps up the pace, and lets us go with it. 
Gamora, a green painted Zoe Saldana, is not terrible, but
not the eye-catching ass-kicking female lead she really needs to be. Usual
female character tropes are avoided for the most part; she doesn’t need help
from the boys, suffers no romantic delusions, and no matter how hard he tries,
Star-Lord just can’t get in her pants. Her outfits are modest, there’s no skin
scenes, and the writers treat her like an actual woman, believe it or not. We’re
introduced to Gamora and her sister Nebula as assistants to Ronan. I’m
concerned that their relationship with Thanos, Ronan, and indeed each other
isn’t quite clear enough to those who don’t already know it however, as it’s a
fair bit rushed over.
Our heroes are thusly thrust together in a filthy
intergalactic prison, and it’s here where they begin to really develop.
Rocket’s technical genius shining, reminding the audience that this little
furry guy is smarter than Tony Stark, Star Lord tries his hardest to romance
Gamora, and is swiftly rebuffed, and just when you’ve forgotten about the fifth
member of the team, he makes his appearance.
Drax is a surprising standout member of the cast. Comic fans
may balk that his backstory, demeanor, and indeed overall character have quite
changed from the source, but I’d say it’s a solid and enjoyable set of changes.
Drax is a muscle bound, tattooed warrior, hardheaded and stoic, with his mind
set on revenge against Ronan for killing his family. At first his character
seems oddly played, but a few scenes in, it’s clear how much fun Dave Bautista
is having playing Drax. The idea is that Drax takes everything absolutely
literally, and it’s used to great comedy potential. Dave does a great job, and
I was surprised to find just how much I enjoyed his performance.
Once the five Guardians are together, our story can
continue. The separation between the act structures is a little tenuous, moving
more or less at the same pace the whole film through. It’s a speedy pace, and
keeps up the action throughout, but certainly leaves the whole experience
feeling a little choppy here and there. After a daring escape from the prison
that holds them, the orb in tow, the Guardians follow their information on the
object’s original buyer to a location on the far edges of the galaxy, the
mining colony of Knowhere, located in the decapitated head of a celestial
creature the size of a planet.
Amongst the gritty mining colony of Knowhere, the archetypal
sci-hi hive of scum and villainy, that we finally get to catch up with The
Collector. Sadly, Benicio Del Toro’s wonderfully eccentric character only
appears for a scant few minutes, which is mainly exposition as to the origins
of the mysterious and powerful Infinity stone within the orb, and just why
everyone wants to get their hands on it so much. I know there really wasn’t
much more to do with him, and his character may have worn thin soon, but it
would have been good to see a little more of such an interesting personality.
It’s here on Knowhere that we get glimpses into the inner
workings of our heroes’ heads. We find Rocket and Drax bonding over betting on
bloodsport, while Groot watches on in horror. Star-Lord tries in vein to tell
Gamora just how much he loves music and dancing, failing to impress to stony
eyed assassin, and when the team ends up in a drunken bar room brawl over an
insult, you get the feeling this is the sort of back on forth camaraderie and
animosity that real friends go through, the real personality of this team
coming together.
Drax puts his foot in it, of course, when he stumbles
drunkenly out of the bar and signals Ronan in an angry rage, challenging the
accuser to come and get him, leading to an all-out Star Wars style space battle
with mechs, lasers and explosions in space. All that good stuff. When the dust settles, a hero lies in jeopardy and the stone
in the hands of evil, the only one the Guardians have left to turn to is the
brutal mercenary forces of Star-Lord’s adoptive father, Yondu.
Yondu couldn’t be more different than he was in the comics,
really. Gone is the contemplative native-American allegory in favor of a hard
bitten biker type, played by the Walking Dead’s Merle, Micheal Rooker. With a glowing
metal Mohawk that flares with power at the use of his sonic controlled arrow,
Yondu rescues the Guardians and together they head out to rescue Xandar from
the encroaching forces of Ronan, and take back the orb that caused all the
trouble. Everything comes back to Xandar for the showdown, as Ronan descends
from the skies to wreak havoc on the peaceful world below, the power of the
Infinity stone enough to rend the whole planet asunder. While the combined
forces of the Nova Corps gather to repel the invasion force, The Guardians form
a splinter group to get into Ronan’s ship, and put an end to the big man
himself.
The villain of the piece, Ronan the Accuser, is less of a
character and more of a force. He reminds me somewhat of Nero in Star Trek.
Both powerful men with armies below them, driven onward by a single cause. Be
it revenge in Nero’s case, or simply utter destruction in Ronan’s. I personally
was very disappointed with Ronan’s character in this film. When our heroes are
so fleshed out, and so funny and enjoyable to watch, it’s a shame the villain
isn’t nearly as much so. The character as written in the comics is remarkably
complex, trying to do what is best for his kind, whilst skirting law and
generally being a stone cold fascist, but an inherently moral man. Lee Pace’s
Ronan, on the other hand, is simply a terrorist, bent on destruction. Seemingly
not even against someone who personally wronged him, but simply the opposing
side of a political treaty he disagrees with. It’s easy to see him as the
villain, what with wanting to destroy planets and such, but when our heroes are
so enjoyable, it’s a shame the villain isn’t equally so.
The arch villain on the other hands, the Mad Titan Thanos,
is finally given his formal introduction to the Marvel cinematic universe here,
and whilst he only gets a few short scenes, it’s a solid job of getting the
audience familiar with a character who will be very important later. Played by
a stern voiced Josh Brolin, Thanos controls the fates of hero and villain alike
from behind the scenes, and is simply a looming threat in this story, waiting
to take center stage in a later film. His scene will thrill fans of the comics,
and does a good job of making you want a little more of the mad titan on your
screen.
The film’s climax, compared to the rest of the film, might
be considered overlong, it arrives a little before you might expect, and stays
longer than you might desire, but regardless of its pacing issues, it’s a
spectacle. Guardians incredible special effects are at some of their best here,
between the glittering streets of Xandar and the stone cold tomb like interiors
of Ronan’s ship, there is amazing stage design going on everywhere. So many
characters are involved, it’s a huge ballet of team effort of a final battle,
and here is probably what I liked most about it: It is a real team effort.
Everyone has a part to play, a friend to support. This is not Star-Lord and the
Guardians of the Galaxy. This is not Hulk defeating Loki and Iron Man stopping
the bomb whilst somewhere the rest of the Avengers are standing around
whistling. The film’s final crescendo on Xandar, as Ronan prepares to ignite
the stone and lay waste to his hated enemy, with only the Guardians standing
against him, as a united team, was a perfect example of this. I was thrilled to
see the team united against him, as one.
What did I learn from Guardians of the Galaxy? I learned
that five heroes can be written well, and given their own chance to shine. I
learned that Bradley Cooper is a pretty damn good voice actor. He brings our
snappy remarks and laughs and tears in a voice genuinely not his own, and all
quite convincingly. I learned how to pronounce d’ast. I learnt that there is
still a solid appreciation for creature shop out there, with everything but
Rocket and Groot themselves being real people in incredible makeup effects as
opposed to CGI characters. In the face of some of the most impressive special
effects I’ve ever seen, the costuming and real makeup is still scene stealingly
outstanding, particularly the hodgepodge of alien races that make up Yondu’s
crew.
Most importantly, I learned that you can make a film, and
make it about a team. Not the leader of a team with backup, but about the whole
team. Star-Lord may be our lead, but nothing would happen without the constant
interaction of the other Guardians. The villain is defeated by all of them,
together. It’s a lot of work to squeeze in the characters they do, and the film
certainly suffers for its high speed being crushed between plot development and
characterization at times, but the people we meet are great fun, we’re
introduced to a villain bigger than the whole story just waiting in the
sidelines for a wider world to conquer, and The Guardians of the Galaxy are an
enjoyable enough bunch of misfits to be welcomed back onto the screen.
All I can hope for is more Cosmo next time.
