Review of “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Warning! Contains spoilers!

Welcome to the next big budget Marvel release designed to empty our wallets and overpower our senses with more special effects than a Bronze Age river god. Frankly, I knew precious little about “Guardians” going in. That’s not to say I wasn’t excited. Talk about marketing! I didn’t know I wanted a Groot in my life but now I do. This gushing excitement all stemmed from the trailer. It was fun. Fun! Let’s hope it all comes together in a sci-fi extravaganza… Showtime!

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) had a pretty standard upbringing. After the death of his mother in America he is kidnapped by alien pirates who give up on transporting him to his extra-terrestrial dad and instead raise him as one of their own. For reasons. Now a full blown corsair, he has skipped out on his band of merry cut throats to strike it rich. His first big score is a mystical orb that someone, somewhere is prepared to spend a lot of space bucks to obtain. Turns out the orb is massively important to a purple skinned space Satan. He sends his disenfranchised terrorist buddy to go and get it. Soon out of his depth and in space prison, Quill must unite a group of disparate rogues to escape, sell the orb and get rich. Until the sphere turns out to be one of the galaxies most deadly mega weapons. Now Quill and his new chums must work together so that they can GUARD the GALAXY from the evil orb wielding scoundrel. 

‘Galaxy’ is a none stop train ride through an exploding paint factory. We must remember to keep our eyes on the end goal (enjoying ourselves) rather than looking out the window and trying to focus on the spinning detail. It does a lot and simply won’t give the audience time to digest. There is no jumping off this train – why should we? We have five primary heroes (one doesn’t speak much) all of which we need to care about and cheer for. From Pratt’s half Han Solo, half Bart Simpson protagonist to Dave Bautista’s philosophising Drax the basically-a-pro-wrestler Destroyer, each fills a handy adventuring stereotype. We also have three baddies to likewise introduce and a pirate captain in desperate need of agency. Its brisk work but the story gets it done. Just about. It’s almost fairy tailish. The characters might be thin but so is an After Eight and these characters are equally as delicious. 

The fun train doesn’t stop with a twee cast. The galaxy that requires guarding is a suitably operatic space setting. Sci-Fi can be fall too much towards the science rather than the fiction. ‘Guardians’ grabs fiction by the balls while seemingly smothering science with a plumb Dungeons and Dragons pillow case. It’s a great aesthetic that matches the grandeur of Thor’s Asgard. Memorable moments include flying into a massive alien head floating in space that is currently being stripped mined for all its lovely expensive head goo. The prison break was fantastic PG fun, although I spent most of the action trying to figure out how a prosthetic leg was going to become essential to the escape.  Life lesson 84 – never trust a racoon. Benicio Del Toro reprises his role as ‘The Collector’, a creepy amasser of rare bits and bobs. It’s self-evident that he was given free rein to explore and enjoy his time on camera and we the audience whole heartedly benefit. I hope in a future Marvel endeavour we get to hear him say “I simply must have this vintage Dinky car” on an episode of the Antiques Roadshow. It’s all popcorn chomping stuff.

"Simples!"

“Guardians of the Galaxy” put all of its money on fun and came home with the loot. It’s just great fun. When it stops to make you laugh it manages this without patronising the audience or by being self-deprecating. The perspective shifts between each character equally during the action scenes in a genuine attempt to equalise the perils and successes of our newly beloved heroes. All this comes together to leave one feeling a sense of sincere story telling rather than as a sinister screen promotion for Guardian’s merchandise. If anything, I left the screening with greater respect for Marvels comic book successes. Take note, Avengers 2 – the bar has been raised.

 “Guardians of the Galaxy” gets a solid four Brian faces out of five. Enjoy with a group of friends and then immediately reminisce in a jolly local drinking establishment.