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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014): Delightful, Comedy in Disguise

Guardians of the Galaxy

So Vin Diesel was paid a lot just to do some hum and repeat “I am Groot” in different tones? Just kidding. Again, the hype attracted me into seeing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY because if it didn’t, I guess the Marvel movie timeline had been too complicated to follow (read: you know I’m not so fond of this genre!), but it turned out that the movie was a good one. I could say that I did laugh (out loud!) while watching it and it’s a good thing, isn’t it?

The film opens with a scene on earth. A kid cries after seeing her mom passed away right before his eyes, and as he runs out of the hospital, a very bright light shots him from the sky. The light comes from a huge, modern spaceship, and we’re given a sense that it takes the kid with it. Time passes to 26 years after that. The kid grows into a good-looking (did I just say ‘good-looking’?) young man named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt, with his newly-ripped body after a 6-month training that loses 60 pounds of his fat weight), or Star-Lord—the name he prefer for himself—searching for an orb in a planet far-far-away in the galaxy.

Guardians of the Galaxy

He doesn’t know that the orb is special. Many creatures (I call them creatures because they are not real human) struggle to get it, including Gamora (Zoe Saldana, in green color all over her body), who is sent by Ronan (Lee Pace) from the Kree warship. The orb also takes the attention of this little badass racoon called Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his ‘partner’ Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a living tree. The struggle brings menace into the city, and they are arrested in a prison, where they meet Drax (Dave Bautista) who has a (raw) revenge to Ronan.

I mean, in short I wanted to tell you that everything is so branched. We got many things to follow, and all of them is started by that orb. We are not really clear about what each of these characters has to do to each other. Everything is too abstract to begin.

That is how James Gunn introduced the characters. Peter dancing to the ‘classic’ songs he listens from his walkman as he enters the chamber in which he retrieves the orb, is like a big whiteboard with a text that says, “You people shouldn’t frown for this film!”. For me, it also says, “You, sir, shouldn’t take this movie seriously”. The poster pre-informs you that Peter, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot are the Guardian of the Galaxy, but no one of you will know that they can also be the Idiots of the Galaxy.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Because GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is a laughing matter, that’s why. In a good way, of course. I told you, I never had a fresh, loud laugh in the cinema like I did for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Really. I have no idea if I was watching a comedy or a sci-fi superhero movie. It almost feels like a guilty pleasure, but in a serious manner.

And I said it ‘serious’ because of the flawless CGI for everything. Groot, Rocket, all. This is no longer an issue for today’s studio (and Marvel, goddamit!). And listen to that “Awesome Mix Vol. 1”! It is surely a great choice of songs, which make for a beautiful soundtrack.

I realize that I had problems with... something of the film. The story, of course. But it just feels stupid to talk about that because, again, it doesn’t want me—and us—to be jumbled with thinking. It means that if you have to get it ended that cheaply, so be it. It is a form of genuineness (coolness!), some say, but screw that. Chris Pratt is the guy of the year. We love him, people love him, although Groot takes most of the attention that should have been paid to Peter. “I am Groot”, yep you are Groot and we do love you!

Guardians of the Galaxy

In the end, I prefer to conclude that everything is... joyful. Fun. Amusing. Fresh. I don’t care about how the plot flows whatsoever (but I think I do care for them so I take some portion of my stars for it!). GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is a good superhero movie that takes everything so lightly because by going light, it also goes with delight.


Guardians of the Galaxy

3.5 out of 5 stars

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
2014 / Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi /
121 mins / PG-13

cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista,
Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly,
Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Benicio del Toro

written by James Gunn & Nicole Perlman
based on the comic book by Dan Abnett &
Andy Lanning

directed by James Gunn



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