Serving up Marvel for children of the 80s, writer-director James Gunn (Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed) gives us the anti-Avengers sci-fi style. Guardian’s Of The Galaxy takes an angry but sympathetic bunch of underdogs and gives us a team of unknown and inexperienced heroes to root for. Opening twenty-six years in the past, young Peter Quill aka Star Lord is kidnapped from Earth following the tragic death of his mother. Now he’s blossomed into a womanising outlaw, ransacking the galaxy of its precious jewels for that ignoble goal – cash. Laying the foundations for, but neatly sidestepping a full blown origin story, Quill gets his hands on an orb with the power to destroy galaxies. Should he save the galaxy or make some quick space bucks?
“Guardians is at its best when it embraces the sheer silliness of its characters”
It’s a tiring, exposition-heavy opener but, after a little persuading and a high energy prison break, Quill is joined by a sarcastic racoon (Bradley Cooper), a humanoid tree (Vin Diesel), and a couple of alien warriors (Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista). The Guardians team is hastily and imprecisely formed but, as the end credits announce, they ‘will be back’ for more character development. They are in desperate need of it.
© 2013 – Walt Disney Pictures
More than any other Marvel offering Guardian’s Of The Galaxy gears itself up for fun. Trademark Marvel cheese is offered up in large quantities but Guardians is at its best when it embraces the sheer silliness of its characters. Yet Guardians fails to go ‘all in’ with its comedic approach and uncomfortably straddles the line between straightforward space battles and comedic silliness. A last minute dance-off to The Five Stairsteps’ Ooh Ooh Child is hilarious but jars against an action sequence that takes itself far too seriously. Then there are Guardians’ brief attempts at smart banter disguising crude jokes and schoolboy humour. One particularly filthy gag is ushered in beneath a thinly veiled Jackson Pollock reference but it’s a single brave move in a film that should be packed with them.
To its credit, Guardians is also Marvel’s most overtly retro movie to date. That all of Quill’s Earth references are circa 1980 lends Guardians Of the Galaxy a nostalgic feel that Gunn builds in to the visuals and plot choices. An excursion to alien planet Knowhere has overtones of the original Total Recall, while a generic sci-fi B-movie quality is infused into the vivid skies and intergalactic battles. Quill’s 80s walkman, complete with Awesome Mix, serves up Guardians’ 70s soundtrack while nostalgic movie treasures, Footloose and Kevin Bacon, get a handful of neat references.
© 2013 – Marvel Studio
But for all its retro jostling, Guardians Of The Galaxy simply doesn’t take enough risks. Hidden beneath its thin crust of fun is a tedious plot overflowing with flimsy characters. The first twenty minutes of tiring, planet hopping exposition speeds through the introduction of heavy handed villains predictably fixated on destruction. It was always going to be a challenge to introduce five new heroes from scratch but Gunn gives us a lazy, by-numbers guide to creating three dimensional characters – ‘create character, insert contradiction here’. And so we get an eloquent beefcake who lacks tact, a cute yet fierce racoon and a sensitive tree who can’t communicate his feelings. These heroes are appealing, sympathetic and full of potential but they’re also obvious and rushed.
“Guardians Of The Galaxy simply doesn’t take enough risks”
With its spasmodic treatment of genre, Guardians lurches from daft to clever, from riotous to flat, and from hysterical to tired. Meanwhile Gunn’s refreshing sparks of sporadic wackiness are toned down by Marvel’s general tendency to take itself too seriously and the Guardians refreshing, retro mood is left barely skin deep. The immediate announcement of a Guardians sequel, along with a blunt nod to a future plot strand during the film’s finale, suggests Marvel are already holding something back for these heroes. It’s a risk for any new franchise and this lovable team of underdogs remain in dire need of character development if they’re to rival their Avengers compatriots. The opportunity for Marvel to shake up their formula is wasted here, hopefully next time it won’t be.
VERDICT: ✭ ✭ 2/5
Images: © 2013 Walt Disney Pictures © 2013 Marvel Studio
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I had a bunch of fun with this. Although, maybe it’s just my kind of humor or what have you. Good review.
Thanks Dan. Glad you liked it. There were some great gags in there but I just didn’t think it was different enough, and found myself getting bored. I’m definitely in the minority on this one though!
Very well thought out review. Loved your analysis, although have to disagree here and there.
For all intents and purposes, GOTG was not the typical Marvel movie, in terms of content or characters. The crude, anti hero and criminalistic nature of the lead characters was completely contradictory to the, thus far, super heroically endowed characters we’ve been treated to thus far in Phase 1, and Phase 2 prior to this film.
The heavy handed exposition can easily be forgiven given that GOTG’s major plot point is something thats been seeded through the MCU from day one, with this being the 1st time in 9 films it’s been referenced outright in story.
I do completely agree with you, and mention in my own Review, that the ridiculousness of the characters seems like an awareness that Gunn went into the movie knowing, and played to that angle.
Glad to see a differing viewpoint on this movie for once.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I completely take your points – it was good to see characters who were a lot less squeaky clean. I’m looking forward to seeing more character development next time as I think Guardians has the most potential in the Marvel Universe.
Good review, I liked it a bit more than you did, but I think all of your criticisms are valid. I think it’s a good flick, but definitely overpraised
Thanks Kevin. Glad you liked the movie – I’m definitely keen to see where they take this one next time as I think it has a lot of potential.
Th best thing about GotG is that it’s something we’ve not seen before – hope the sequel can expand this material, but I don’t have high expectations.
Th worst: yes, character development is virtually nonexistant – and is slightly annoying in places – except for Rocket Raccoon & Star-Lord – couldn’t care about any of th others, especially th “villains”!
U may be interested in this:
http://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/star-lord-and-laser-brain/
Cheers!
Thanks Brad. Yeah have to agree that Rocket was my favourite and the villains were very weak. The potential is there to really shake things up – I hope that they have more confidence next time in breaking free from the Marvel formula.
Interesting review Natalie, I think that’s jus the second negative one I’ve read, but enjoyed reading. I can’t really comment further as I haven’t seen it as I said the other day, but will try and check it this weekend.
Yeah negative reviews are definitely in the minority on this one. I liked the comedy and the retro styling but I thought it was quite superficial and I could really feel the Marvel formula pulling the plot. It does have a lot of potential as a series though if they iron out these problems. I’m interested to hear what you think when you do check it out.
Love this review. I’m the only person in the world who hasn’t seen it yet as but i really like the idea of anti-Avengers. Great stuff Natalie!
Thanks Mikey! Yeah, they’re angry ex-criminals so they’re quite a different bunch of heroes. Hope you enjoy it!
Nice review! GoTG is quite conflicting for me because on a lot of points I thought it was an enjoyable fresh start to a franchise, but that it seemed to lack a cohesive script balancing action and comedy. I would’ve liked more background on Gamora especially, since I don’t have high hopes we’ll see her battle against Nebula more in the sequel….
Hi Katy and welcome to Writer Loves Movies! Thanks for your comment, I completely agree with you and hope we get more character development next time.
Very thoughtful review and, although joining the long line of people disagreeing with your view on the film, I can see why you didn’t find the film to live up to its immense hype.
Hi and welcome to Writer Loves Movies! Thanks for your comment. I think it’s always tough for movies that are hyped as much as this one to live up to the expectations they build. I think Guardians has great potential though if they can iron out some of the issues with character development and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
Hey there! I noticed your site from a comment you left on FlixChatter (a mutual friend), and I thought I’d visit it. It was interesting to read a more negative review of this film, since it seems to be blossoming with primarily positive ones. Personally, I enjoyed GOTG probably more than you did. I found it to be a lot of fun, and I had a great time seeing it. However, I can see where you’re coming from with character development. There was very little throughout. I suppose it’s not a totally fair comparison to the Avengers, however, because each of those characters has gotten one or multiple of their own films before coming together for a full-out team film. I think Star Lord got the most development, and the others were certainly lacking. I think it’s difficult to introduce SO many new places, things, plots, and characters all in one, as well as develop them well in one film.
I enjoyed reading your post! Nice review.
Hi Kristin and welcome to Writer Loves Movies! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes I think Guardians has great potential – it was always going to be tough to introduce so many new ideas in one film and next time we should get some great opportunities to develop the characters further. Looking forward to stopping by your blog soon!
I seemingly got way more out of it than you did, and have seen it several times, with my kids, who also love it. My daughter’s cry at the opening, my son loves Rocket. They have the album, it’s always playing in someone’s bedroom and we don’t go anywhere in the car with out it. (Good job I like it as well). I guess it’s there Star Wars (which they are not fans off anyway!).
In a strong summer of films for me, this is my favourite, and my favourite Marvel film. It’s great fun and just zips along and I’ve enjoyed it more each time I’ve seen it.
Great review as always!
The soundtrack is great isn’t it?! I really hoped I would enjoy this one more than I did but I still think it has great potential. As the characters grow this strand of the Marvel universe has the power to become more and more appealing. Looking forward to seeing where they take it next.