Arian Behpour
A&E Editor
To the surprise of many, a movie about a green alien, a living tree, and a raccoon made from computer-generated imagery can become the biggest movie of the summer. It seemed this film was too unconventional to succeed, but some how it came out on top. The movie set out to blend together jokes alongside action and drama, a feat that is hard to accomplish. Guardians of the Galaxy was a step into new territory by Marvel.
The movie starts off great by getting us interested in the film’s story and tone. The jokes in the film had the all of the theater roaring in laughter. The characters all have their own type of humor. One of the funniest characters is Rocket Raccoon, who spouts out hilarious one liners right after eachother. This aspect of the film is interesting, because the way the characters talk to one another really makes them feel diverse and alive. The tear jerking moments are there too and they work just as well as the humor.
While this film isn’t trying to win any oscars for acting, the acting is great all around. Chris Pratt as Peter Quill was a great casting decision. Even Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper give their characters that little edge with their voice acting. Michael Rooker, who you might know as Merle from the walking dead, is a great side character. John C. Reilly and Glenn Close barely show up more than five minutes combined, so you might be disappointed if you expected to see more of Reilly’s character. The most controversial casting choice might be Dave Bautista as Drax. Bautista, who is more known for his wrestling in the WWE than for his acting, gives a decent performance. I think he is not much of an actor but due to his characters lack in a sense of humor, he seemed to fit the quirkiness of the character perfectly. The cast of Guardians is well rounded and makes for an eclectic range of characters.
Aside from the humor, Guardians adds a bit of action into the mix. The action is great and the CGI really complements the set pieces rather than demeaning them. Sometimes the action and humor go hand in hand. This works well and fits into an Indiana Jones and Star Wars vibe. There is a scene, not as good as the others,where the main characters fight in flight pods but you don’t feel like they are in the pods themselves. Yes, the action might be cool, but there is no sense of tension.
The biggest issue that the movie presents is the villain, Ronan the Accuser. Ronan is the equivalent to Darth Maul from Star Wars. He looks cool, does evil stuff, and fights without mercy, but he is nothing new. His characteristics end at evil, and there no redeeming factors or character development to his character. Ronan works under Thanos, an even bigger villain that is working in the background of the film. It seems like they did not care about Ronan and just wanted to build Thanos up more. In the end, Ronan felt like another cool costume with nothing to fill it up with.
This film deserved to have done so well in the box office due to its ability to mesh the genres together so perfectly. While watching the movie, I felt an array of emotions; happy, sad, and most of all, I had a great time watching this movie. Guardians of the Galaxy is up there with other sci-fi action comedies like Ghostbusters. If you want a good time with the friends, family, or by yourself, watch Guardians of the Galaxy.
