FRED Watch Quickie Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
GALAXY IS A TOTAL GUNN!
I’m a Wayne Stellini and welcome to FRED Watch, where we review everything from the mainstream to the obscure. Today’s film is Guardians of the Galaxy…
Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
When adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) becomes the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by the ambitious Ronan (Lee Pace), he is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits: Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista)…
James Gunn gives the Marvel Cinematic Universe a breath of fresh air with this fun and quirky comic book caper, introducing lesser known superheroes into a well-established franchise. And while there may not be anything too original about Guardians of the Galaxy, co-writer/director Gunn knows how to deliver the perfect balance of heart, humour, and heroics to tell a well-rounded story. It doesn’t hurt that it has an amazing soundtrack too!
The film is not only incredibly good-looking (the set design, costumes, and makeup are all superb), but it is tautly edited and always engaging. It is also one of those rare blockbusters in which so many performances overshadow the whiz-bang visuals. Our motley crew are perfectly cast.
Chris Pratt is insatiably charming and goofy as protagonist Peter Quill, while Zoe Saldana absolutely owns the role of Gamora, and her exchanges with Dave Bautista’s Drax the Destroyer are always entertaining. Bradley Cooper steals the show as bounty hunter Rocket, complemented quite nicely by simpleton tree Groot; a role that suits Vin Diesel’s “acting range,” for a lack of a better phrase, quite nicely.
Guardians of the Galaxy works so well because the dynamics between its characters is so finely tuned that we never stop caring about them. It is a particularly entertaining example of when popcorn entertainment is at its best. 4½ / 5
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin [uncredited], Sean Gunn, Alexis Denisof, Ophelia Lovibond, Peter Serafinowicz, Gregg Henry, Laura Haddock, Melia Kreiling, Christopher Fairbank, Mikaela Hoover, Marama Corlett, Emmett J. Scanlan, Alexis Rodney, Tom Proctor, Spencer Wilding, Fred, Stephen Blackehart, James Gunn [cameo], Stan Lee [cameo], Lloyd Kaufman [cameo], Nathan Fillion [voice] Rob Zombie [voice], Tyler Bates [voice], Seth Green [voice].
Director: James Gunn | Producer: Kevin Feige | Writers: James Gunn, Nicole Perlman (based on Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning) | Music: Tyler Bates | Cinematographer: Ben Davis | Editors: Fred Raskin, Craig Wood, Hughes Winborne
Let us know what you thought of this film in the comments!
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