Guardians of the Galaxy
Now playing at Scotiabank Vancouver
Before seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s latest big-screen comic book adaptation, I must admit I had reached my superhero saturation point. Too many iterations of similar stories, interconnecting from film to film like a virus, had left me super confused.
When I heard that this particular ensemble includes a talking tree and a trigger-happy raccoon, only my 15-year-old fanboy kept me from bolting for the exit. It’s with a large helping of crow, therefore, that I announce that Guardians is the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a while.
We first meet Peter Quill back on Earth in 1988, when he only has a moment to mourn his dying mom before being sucked up by a UFO. Fast-forward 26 years later, where Peter (now played by Chris Pratt) is making a living by scavenging deserted planets and ravishing as many female life forms as possible. He’s desperate to make it on his own – he even pushes his own brand name, Star-Lord – but most of the profits have to be funneled back to the band of men who captured him all those years ago.
On one scavenging hunt, Peter picks up an orb that is of particular interest to Thanos (you know him if you saw the mini movie that played after the last superhero film’s interminable credits), to Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana, blue in Avatar, green here) and to the peaceful people of Xandar, governed by Glenn Close.
A surgically altered talking raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and a hulking tree named Groot (Vin Diesel) also try to pilfer the orb. It lands all of them in prison where they meet Drax (Dave Bautista), who has his own reasons for joining the gang. “I’m surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy,” notes Gamora.
Don’t let the furry little raccoon fool you: he’s got a potty mouth. And Groot, with his three-word vocabulary, might be the most sage of them all (not to mention this year’s most coveted Halloween costume). Appearances by John C. Reilly and Benicio del Toro further enliven a script that has a decidedly buttoned-down, Indiana Jones vibe. (Indeed, Pratt’s relaxed delivery invites Harrison Ford comparisons.) This film has a power of friendship theme that other ensemble films lack.
Despite the enhanced comedy factor, Guardians has the stuff of all good sci-fi and superhero stories: sibling rivalry (“out of all my siblings, I hate you least,” Nebula says to Gamora), paternity questions, memorable worlds (Knowhere is particularly impressive) and loyalties tested. Oh, and a little bit of flirting between heroes doesn’t hurt, as when Gamora fends off Peter’s “pelvic sorcery." Guardians of the Galaxy is great fun.
