In 1988, following his mother's death, a young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers, a group of space pirates led by Yondu Udonta ("The Walking Dead" fave Michael Rooker). Twenty-six years later on the planet Morag, the adult Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) steals a sphere-like artifact only to be intercepted by Korath (Djimon Hounsou ), a henchmen to the fanatical Kree Ronan The Accussor (Lee Pace). Although Quill escapes with the artifact, Yondu discovers his theft and issues a bounty for his capture while Ronan sends the assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) after the orb.
When Quill attempts to sell the orb on the Nova Corps home world Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and the tree-like humanoid Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). The Nova Corps arrives and arrests the group, imprisoning them in the Kyln. A powerful inmate, Drax the Destroyer (WWE superstar Dave Bautista ), attempts to kill Gamora due to her association with Ronan, who killed his family. Quill dissuades him by saying that Gamora can bring Ronan to him. Gamora reveals that she has betrayed Ronan, unwilling to let him use the orb's power to destroy entire planets such as Xandar. Learning that Gamora has a buyer for the orb, Rocket, Quill, Groot, and Gamora work together to escape the Kyln....
Even as an avid comic book reader for over 35 years-admittedly I never knew about the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book--Thus after the movie adaptation was announced--I had to play a little catch-up. As it turns out I would have been fine if I was just a regular move-goer without a daily film blog. The script credited to Gunn and Nicole Perlman does a fine job of introducing the many characters and their motivations without making it complicated. The screenplay may have more humor than any of the previous 9 films released since the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born with 2008's Iron Man and yet I can totally see the Guardians crossing paths with any or all of the Avengers down the line.
The action sequences are very exciting and fun Gunn stages everything as if he is making a six course meal--laying in stunts dialogue and special CG effects at just the right time, Nowhere is this more evident than the prison break, It's the first time the 5 main characters are working together in the film to accomplish a goal. It's my favorite part of the film.
The cast is just terrific. Pratt as Quill is spot on as the leader of this team of cosmic misfits. He may have been known as the guy on TV in Parks and Recreation with a few feature films under his belt--prior to the film's release but now he's a move star. There has not been a space rouge on the big screen this cool since Harrison Ford's Han Solo yes he's that good.
Saldana is human in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" a blue Na'vi in James Cameron's "Avatar" and she's now green as Gamora--As she achieves legendary fanboy status here. She turns in another great performance in the film. Her chemistry with Pratt is really good. The confrontation she has with her "sister" Nebula (Karen Gillan) in the film is one of it's best geek out moments. Good thing for us that Saldana has plenty more colors in the rainbow to choose from for more genre roles.
The biggest acting surprise for me was Bautista...Who know he could be this good outside of the ring. Drax is a physical beast for sure. but Bautista's comic timing and emotional arc both packed quite the punch.
Cooper and Diesel did some fine voice work as the film's non-humanoids--Props to Vin for keeping the line "I am Groot" fresh.
While you get good support from Rooker John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey and Glenn Close --I have to say that it seemed like Pace as Ronan served really only to properly introduce the villainous Thanos (barely seen in the post-script of The Avengers--played by Josh Brolin in the Guardians film) to the masses--The character does have a cool look though.
Marvel's gamble pays off with big dividends...While not quite up there with The Avengers or
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" in terms of where this film ranks among Marvel films--"Guardians" is a fun action packed quirky summer ride....It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will hit theaters on on July 28th 2017...Bring It!
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