Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy
 *Mild Spoilers Alert
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Poster.

      Even though Marvel Studios is venturing into new territory, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' excels in everything Marvel is known for and bring forth a new movie series to life and possibly one of the best Marvel movies ever made.

"Chris Pratt".

"Zoe Saldana".

      After a traumatic experience as a young boy in the hospital, we are transported 26 years later to an older 'Peter Quill'(Chris Pratt), who is also known as 'Star-Lord'. He was raised by 'The Ravagers', a gang famously led by 'Yondu Udonta'(Michael Rooker). When trying to snatch 'Yondu''s latest bounty in order to collect its prize first, he becomes a target of bounty hunters 'Rocket'(Bradley Cooper), 'Groot'(Vin Diesel), and deadly assassin 'Gamora'(Zoe Saldana). While trying to catch 'Quill', all four gets captured and get landed into a prison, where they meet 'Drax'(Dave Bautista) the Destroyer. There they discover that the object that 'Quill' possesses is what one of the most deadly Kree terrorists on the planet 'Ronan'(Lee Pace) the Accuser wants the most. Murder, greed and betrayal is what is common between all of them and with the threat of the destruction of the universe, the most unlikely of alliances between these thieves and assassins will be formed in order to save the entire universe from this threat. Other main characters include 'Nebula'(Karen Gillan) the loyal lieutenant of Ronan and daughter of 'Thanos', 'Korath'(Djimon Hounsou) Kree ally of 'Ronan', Nova Prime 'Irane Rael'(Glenn Close) leader of the 'Nova Corp', 'Rhomann Dey'(John C. Reily) Corpsmen in the 'Nova Corp', 'Kraglen'(Sean Gunn) 'Yondu''s first mate, 'Carina'(Ophelia Lovibond) the 'Collector''s aid, 'The Collector'(Benicio Del Toro), and an appearance for 'Thanos'(Josh Brolin).

"Bradley Cooper" and "Vin Diesel".

"Dave Bautista".

      Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 8 years or so, anyone can notice that the most successful Studio has been Marvel. Moreover, the most beloved and highest grossing movies that have been dominating the Hollywood scene has been the Marvel movies, from 'Marvel'sThe Avengers' to the film series 'Iron Man', 'Thor' and 'Captain America'. Bringing new material from the comic books onto the big screen was a matter of time and many comic book fans, movie analysts and rival studios were waiting for what Marvel had in stored for us. What many do not realize is that Marvel has planned since the success of Iron Man a plan of how Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 were going to shape up. Still bringing a relatively new brand and making people fall in love with it was going to be difficult, but not for 'Marvel Studios'. There marketing team is truly one of the best teams. And though the elements of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' seem on paper unfitting with the way Marvel has been choosing its movies, yet the clues and connectivity has been executed and evolved in a very clever fashion. Everything from the story, casting, performances, directing and visual effects, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' mostly nailed these aspects giving us a very nearly perfect movie experience, one that me and many other haven't had in a very long time.

"Lee Pace".

"Karen Gillan".

      Director "James Gunn" can basically be considered as a new entrant into the big budget movie genre. He is mostly known for the sci-fi horror movie 'Slither(2006)' and comedy-drama superhero movie 'Super(2010)'. That being said the work he has done with this movie is spectacular and confirms why Marvel chose him to helm this risky project and the consent he got from Marvel-Guru "Joss Whedon". His dedicated work ever since the announcement of his involvement back in 2012 is shown within the movie. On top of that, "Gunn" co-wrote the screenplay of the movie along with "Nicole Perlman", who was given the choice to write the screenplay of whichever movie she wanted. The story as a whole is very solid, but what makes the movie even more interesting is it friendliness in showing the five main characters and allowing each character to shine within his/her/it's own right, while still allowing the movie to roll on and most importantly fitting within the cinematic universe that 'Marvel Studios' has created for itself. The music was one of the highlights of this movie, incorporating 80's songs in a very special manner and infusing "Tyler Bates"'s('Sucker Punch(2011)' and worked on "Gunn"'s previous movies) beautiful score. The special effects of the movie were astonishing and one of the best visual movie Marvel has ever put forward, and never once did any of the viewers complained about 'Rocket' and 'Groot''s characters due to their perfect realization onto the big screen, which allowed us to think of them as real as the other live characters.

"Djimon Hounsou".

"Benicio Del Toro".

     Many, including me, were surprised by the heart and emotional strength that the movie was able to bring forth to us as audiences. The time frame of the movie is extremely perfect, allowing the fleshing out of all the story's elements in one way or another. The beginning of the movie was a very emotionally sad beginning, which completely shifts when the time jump occurred. This lead us to one of the most cool opening credits scene I have personally ever witnessed in between all movies I have personally watched. From there on the overall dominant fun tone continues on whilst still balancing this humor with seriousness and dramatic tone when the scene or moment needed it. The movie was truly a very near-to-perfect movie, which makes it hard to pin point the best scenes. From the battle to catch 'Quill', to the prison scene, 'Ronan' meeting 'Thanos', meeting 'The Collector' and the battle that follows, to joining forces with 'Nova Corp' to the actual climax battle sequence, the movie truly present us with exciting and thrilling sequences that keeps the audiences glued to the screen and even wanting to watching it once more. Another point that must be discussed is the amount of clever and overarching jokes that are presented within the movie and was enforced by the amazing cast, which was one of the highlights of this movie.

"Sean Gunn" and "Michael Rooker".

"Dave Bautista", "Zoe Saldana",
"Vin Diesel" and "Chris Pratt".

      The main cast presented is one of the best ensembles ever put together, which is thanks to their individual portrayal and ensemble chemistry. "Chris Pratt" truly transitioned within this movie into a true Movie Star. The physical transformation he underwent was enforced by his effortless performance, proving his ability to lead a blockbuster action movie. "Zoe Saldana" proved she was the transformation star, though this time she played the alien character through make-up rather than CGI like in 'Avatar(2011)'. Once again she brought her A-game giving a strong performance, especially being the only main female character in the movie. "Dave Bautista" surprised many who criticized his casting, proving his choosing wasn't only based on his physicality and that he has the ability to bring forward a realized character with his decent acting skills. But without a sheer doubt, the stars of the movie had to be attributed to the motion-capture characters 'Rocket' and 'Groot'. Let us start with the genetically engineered raccoon voiced by "Bradley Cooper", the fact that he wasn't just a character providing the jokes but had  incredible emotional depth and anger which were portrayed perfectly, was awesome. And the character that will be mostly remembered, even though he only talked three syllables, will surely be 'Groot'. The innocence and purity that 'Groot' put forward was what may be the differentiating factor amongst the other main character. "Vin Diesel" must be commended for this work on this character recording 1000 times the phrase "I am Groot!" and in 8 different languages. 

"Zoe Saldana", "Bradley Cooper",
"Chris Pratt", "Vin Diesel"
and "Dave Bautista".

'The Milano'.

      As in many of the 'Marvel Studios' movies, one of the weak points of the movie is related to the villains. 'Ronan' the Accuser is a visually stunning character but as mentioned the character is barely realized to its full potential and was alienated as a tool to march the story forward, as in many of the studio's movie. Another astonishingly looking character is 'Nebula', which "Karen Gillan" shaved her head for the role but gave a limited performance due to 'Nebula''s limited role. That said looking forward to giving her more to do in the planned sequel. "Djimon Hounsou" gave a pleasant performance, "Michael Rooker" also gave an interesting portrayal of the very interesting 'Yondu' character, while "John C. Reily", "Ophelia Lovibond" and "Sean Gunn" performed their role within their supporting characters. Casting big Hollywood stars in small roles is a trend growing in Hollywood but casting "Glenn Close" as head of 'Nova Corp' was underused. Same could be said to "Benicio Del Toro", whose character 'The Collector''s use was disappointing to many. The appearance of 'Thanos' was appreciated for the continuity of this universe and casting "Josh Brolin" to portray him in Motion Capture was a clever move.

      'Guardians of the Galaxy' was surely the surprise movie of 2014 and within the Marvel Studios roster. This movie will become one of the classic movies in the future I reckon and 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' will surely be one of the most anticipated sequels in June 2017.

Official 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Poster. 

-'Guardians of the Galaxy' Info:
-Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reily, Sean Gunn, Ophelia Loviebond, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin.
-Based on: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
-Studio(s): Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture.
-Directed by: James Gunn.
-Screenplay by: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman.
-Music by: Tyler Bates.
-Running Time: 122 minutes.
-Budget: $ 170,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 332,309,276.
                   -Foreign: $ 439,600,000.
-Rating: -IMdb: 8.7/10.
             -Rotten Tomatoes: 92%.
             -Metacritic: 76%.

             -Personal Rating: 8.8/10.

-Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer: