Today, I'll be talking about a recent blockbuster hit: Guardians of the Galaxy!
Image credit to IMDb
WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
I genuinely love this film. The basic story is about a Terran (Earth) male, named Peter Quill, who is picked up by aliens when he was a kid. He becomes a renowned thief, and calls himself 'Starlord". He teams up with a group of criminals to stop the warlord Ronan, who is originally under the command of Thantos.
The story itself is simple, and the execution is pretty much flawless. It's also one of the cheesiest, silliest movie that I've seen in a while. This movie pulls out every cliche, and uses it to its extreme. But, it doesn't seem unintentional. In fact, the movie seems very aware of itself, which can sometimes be bad, but it is very well done here.
Another aspect of this movie, which I think led to its popularity, is it's soundtrack. The soundtrack is mainly songs from the 1970s and 1980s. This lends a feeling of nostalgia to the film. Well, at least... I think it does. I'm about to turn 16, so... I didn't really have a connection to the songs before, or any significant memories of them . However, that's another interesting point by itself. This movie introduces a new generation of people to the popular music from before their time, which their parents most likely enjoyed. I can vouch for that plan myself, as I had no knowledge of these songs before, and I've grown to love them since watching this movie. (In fact, I'm listening to it right now, as I write this review.)
Now, the acting. The entire cast is really quite fantastic. Our heroes are: Chris Pratt as Starlord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. These guys are fantastic. Their onscreen chemistry is fantastic, and they all bring fun and clever aspects to their respective characters.
The villains are: Lee Pace as Ronan, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Djimon Hounsou as Korath, and Josh Brolin (uncredited) as Thantos. These actors are all fantastic, but I'll focus one one that I'm partial to. Karen Gillan. Her popularity really soared after being cast as Amelia Pond on Doctor Who, a show that I love dearly. (If you read my Thor: The Dark World review (http://criticteen.blogspot.com/2014/06/thor-world-of-anti-light.html) you'll know that I'm partial to actors who have starred on Doctor Who.) Karen Gillan shows just how much of a great actress she is, by giving this character a great performance. Another villain that I want to focus on, at some point, is Thantos, my favorite Marvel villain.
The supporting cast consists of: Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, John C. Reilly as Corpsman Dey, Glenn Close as Nova Prime, Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, Peter Serafinowicz as Denarian Saal, and Christopher Fairbank as The Broker. Once again, they are all great in this movie.
The action. The action is fresh, fun and innovative, yet with all the cliches packed in. It's a great show of how Marvel can do all sorts of action.
A quick note about the credits scene: Baby Groot dancing was a cuteness overload. Just saying.
One feeling that I get from this movie is that Marvel is effectively saying "Hey, we've been pretty heavy and serious for the past few years. Here's a really cheesy and fun movie, which still adds to the overarching story that we're preparing!" I recommend this to everybody. The audience that this movie reaches is so diverse. people wanting silly, people wanting a good action flik, people wanting good story, wanting good acting, good videography, good soundtrack, etc. I think it's a defining movie for this generation of Marvel movies. So, go catch it while its still in theaters, or buy theDVD as soon as it comes out!
This is the Teenage Critic, signing off.
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