Guardians Of The Galaxy is a cosmic space adventure that features a talking raccoon and a humanoid tree. Littered with weird names and a ton of largely unexplained sci-fi jargon, it is Marvel Studio’s strangest and most fantastical venture so far. At the centre of the story is Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), an outlaw scavenger who was abducted from Earth as a child. After stealing a mysterious orb, Quill is tossed into an intergalactic space prison, where he teams up with a green-skinned assassin (Zoe Saldana), a mountainous convict (Dave Bautista), a sentient tree (voiced by Vin Diesel), and a genetically modified raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). Following their escape, the group discover that the orb contains an artefact of immense power, and that a formidable alien warlord — Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) — is planning to use it against his enemies…
Guardians is based on little-known comic book series that mainstream audiences won’t be familiar with, and as a result it has been labelled as Marvel’s biggest risk to date. At the same time, however, it is very much a typical Marvel movie, as the tone is playful and the emphasis is firmly on fun. To the film’s credit, there are one or two funny sequences and several witty lines. At one point, for example, Saldana’s emerald-hued killer refers to Quill’s romantic advances as “pelvic sorcery”. But as is often the case with Marvel movies, the tendency to undercut dramatic moments with self-aware humour is overdone. Though this works well on occasion, it soon gets to the stage where you find yourself actively waiting on the jokey punchline whenever things start to get remotely serious. Some critics have described the picture as edgy, but despite one unexpectedly suggestive gag — two words: black light — it generally plays out in a safe and predictable manner.
On the positive side, Guardians benefits from a handful of enjoyable performances. Pratt makes for a likeable leading man, and Dave Bautista shines as the literal-minded hulk, nailing many of the picture’s most amusing lines (“Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it.”). In addition, both Rocket The Raccoon and Groot — the aforementioned tree — work better than expected, while the gang’s adventures are accompanied by a terrific retro soundtrack. On the negative side, however, the villains make very little impact, and there are no real surprises along the way. Writer-director James Gunn imbues the film with some personality, but it rarely strays too far from the tried and tested Marvel formula. The plot is both perfunctory and tricky to follow, and the third act is largely familiar, climaxing with yet another huge, CGI-packed aerial skirmish that offers more chaos than danger. Marvel fans will lap it up, of course, but it’s far from the studio’s best.
