Guardian's of the Galaxy
Marvel’s plans for Phase 2 took a different kind of turn in
2014. Not only were our heroes and villains duking it out on earth, but
somewhere on the other side of the known universe, another war was happening. Even
if “Thor” showed us his world in good detail, his films had only scratched the
surface of the wider Marvel universe.
You could call “Guardians of the Galaxy” the Star Wars of the Avengers series, as it
was a story totally separate from the previous films but would cleverly connect
its own world to the events of The Avengers. But before we get there in several
films from now, let’s take a look back at the funny, hip and very entertaining
Guardians of the Galaxy.
Although 97% of the film is sent in the far reaches of
space, it begins on good old Planet Earth. A young boy sits in a quiet hospital
in the late 1980’s. His mother is sick on her death bed, and with her passing,
the boy runs out into the night distraught. Without explanation, a space ship appears,
beams him up, and we fast forward over twenty years or so. The young boy is now
a full-grown man, named Peter Quill, or “Starlord” as he likes to call himself.
Paid to complete small odd jobs, mainly stealing things, he picks up a mysterious
orb from a desolate planet to deliver it and get paid.
But when his boss puts a bounty out on him, Quill finds
himself the target of several hunters, who all want to deliver him for their
own rewards. The bounty hunters include Rocket, a racoon like creature who can
talk and wield machine guns twice his size. Joining him for the ride is his
bodyguard Groot, a half-tree-half-man like alien, who can only say the words
“I…Am…Groot”. Even if that sounds like the same words to everyone else, each
version of his limited dialect actually means something else. Also joining the
gang is Gamora, a green skinned vixen whose handy with a blade and can battle
any man or alien in her path. And finally, there’s Drax; a muscular, tattooed behemoth
seeking revenge on the villain of the film, who killed his wife and daughter.
If you’re like me, your knowledge of Marvel comic books and
their many characters comes directly from the films themselves. I’ve never read
a comic book from the Marvel cannon, so when Guardians of the Galaxy was first
announced I had no idea what to expect. To be honest, I went into the film
rather sceptical, because the idea seemed like a backwards flip against the
Marvel movies we’d seen so far, and it just didn’t make much sense to me. That
was how I saw it going in… until I watched the film.
And I was very surprised. Not only was the film clever in
many ways, it’s practically all-original and extremely inventive at every turn.
The world of space and its smaller worlds within it has been so well concieved by
the likes of Stan Lee and his co-creators, and it translates beautifully to the
screen. There is so much colour and vitality to every location and shot, and
the icing on the cake is the characters and their chemistry together.
Brought together as enemies to begin with, the Guardians find
a common enemy in Ronin, who wants to steal one of the Infinity Stones and
destroy a whole planet. This sets the story in motion, and as our heroes in hop
from one planet to another, they clash, argue, disagree and almost kill each
other, while trying to avoid getting killed by almost every other alien race in
the galaxy.
As the film proceeds, it gradually wins you over. You’ll be totally
invested by the end of the film, as it’s a fun flick with clever use of nostalgic
music, rich characters, great special effects and some smart references to the
Infinity Stones and Thanos, which continue to build up future events we would see in “Avengers:
Infinity War”
Post Credit scenes – Since Guardians
of the Galaxy was all about fun, the first post-credit scene shows Drax in the
background, sharpening a long knife, while baby Groot, standing proud and tall
like a sprout in his flower pot, starts dancing. Every time Drax thinks he sees
movement and whips his head around, Groot freezes on the spot. It’s a cute
little scene. Second scene shows The Collector, sitting in what’s left of his
base and sipping a cocktail while a dog in an astronaut suit wonders up and
licks his face. Out of sight, a raspy voice says “Why do you let him lick you
like that for? Gross”. And the voice belongs to Howard the Duck, also sipping a
drink and sitting in his glass box;
clearly one of the many items The Collector has gathered over the years. Why
Howard the Duck? I don’t know, so if you do, let me know…
This review was originally part of a special review of films
called "The Movies of Marvel" which you can check out
here
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