Official Synopsis
The Marvel Cinematic Universe expands into the cosmos when brash space adventurer Peter Quill steals a coveted orb and becomes the object of a relentless bounty hunt. To evade his enemies, Quill forges an uneasy truce with Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon; Groot, a tree-like humanoid; the deadly assassin Gamora; and the revenge-driven Drax. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb, he must rally his ragtag band of misfits for a desperate battle that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Featuring amazing new characters and exclusive bonus features, this must-own blockbuster will have you hooked on a feeling… of pure adrenaline!
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I would be lying to you if I didn’t honestly tell you that I had a lot of concerns going into this film when it was first announced. Marvel had just gotten on track with Avengers, not too long after the Iron Man 2 blemish, and everything in the Marvel machine seemed to be kicking on all cylinders. Marvel seemed very focused with the stories it wanted to tell and how they wanted them connected to each other. Guardians of the Galaxy seemed like a very odd direction to go and even more so a very odd story to try to fit within the scheme of what’s out in the Marvel film world. How in the world would you connect the Guardians’ world with what has been established in the Avengers. How do you make all of those fine-line connections, so it doesn’t look like you’re forcing it?
The solution? Um, ignore the critics and make a movie you want to make that is full of life and entertainment. Oh, and hire a director that has the same attitude as the characters he creates. That helps as well. After watching Guardians in the theater, I now firmly believe that Marvel probably can’t do anything wrong, when it’s completely focused on its product. Sometime in the future that might be proven wrong, but after seeing James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s going to be very tough to beat Marvel when they’re at the top of their game and when they’re determined to make a story they want to make.
Anyway, let’s get right into it.
The film starts with a brief origin of our hero, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Quill is a young boy, who just lost his mother to what can only be assumed to cancer. Angry at the world, now alone, he runs outside only to be captured by a vessel from outer space.
And yes, that’s the entire origin right there. Within a five minute span of the opening, we learn who Peter Quill is, where he comes from and how he (a human) came to be on the other side of the universe. In my opinion, this is an appropriate amount of time spent on his background, though we do get more details as the film goes on.
Shifting time and space, we see Peter Quill all grown up and dancing his way into a five finger opportunity and also into trouble with the Kree army, and its rogue leader, Ronan (Lee Pace — love this guy). The movie’s plot point surrounds the theft of an ancient object by Quill, which turns out to be an Infinity Gem later on in the movie, which is why Ronan is so desperate to obtain it. As we have seen in previous Marvel movies, Infinity Gems are pretty powerful, and this gem is no different. This gem will most certainly be a part of the future Infinity War storyline that is coming in future Marvel movies.
As Quill brings it back to a place called Nova, to turn in the gem to a dealer, he soon discovers that he is being hunted for the object he has stolen, as well as being hunted by a couple of folks that look to claim a bounty put on his head by his own employers, the Ravagers, who are led by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker).
In the first 20 minutes of the movie, Gunn doesn’t beat around the bush with what’s at stake and starts/ends the first act of the film with our hero, Peter Quill, getting captured by the Nova police. In addition, we’re introduced to Ronan’s assassin, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who is also captured and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel), who are captured by Nova as well. Gunn forms his unlikely heroic team of misguided anti-heroes and sends them on a second act adventure that develops and forms a strong bond between the characters.
Yes, you read that right, almost the entire second act of the film is dedicated and focused on Quill, Gamora, Drax (Dave Bautista — they meet his character in the Nova prison they are taken to), Rocket and Groot forming a trustworthy and believable bond. The handling of this character/group development is nothing short of brilliant and done with the greatest of care by director James Gunn. That’s what is fun about the Guardians of the Galaxy, is that they’re not Iron Man, not Captain America, Hawkeye or whoever else on the Avengers. They’re born hating each other for legitimate reasons and find a way to see the bigger picture in a well cultivated and methodical way that only James Gunn, and his writers, can produce.
The third act of the film takes this bond, puts it to the test against Ronan and gives each character a chance to shine — especially Groot. The end result of the film has you wanting more, but also understanding that there is no clear direction or connection pointing to the Marvel Universe that typical Marvel films produce. It’s truly as if this film is a standalone that doesn’t have to connect or depend on the other Marvel films to make it work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it will connect in the next five to seven years, but ultimately it doesn’t feel the need to and that is just a pure reflection of the filmmaker and his characters that he has created.
Guess what? That’s completely fine, too.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a great film that fits within the universe, but doesn’t feel the need to connect to it. That doesn’t mean that it’s any less important than the other films, nor does it mean that it’s made without a bunch of forward thinking. The film is written well and does what it needs to do to entertain its viewers. Guardians of the Galaxy has sparks of serious moments, but the film as a whole doesn’t take itself too seriously at all. Quill’s storyline is certainly something endearing, and there are hints of it expanding, but this is what a true ‘action-thrill-ride’ feels like. Guardian’s is fun from the beginning to the end and it will leave you curious on how the second movie is going to end up.
It’s a big Guardians’ universe out there that James Gunn has created, so the sky’s the limit (or stars rather). Can’t wait to see the next one in 2017.
Before we move on to the Blu-ray portion of this review, I have to give major props to the cast of the movie. There are so many competing personalities and so many different levels of Hollywood stardom, that it’s impressive to see a group of people, despite the size of roles, that come together and produce something they seem to truly believe in. There’s a lot of ego to give up in the process and they make all of these characters work, as well as the film. Props to everyone in the film. Just a superb job. Also credit to the casting folks in the film.
Now, shall we talk about how beautiful this Blu-ray looks? It’s pretty.
If you haven’t seen the film, then you’re going to be visually enthralled with the HD transfer results. While the film consists of a lot of green screen moments, the color scheme Gunn went with consists of deep purples, reds, grey, blues, pinks and pretty much everything other color you can imagine. They aliens in the film are quite beautiful when they shine through in HD, as are the environments that they reside in. There isn’t a hint of graininess or compression problems. I’m very impressed with the lack of ‘fake’ feel to the film. The mixture of real land and green screen is done well. The film comes off as a visual masterpiece of sorts, though it’s not looking to be one. If you have a chance to get this in HD, do it. It’s worth it.
On the special features side of things, here’s what to expect:
· Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
· Making-of Featurettes
· Exclusive Look at “Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron”
· Gag Reel
· Audio Commentary
The ‘making of’ featurettes are gold here. They give you a great perspective on production, character selection and how some of those characters were brought to life. You can just tell the cast and crew had a blast making this movie. The featurettes are well done and fit the mold of this release perfectly.
The rest of the features, including the commentary, are interesting. You will find some good value in them, though I expected just a bit more out of the gag reel (I’m picky like that).
As a whole, a good set of features.
