Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

After The Winter Soldier it was reasonable to expect another Avengers film, or something featuring a character the audiences were familiar with, at least something set on Earth. What we did not expect was Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians did have their genesis in Marvel comics, but they weren’t that big of a title.

A team of spacefaring adventurers composed of a genetically engineered, anthropomorphic, angry at the universe raccoon by the name of Rocket, his best friend a walking, talking tree who by dint of it being the only thing it ever said everyone assumed it’s name was Groot, a vengeance seeking, heavily muscled, red skinned humanoid who took everything said to him literally, a green skinned female humanoid considered a living weapon and then there was Peter ‘Starlord’ Quill, an opportunistic Terran thief who had more than his share of luck, was not really what anyone thought the same company who had just given us The Winter Soldier would present as it’s follow up.

Despite all of the above Guardians of the Galaxy is connected to the wider story of the Avengers. The plot of the film centres around the hunt for the Orb, which is actually the 4^th infinity stone (the others to this point have been: the Tesseract, the yellow stone that powered Loki’s staff and the Aether), it seems to give the holder power, but no one can actually handle it without destroying themselves. Of course, it hasn’t yet met Peter Quill.

Despite by now being able to ask for and get almost any actor they wanted for even small roles, the relatively low profile Chris Pratt was chosen to play Peter Quill. Prior to landing the role Pratt was best known for his role in the soap opera Everwood and the comedy Parks and Recreation, exactly what the people at Marvel saw in him that prompted them to cast him as the lead in an action film (maybe it was the amount of comedy in it) I don’t know, but it worked. Since the film Pratt has established himself as an action star, being in Jurassic World, and the reboot of The Magnificent Seven, as well as the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy that the success of the first film made inevitable.

The female lead role of Gamora went to Zoe Saldana. Saldana’s SF leading lady credentials were well established having already played the lead female in Avatar and Uhura in the Star Trek reboot. She’s not entirely recognisable being covered in green makeup, but she does work well with Pratt and the rest of her group, not all of who are human.

Wrestler Dave Bautista was cast as Drax. The role suited him, making use of his impressive physical build and athletic ability. He also showcased a talent for comedy, which had not previously been part of his repertoire.

Groot was voiced by action star Vin Diesel, but as the only thing her ever says is ‘I am Groot’ most of the credit for making the walking tree the surprise breakout star of the film has to go to the special effects team.

Rocket’s voice was provided by Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper. Cooper has good comic timing and the character or Rocket again gave him plenty of opportunity to utilise it. Again credit to the special effects team for making Rocket look real, even to the point of giving him facial expressions. Who would have ever thought an anthropomorphic raccoon would get close to top billing in a big budget Hollywood action flick?

Hard man Michael Rooker (Merle in The Walking Dead) played Peter’s foster father Yondu, and although he’s only partially recognisable under the makeup, he doesn’t hide his voice or his nature.

Djimon Hounsou had a relatively small role as a pissed off alien treasure hunter trying to track down Peter and meets his fairly gory death at the hands of Drax.

John C. Reilly gave the film a bit of humanity as hardworking family man on the planet of Xandar, which is what much of the action revolves around.

Glenn Close basically channelled her role from Air Force One, but with way more interesting hair. She was the leader of Xandar; Nova Prime.

Former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan was cast as Gamora’s psychotic cyborg adoptive sister. Not that any of Amy could be seen under the make up.

Lee Pace played Ronan the chief bad guy, although I think that role really belongs to the shadowy Thanos, voiced by James Brolin.

The only returnees in this one are Benicio Del Toro in his second appearance as The Collector and the ever present Stan Lee, briefly seen as an aging Lothario in the scene on Xandar that introduces Rocket and Groot.

The whole thing is so ridiculous that it shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. Audiences were so busy laughing that they didn’t really wonder how the whole thing fitted into the large overarching story, even with the presence of the 4^th infinity stone. The world building was impressive and it honestly looked better and made more sense that anything I’ve seen in the new Star Wars films (Canto Bight anyone?).

The post credit sequence wasn’t anything particularly significant, but it was very cute, with Baby Groot jiving in its pot to the Jackson 5, only to freeze every time Drax looked in it’s direction.