GEEKPR0N Reviews: Guardians of the Galaxy!

Let me start of by saying I’m a huge Guardians of the Galaxy fan.  Years ago a friend heard me criticizing the cosmic side of Marvel comics and said “You really should check out Guardians of the Galaxy“.  So on his advice I picked up Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s masterpiece.  Their 25 issue run of Guardians cemented me as a fan for life.  From there I expanded my cosmic reading outward, getting caught up with the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest events, I read War of Kings and Realm of Kings, and finally I concluded D&A’s run of Guardians with The Thanos Imperative.

It’s important for you to know this about me, because when I say I’m a huge fan of Guardians, I really mean it.  When word got out that Marvel would be adapting the Guardians for the big screen, I couldn’t believe it.  To me the Guardians were this rag-tag group of misfits that had never really become popular (at least not as popular as the mainstream Marvel heroes).  So fast forward to last night, where I bore witness to a film that may just become the biggest blockbuster of the year.  My jaw still hasn’t fully raised after hitting the floor numerous times, so without further ado, let’s get on with the review.

To begin with, and I need to stress this, Guardians of the Galaxy is NOT a superhero movie.  Yes it’s from the studio that has redefined the modern superhero movie, but make no mistake, this is not a capes and tights film.  If anything, the best way to describe Guardians of the Galaxy is as a space opera.  In fact, Guardians shares more in common with Star Wars than it does with any other Marvel film to date.  That is, if Star Wars scrapped the Luke/Leia characters, and instead spent the entire time following Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Boba Fett around as they caused as much damage as possible while trying to make off with the money.

Now what’s important to note is that while the trailers have shown you the action side of things, what you haven’t seen is the heart, and boy does director James Gunn deliver the emotions in spades.  It’s one thing to create larger than life characters, but it’s another to have them grounded in a place of real emotion.  Every member of the team is wearing their scars on their sleeves, both emotional and physical, and it’s through this pain that we can truly understand these flawed characters.  When we first meet Peter Quill, he’s not the dashing leading man, rather he’s a scared little boy that is being forced to grow up way before his time.  So what does he do?  He runs away, and continues to run, all the way across the galaxy.  Chris Pratt absolutely NAILS Star-Lord.  There hasn’t been a better stroke of casting since RDJ first suited up as Iron Man.

Looking over the rest of the team, it’s clear that Marvel hit the jackpot in the casting department.  Each and every actor (especially the voice actors) brings a level of quality that until now is unheard of in a summer blockbuster.  Drax, played brilliantly by Dave Bautista (Read our exclusive Red Carpet interview with Dave right here), is a force to be reckoned with on every level.  He’s not only the literal muscle of the team, but he brings a depth of emotion that comes with being a survivor.  Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is the opposite side of the same coin as Drax.  She’s a hardened killer, yet not by choice, and through Zoe’s impressive acting the audience can see that the “Deadliest Woman in the Universe” is more than just a killing machine, especially when paired up against her “sister” Nebula (Karen Gillan), who has so many cybernetic implants, she actually is mostly machine.  Finally we have the voice actors.  Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.  This unlikely pairing of actors somehow manages to create one of the greatest cinematic bonds between two characters that I’ve ever seen.  Groot and Rocket have an almost perfect symbiotic relationship, in that they both need each other to survive.

Survival.  That’s what this all comes down to.  Everyone, including the villains, are survivors of some form of trauma.  These are broken people who are forced into incredible situations, and are willing to do whatever it takes to survive.  At least, until they realize that there’s more to life than just surviving.  I’d elaborate, but that would be telling, and I’m trying to remain spoiler free.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a beautiful film, and James Gunn has accomplished what I honestly thought was impossible:  to bring the Guardians to life on the big screen, in a way that was not only true to the spirit of the comics, but also in a way that would resonate with audiences.

Fans will be happy to know that Gunn didn’t shy away from the easter eggs, so keep your eyes peeled for some amazing cameos, including a not-so-subtle nod to one of my favorite character interactions from the D&A Guardians of the Galaxy run.

With the news that Marvel is planning a sequel, we can look forward to even more adventures with our heroes.

But don’t you dare call them superheroes.