4.5 out of 5 stars
Family appropriateness rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Rated PG-13
-Action violence throughout.
-A moderate amount of language. No f-words, but one character almost says it once.
Once you get past the initial confusion that comes with learning different names, "Guardians of the Galaxy" is every bit as good as "The Avengers."
The movie is about five different characters who work together to save the universe: Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista). There is an all-powerful object that the Kree terrorist, Ronan (Lee Pace), wants, and they need to make sure he does not get it.
Like "The Avengers," this film is great because it combines fun action scenes with excellent dialogue between characters with distinct personalities and motivations. Peter Quill is a human from earth who was captured by the alien, Yondu (Michael Rooker), as a child. Now, he is a goofy outlaw, who constantly references things from earth that no one else would understand. He has spent his adult life as a lonely man, stealing things from around the galaxy until he meets the other main characters.
Rocket and Groot are best friends who are always looking out for each other. Rocket is an opinionated, loud-mouthed, raccoon-like creature who is very talented with guns. Groot is a gentle, walking tree, who believes in not being violent unless it is necessary. When it is necessary, you do not want to be on his bad side. His entire language consists of "I am Groot," and only Rocket understands what he says.
Gamora is a daughter of the evil Thanos (Josh Brolin), who has been responsible for the deaths of many people. She has spent her life serving Ronan and her father against her will. She wants to stand up for what is right.
Drax is from a race of aliens that take everything literally. When someone says something metaphorical, he does not understand it. He tags along with the other characters because he wants to take revenge on Ronan for killing his family.
The trailers make this movie look like it will be a weird space adventure, much like Spaceballs. That is not entirely true. There are certainly a lot of funny, quirky moments, but that is not the whole film. It knows when to be dramatic, and it knows when to be comical. Most of the humor comes from the dialogue. Writer/director James Gunn does a great job writing witty banter that keeps the characters consistent.
The way certain characters and places are introduced can be a little confusing. The film deals with different planets and therefore different names. The first time they are said is often too fast and connected with other key names. I missed some minor details while trying to get them all straight. However, the story is simple enough to understand once you know who all the players are.
For the most part the action scenes are well-done and fun to watch, but they are sometimes cut too quickly to see what is happening. When they are good, they are very good. One of the best action sequences involves Groot, and he is my favorite character because of it.
Like my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/criticalchristopher
Follow me on Twitter: @ChrisCampbell02
No comments:
Post a Comment