Guardians of the Galaxy
Abducted from earth as a child in the 1980’s, now grown, Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) finds himself caught in an interstellar bounty hunt for a mysterious orb that contains one of the most destructive forces in the galaxy, an infinity stone. All those who seek the stone seem to have a nefarious plan of their own, but who’s intentions are any more nobel than the other? Does it matter? One thing is clear, the galaxy’s only chance of survival rests on the shoulders of an unlikely group of outlaws: Star-Lord, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Voiced by Vin Diesel). And, who or what is truly driving the evil Ronan (Lee Pace), son of Thanos (Josh Brolin)?
Directed by James Gunn, the lore of Guardians of the Galaxy is truly one of the more “out there” comic concepts, after all, our leads include a talking raccoon, a fighting tree, a meat head-ish brut, a sexy green assassin, and an American smart-ass with an affinity for 70’s funk and rock. Fortunately, with today’s CGI technology all things are possible, even the furthest niche comic ideas; to that, Guardians of the Galaxy manages to pull off its visual aspect with flying colors, unfortunately, the story to back the visuals isn’t the most compelling and ultimately fails to really explore the strengths of each of the principals with much care. So, for all of the flash, whiz, bang, the end result is more akin to a loosely packed firework resulting in a mild poof. Popcorn chomper, yes, ground breaking graphic novel material that will change your world view, no. It’s fun enough, I guess, at 121 minutes welcome’s aren’t overstayed. And, cheers to Vin Diesel, 5 words have never been so telling about a character. Guardians of the Galaxy is rated PG-13.