Review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Is A Success On Every Level

Alyssa Audrey Taylor ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Zoe Saldana, Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Chris Pratt, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Dave Bautista in Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Marvel.
Zoe Saldana, Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Chris Pratt, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Dave Bautista in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Marvel.
Marvel Studios has a history of making great movies; The Avengers, Marvel’s first team movie, was a stunning and wonderfully made superhero film that showed what a talented cast of actors can do together. Their new film Guardians of the Galaxy takes that formula but put its own spin on it, and completely aced it.
The film centers on five outlaws: Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). They team up to stop Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who’s working with Gamora’s father Thanos (Josh Brolin) and sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), from destroying Xandar, planet of the Nova Corps. Along the way the Guardians learn to deal with love, loss and become friends.
Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt in Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel.
Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel.
Chris Pratt, best known for his role on NBCs Parks and Recreation, proved here that he has the chops to be an action star and not just a funny sitcom character. While some critics were uncertain if Pratt would be able to lead an ensemble cast on the big screen, Pratt’s performance quieted their concerns. Handling the comedic and serious tones perfectly, Pratt as well as the rest of the cast made the larger than life, alien-centered film seem down to earth and human. Diesel also deserves to be recognized for his portrayal of Groot, the anthropomorphic tree who brought so much life, heart, and soul into the film despite only ever uttering only three words “I am Groot”. Saldana, Bautista, and Cooper round out the cast and shined in their roles, each bringing their own mix of depth and humor.
The script, written by Nicole Perlman and director James Gunn has a wonderful mix of drama, humor, and action. The dialogue is crisp and human-like, and the jokes are constant and actually funny. Combined with the acting, this is one of the best screenplays for a movie released this year.
Lee Pace in in Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel.
Lee Pace in in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. Photo Credit: Jay Maidment/Marvel.
The soundtrack for the movie, featuring 70’s and 80’s hits such as The Runaways’ ‘Cherry Bomb’ and Blue Swede’s ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ accompanied the film perfectly. Even though the film is set in 2014, Quill’s music taste is still in the 80’s, as he was abducted in 1988 from earth. The music, which the characters actually listen to on a cassette tape, inspires them as well as sets the mood for each scene.
Guardians is the rare action movie that’s filled with humor, and pulls it off well. The combination of the acting, visuals, music, directing, and screenplay makes for a top notch movie, one that will be hard to beat. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has once again produced a movie that you can go see again and again. Guardians of the Galaxy is a must see movie (also, the post credit scene will tickle you, especially if you’re an 80’s comics and movie fan).
Overall Grade: A+

Watch The Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bz0QOOT9Hk

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