Guardians of the Galaxy: A Film You Need to See?

Minor spoilers ahead for Guardians of the Galaxy: you have been warned!

Marvel has said, and I hope they are right, that they have a clear plan ahead for their franchises. If rumours are to be believed that plan could stretch right up until 2027. With that in mind they need to have a pretty solid plan, at least more than 12% of a plan; which isn’t really a full plan just a concept for one. You may think I just went onto a random tangent just then, but if you have seen Marvel’s latest film Guardians of the Galaxy you will know I haven’t.

In fact Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) is a good demonstration of their plans, after all they must have one if they can confidently announce a sequel before its release.  This film is firmly part of their Avengers universe; it builds upon the established and hints not just at the next film, but also Avengers 3 (schedule for roughly 2018).

This could dissuade some newcomers from seeing GotG, but it shouldn’t. Yes, you need a bit of context and need to really have seen at least The Avengers and Thor 2: The Dark World; otherwise you could spend a lot of time wondering what the fuss is about the guy in the throne and the glowing gems. 

However, it could quite easily be watched on its own, as long as you don’t question too much.

Part of this is because the story is rather formulaic: bad guy who wants to destroy everything meets group of unlikely heroes who must learn to work together.  I couldn’t help but feel like I had just paid to see The Avengers all over again.

Many have already compared the two films: considering it’s about strangers teaming up those comparisons are apt. But, like many others I think GotG has something Avengers doesn’t: some truly unique characters. Which is saying something: considering the fact that the guardians have to be explained in a single film.  This film does that expertly, without rushing their introductions either. That is especially true of the character Peter Quill, whose brief flashback scene is touching enough that it has resonates throughout; despite being little more than a pre-qual.

Even Drax whose motivation is little more than wanting revenge is fleshed out enough that we care about him. I liked him the least throughout, and yet loved his quirky-ness. Little touches you don’t notice like how he needed metaphors explained to him built the character subtly. By the end I felt I knew him enough to want to see him reach his goal.

Even promotion posters look similar.

One of my main picks about the film is that it could be rather cliché of a comic book film. It could easily be fight scenes and sparkly effects, which it is, but it is also quite fresh. It balances the well-trodden grounds of group pep talks and the villain still lives with a genuinely funny moment that is usually quite out of the blue. Often these moments are due to one of the characters quirks, which demonstrate how strong the characters are fleshed out.

A mention is definitely needed for another character and that’s the soundtrack. The majority of the songs are taken from early 70’s and shouldn’t fit with the space ships and futuristic settings. Yet, they do and give it a feel that’s both retro and rather comforting.

The weakest point of the film is its villain, who whilst is a clear threat isn’t anything interesting. Much like Thor 2’s baddy, Rhonan and his motivation is barely touched upon.  He could literally be any other insert bad guy here and the film would feel the same.  There hints that he seeks revenge but honestly I couldn’t care, the scenes with him in are the worst as I didn’t care enough to pay attention.

Whilst it is clearly a cog in the Marvel machine I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy and its rag tag bunch of characters. Although a week ago I sighed when Marvel announced the sequel I feel refreshed and came away from the theatre anticipating more. 

There are some bits that are bad, some bits that are good, little bit of both (spot the reference): mostly however, its very good.

First image from NukeTheFridge, Avengers image from Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy promo image from ComingSoon,