Guardians of the Galaxy
2.5/4
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Glenn Close
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and for Some Language
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is the sleeper hit of the summer. Clearly, Marvel was hoping for a good reception for the film in order to make back the $170 million budget, but it's become the movie to see. An action movie released in August is never a good sign, but "Guardians" has defied a lot of people's expectations.
Frankly, I'm not able to understand why. Sure, it's fun, but it feels like a "Star Trek" ripoff. The special effects are impressive and there are some amusing bits here and there, but it lacks personality and warmth. I didn't really care about anyone in this movie.
Minutes after his mother's death, a young boy is abducted by aliens. His name is Peter Quill (Pratt), although he would prefer to be known as the notorious thief Starlord. He's been hired to steal a mysterious orb, although he tries to cut his partner Yondu (Michael Rooker) out of the deal. It turns out that they are not the only ones looking for it; just about everyone is, and no one is more obsessed with getting it than Ronan the Accuser (Pace). Having been locked in prison with a pretty assassin named Gamora (Saldana), a vengeful humanoid named Drax (Bautista), Rocket (Cooper), an experiment that looks like a raccoon with a foul mouth and fouler temperament, and Groot (Diesel), Rocket's tree-like sidekick. After working together to escape prison, they decide to work together and pawn off the orb for a bounty worth billions. That is, until they realize what's inside. Now they have to stop Ronan from getting his hands on it and destroying a planet.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is an irreverent space adventure based on...drumroll...a comic book (and yes, Stan Lee, the comic book legend with no shame, has a cameo). It has the potential to be a lot of fun. But the story is on the thin side and there's little chemistry among the cast. The characters never click in the way that the ones in the new "Star Trek" movies do. The performances are fine, especially Bradley Cooper (in his first animated role), whose feisty mammal has some great one-liners, but they don't have much personality.
The film was directed by James Gunn, a confessed comic nerd himself. As anyone who has seen "Slither" can attest, Gunn has a warped sense of humor. He brings that to the table, and as a result, there are times when the movie feels like "Kick-Ass." But there's not enough of it to truly satisfy.
And he does the one thing that truly drives me nuts: much of the dialogue is impossible to understand. This drives me nuts, and with movies these days trying to succeed on visual and audio pizzazz alone, it's a problem that is becoming more and more common ("Godzilla" and "The Dark Knight Rises" suffered from this too). The bottom line is that if your characters speak, the audience should understand what they're saying (unless they're not supposed to).
Maybe this will work better on Blu Ray, where I can watch it with subtitles...
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Glenn Close
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and for Some Language
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is the sleeper hit of the summer. Clearly, Marvel was hoping for a good reception for the film in order to make back the $170 million budget, but it's become the movie to see. An action movie released in August is never a good sign, but "Guardians" has defied a lot of people's expectations.
Frankly, I'm not able to understand why. Sure, it's fun, but it feels like a "Star Trek" ripoff. The special effects are impressive and there are some amusing bits here and there, but it lacks personality and warmth. I didn't really care about anyone in this movie.
Minutes after his mother's death, a young boy is abducted by aliens. His name is Peter Quill (Pratt), although he would prefer to be known as the notorious thief Starlord. He's been hired to steal a mysterious orb, although he tries to cut his partner Yondu (Michael Rooker) out of the deal. It turns out that they are not the only ones looking for it; just about everyone is, and no one is more obsessed with getting it than Ronan the Accuser (Pace). Having been locked in prison with a pretty assassin named Gamora (Saldana), a vengeful humanoid named Drax (Bautista), Rocket (Cooper), an experiment that looks like a raccoon with a foul mouth and fouler temperament, and Groot (Diesel), Rocket's tree-like sidekick. After working together to escape prison, they decide to work together and pawn off the orb for a bounty worth billions. That is, until they realize what's inside. Now they have to stop Ronan from getting his hands on it and destroying a planet.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is an irreverent space adventure based on...drumroll...a comic book (and yes, Stan Lee, the comic book legend with no shame, has a cameo). It has the potential to be a lot of fun. But the story is on the thin side and there's little chemistry among the cast. The characters never click in the way that the ones in the new "Star Trek" movies do. The performances are fine, especially Bradley Cooper (in his first animated role), whose feisty mammal has some great one-liners, but they don't have much personality.
The film was directed by James Gunn, a confessed comic nerd himself. As anyone who has seen "Slither" can attest, Gunn has a warped sense of humor. He brings that to the table, and as a result, there are times when the movie feels like "Kick-Ass." But there's not enough of it to truly satisfy.
And he does the one thing that truly drives me nuts: much of the dialogue is impossible to understand. This drives me nuts, and with movies these days trying to succeed on visual and audio pizzazz alone, it's a problem that is becoming more and more common ("Godzilla" and "The Dark Knight Rises" suffered from this too). The bottom line is that if your characters speak, the audience should understand what they're saying (unless they're not supposed to).
Maybe this will work better on Blu Ray, where I can watch it with subtitles...
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