Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy" Tries to Be Different, But is Not Really Good at It

Chris Pratt

If there is one thing that is impressive about Marvel, it is their sudden overpowering of the film market. Men in iron and bulky guys with hammers aren't sneered upon, but held up as box office champions. They have become the norm with every new installment making them more and more accessible. As they continue to expand their universe and create a fully realized vision of a humanity of superheros, they attempt to take on a new target: the galaxy. With director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel takes their brand of weird super beings to their limits and with an 80's soundtrack and a lot of wisecracking jokes, attempts to turn everything into a playground of fun and excitement. The only thing is that they can't entirely have fun if they keep thinking six moves ahead.

If there is a singular issue with Guardians of the Galaxy, it is that it feels like a piece of the Marvel universe. Where that should be a positive, it simply comes across as yet another piece to a bigger puzzle. This story about a ragtag group of galaxy rebels hits all of the familiar Marvel beats. It has that "epic aerial battle" finale and the promise of return. Where it seemed cute in Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger to throw in all of these references, it is years later and the old tricks aren't as interesting. It doesn't allow the film to feel authentic, as it seems to have higher ambitions on its mind. We know that there is a sequel. We have reports of potential crossovers. The infinitude of this Marvel universe is its downfall, as any stakes presented in the film will never be satisfied because we know that there can't be a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 if you kill off the protagonist Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) in the first one.

For many nerds and fans, this isn't a problem. For the sake of film, this redundancy kills the appeal of film series of this audacity. Origins are no longer solely allowed to be a singular story. It has to be the prelude to something bigger. For the most part, the film avoids feeling the need to stick this to us until the final 10 minutes when every novelty approach is used to  define the fact that "yes, there will be a sequel." A story isn't allowed to exist on its own. Where The Avengers perfectly encapsulated the superhero zeitgeist, its supplementary films have become increasingly based around creating indexes for its sequel, and that has become a distracting problem. Characters aren't allowed to grow and instead exist solely for exposition and growth.

Karen Gillan

Even the choice to call in offbeat directors has lost its novelty. Where Kenneth Branagh brought a needed theatricality to Thor and Joss Whedon brought the swagger to The Avengers, everything since has been indistinguishable exposition with a few cool action set pieces. Even the goals of the universe feel unjustified, as Guardians of the Galaxy don't do all that much guarding. If anything, they are destructive to their home base of Xandar, causing ships to crash into cities that they have been so eagerly convincing the audience that they are protecting. Thankfully, CGI hides all wounds and we're allowed to buy into the fantasy that these cool aerial fights are indeed cool.

For audiences who like 80's throwbacks, this film will be for you. Featuring references to Footloose and one hit wonders, the film attempts to be different by being a throwback to those type of films. It is fine, considering that the entire film is based around an arbitrary abduction scene that takes place in 1988 and revolves around a mix tape created by Quill's mother. It hits all of the kitsch notes and makes Quill into an interestingly transplanted character into a galaxy that takes everything literally and his pop culture references don't land. It is funny for awhile and Pratt is still as charming as ever. However, surround him by a series of cliche stock characters who insist on every punchline being an intellectual insult or one liners that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush and the idea of this being an awesome film about rebellious types quickly turns into something of a cliche and familiarity. When a character named Groot (Vin Diesel) only says three words and has better dialogue than a wisecracking raccoon (Bradley Cooper), then there are a lot of problems here.

The issue is that Where Branagh was allowed to make the theatrical Thor, Gunn isn't allowed to make the fun Guardians of the Galaxy. He gets a few dirty quips in, but clearly there is a more interesting R-rated cut insinuated in the mix. The former Troma director made a career out of shlock, low budget surrealism before getting this gig and save for appearances by his regulars Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn, there isn't much trace of his distinct style here. He is allowed to have fun, but only if he wears a helmet and knee pads. The consequences are inconsequential and again, the promise of a sequel ruins any overly dramatic beats. It doesn't help that the characters that should be in Gunn's wheelhouse, specifically the raccoon, are reduced to stock lines. In one scene, the raccoon is arbitrarily thrown a gun. As he cocks it, he says "Oh..." long pause "Yeah" before eviscerating the joint. What is lost in translation is why we should care. There aren't any proceeding wide shots to make the action look cool and instead it looks like a raccoon shooting a gun. He isn't bad-ass. He's just a raccoon shooting a gun at inconsequential opponents who mean nothing to the story. What's missing is a more snarky approach from Gunn as he would provide a visually appetizing counterpart beyond the raccoon shooting a gun. 

It is a shame that the film feels so familiar, especially after a great opening credits sequence that promises something fun. With Quill dancing through a mysterious planet to some 80's music, it looks to be like the hipster's version of Raiders of the Lost Ark. For the credits sequence, it is entirely true. After conflicting story lines involving sibling rivalry, a person not named Jeff Albertson as The Collector (Benicio Del Toro), and a whole lot of the same. Yet again, Marvel chooses to chase macguffins instead of giving real world stakes. The whole film is around capturing a superpower purple light, and frankly, that isn't as cool as GUARDING THE GALAXY. Sci-fi or not, there needs to be something more going on than this. I haven't even addressed the uselessness of its female characters, the green Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), who have one fight scene, and even that ends in an anticlimactic form. What's it all for? To kill the bland, nondescript villain... in the sequel/whatever the hell Marvel wants to stick the villain in.

The problem is that Guardians of the Galaxy COULD have been a thrill ride if allowed to be a singular film and not a product of a grander vision. Had the script been allowed to be as bombast and true to Gunn's Troma tendencies, we could have gotten a more rugged, rebelliously enjoyable ensemble piece that stuck an actual middle finger to the galaxy. Instead, the film hits all of the expected beats with the Tyler Bates score being indistinguishable from anything else and once again a post-credits scene. Clever or not, how can a film about rebels be rebellious if it follows the same exact formation? I am aware that Marvel is trying to sell a product, but don't sell me this cool, deviant film meant to be way different from Iron Man 3 or Thor: The Dark World if your goals end up being almost exactly similar.

For those that can overlook the explicit desire for Marvel to make every film generic and the same, then this has a lot of charm. The soundtrack, while on the nose of trying to be cool, at least does an amazing job of compensating for a terrible score. The performances are fine, but everything, including the direction, feels muted by the studio's interference. It hits all of the right beats and is fun most of the time, but it is hard to enjoy it when it feels like such a slight against those who wanted something different. With exception to a few intriguing action beats, it is a decent movie overblown with a studio's mythology and the impending necessity of a sequel. Even then, it lacks true fulfillment in its premise.'[ Also, for a film called Guardians of the Galaxy, there seems to be a lack of guarding, except the right for these people to be narcissistic and cliche.