Starring: Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista & Vin Diesel
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman
Genre(s): Comic book, Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy
No spoilers here!
Unlike THE AVENGERS, Marvel Comics got this one right. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY had heart, fun action action sequences and more importantly, an ensemble group of heroes you rooted for. (My complete thoughts on the shortfalls of THE AVENGERS can be found here: Post 1 & Post 2 .)
Like many movie goers, I didn’t know much about this obscure comic book. My first introduction to it was at the San Diego Comic-con where I attended a panel with screenwriter Nicole Perlman on it who talked about her experience writing this movie and working with Marvel. Even after that, I wasn’t too sure what GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was all about. As this year’s summer movie season winded down, I decided it was time to see it.
The Guardians offered plenty of entertainment and laughs. In short, I got my money’s worth and appreciated this first-class effort to launch this franchise.
This criminal band of misfits was lead by Peter Quill (a/k/a “Starlord”) played by the likable Chris Pratt. The other misfits included ROCKET (fantastically voiced by Bradley Cooper — an award winning performance in my opinion), GAMORA (Zoe Saldana), DRAX (Dave Bautista) and GROOT (voiced by Vin Diesel — an homage to THE IRON GIANT). Their quest was simple — sort of — stop a mysterious metal orb from landing in the wrong hands. As one would expect, craziness ensued as the Guardians crisscrossed the galaxy in order to save it.
I tend to like silly and goofy sci-fi movies like GALAXY QUEST and PAUL and thoroughly enjoyed being a part this quest. As an added bonus, the Guardians’ road trip was accompanied by an awesome mix of vintage Earth music, like Hooked on a Feeling, Cherry Bomb and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Nice!
