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When Marvel announced its slate of Phase Two films, the reaction was one of excitement and anticipation for such films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the follow up to the Avengers, Age of Ultron.
One film that stood out of the mix though was Guardians of the Galaxy. Not only was it a
surprising choice of film but it was centred on characters that had only been introduced just
six years earlier in 2008. (The new Guardians of the Galaxy, not the original line up from the 1960s)
When the film was released then, fans and critics alike were taken back by how fantastic
this film was. And it is that indeed, just a fantastic film.
It’s a Sci-Fi, superhero and space western film all in one, with sharp dialogue, brilliant
performances from both cast and crew, it has humour, tense emotion and a soundtrack that
is second to none.
The music in fact is one of the many reasons why this film is as good as everyone says.
Director James Gunn said that he wrote the film around the musical choices he had made
for it, rather than the other way around. The result is phenomenal, especially the opening
sequence with Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord dancing his way into trouble to Redbone’s Come and
Get your love.
The story itself is a fun and deeply personal tale for all the Guardians involved. Focusing on
stopping villain Ronan from taking over the galaxy with the help of Thanos and an Infinity
Gem, the Guardians are a mismatched band who find themselves hurled together to save
the Galaxy.
Each has their own back story that leads them on this path and they are all explored in some
manner throughout the film, which gives the audience something to relate to when seeing
these characters on screen for the first time. It’s likely they will explore their stories even
further in the sequel next year, especially that of Star Lords father, a current mystery to
Marvel fans.
Chris Pratt’s performance was universally praised for his portrayal of Peter Quill/Star Lord.
Pratt’s past roles had been mostly comedy and his physical transformation to prepare for his
role was nothing short of outstanding. Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper lend their talents to
Groot and Rocket respectively whilst amazing performances are given by Zoe Saldana and
Dave Bautista as Gamora and Drax.
John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro also complete a star studded line up. The film gave fans a first glimpse of supervillain Thanos, played and voiced by Josh Brolin,
who had been teased several times in post credit scenes. Though playing more of a
background character, it was great to finally see him come to life in the MCU before his full debut in Avengers: Infinity War.
Another thing that was so appealing about Guardians was that it explored the cosmic side to the MCU, something that hadn’t been seen or heard of before. At times, it didn’t even feel like a Marvel film because of the setting and the completely different context in which it existed.
This all adds to the grandeur and spectacle that is the MCU though, in that it isn’t just confined to Earth. Like in the comics, the Marvel Universe stretches across the whole universe and beyond. That is something that will most likely be explored in the MCU in the future but Guardians of the Galaxy was a perfect entrance to it.
A sequel is halfway through filming right now with its release date scheduled for May 5th 2017.
The film has again been written by the director James Gunn and sees the full cast return.
Our previous edition of the MCY guide looked back at Captain America: The Winter Soldier, you can read that here: http://bit.ly/1T2wC8G