Peter Quill (Pratt) - a
human abducted from Earth as a child - has grown up into an
intergalactic thief who has no idea what he's getting into when he takes
possession of a mysterious Orb. Little does he know that Ronan (Pace) -
a genocidal Kree radical - will do just about anything to get his hands
on said Orb, including sending alien assassin Gamora (Saldana) after
it. Gamora, as it turns out, has an agenda of her own. Trapped in an
intergalactic prison (long story), Peter and Gamora are forced into an
uneasy alliance with three other misfits: a brainy, sarcastic
raccoon-like creature named Rocket (voiced by Cooper), a giant tree by
the name of Groot (Diesel), and the vengeance-minded Drax The Destroyer
(Bautista).
The truth is that there's almost too much going on in
GUARDIANS. Not only do we meet a host of characters we've never met
before, on a raft of new planets teeming with brightly coloured life and
detail, we're also introduced to several plot lines all stuffed
somewhat awkwardly into the film. We have Ronan's planet-destroying
aspirations, which are somehow bound up with the evil plans of Thanos -
that creepy purple- skinned dude who popped up at the end of The
Avengers. Peter's kidnappers turned surrogate 'family' are also on the
trail of the Orb, turning up at moments both enormously convenient and
inconvenient to the plot. It all makes sense in the end, but until it
all clicks into place, it can make for a rushed, unsettling experience.
But,
despite its occasionally unwieldy script, GUARDIANS triumphs because of
the gang of scruffy losers (a term that will take on a different, more
heartfelt meaning during the film) at its heart. Director James Gunn,
who co-wrote the script, clearly feels a strong affinity for each one of
these outcasts, all of whom are easily outlaws in some (if not all)
parts of the solar system, each one battling - at least initially - to
save his or her own skin rather than to save the world. It's fascinating
to watch the five members of this unlikely group slowly banter, bicker
and batter their way into becoming a team.
Most joyfully of all,
Gunn never loses sight of the prickly, selfish side of his characters.
He gives them plenty of rich, emotional moments
- whether it's Peter and Gamora bonding over the loss of their parents,
or
Rocket's ability to read a whole range of meaning into Groot's
extremely limited vocabulary ('I am Groot') - but never allows the film
to descend into dangerously sentimental territory.
In fact, Gunn
pumps up proceedings with a healthy, hearty dose of humour. Films in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) have always been more tongue-in-cheek
than the likes of the considerably more dour Dark Knight franchise, but
GUARDIANS is a heady trip of a different order. It practically delights
in bursts of odd, subversive comedy, and actually dares to punctuate its
most epic face-off with a sly homage to, of all things, Footloose.
Pratt
- so winning in TV's Parks And Recreation - holds the emotional core of
the film together. He exudes an easy, rakish charm that makes Peter
both dashingly arrogant and achingly vulnerable. He's matched very well
by Saldana, who is clearly delighting in the opportunity to play the
world-weary, no-nonsense Gamora - bred into a killer, born a fighter.
The rest of the cast does justice, too, to the film's cheerful swing
from drama to comedy and back again: Bautista brings unexpected pathos
to Drax's occasionally comical determination to avenge his family
against Ronan, while Cooper sounds completely unlike himself - in a very
good way - as a creature who hides a world of hurt beneath his mouthy
exterior. Even Diesel manages to find a great deal of depth in a CGI
character who only communicates via the same languid burst of three
words.
If anything, GUARDIANS is let down by a trio of not
particularly threatening villains. Pace snarls and spits in heavy
make-up, but can't quite rustle up much in the way of nuance or genuine
menace. Ronan is a one-note madman, with so little in the way of
backstory that he automatically becomes less interesting. Thanos, too,
now voiced and performed in motion-capture by Brolin, doesn't get much
to do beyond lounge on his space throne. Only Gillan's cyborg Nebula
manages a smidgen of complexity; even then, she struggles to be half as
fascinating as her conflicted "sister", Gamora.
Before the film
was even released in cinemas, Marvel announced that a sequel would be
coming in 2017. It's a no-brainer as to why. The film is smart, funny
and quite wonderful on its own merits. But, even more crucially,
GUARDIANS is a gamble that pays off handsomely for Marvel. It opens up
the MCU in, quite literally, all directions. Don't be surprised if you
see our more earth-bound heroes heading into space sooner rather than
later. The film also adds a new cast of lovable rogues to the MCU's
roster of characters: a gang who, one might say, are actually all the
more heroic for being people who would ordinarily be running in the
opposite direction from any galaxy-guarding duties. Frankly, we can't
wait to see what they get up to next.
