It may have been a lesser-known Marvel property, but “Guardians of the Galaxy” is recognizably winning summer fare.
No need to be a sci-fi nerd or a comic book geek to enjoy it, the witty banter and charismatic characters will delight general audiences. Even if the biggest laughs come courtesy of a talking raccoon and the more poignant moments involve a monosyllabic tree.
Still, there’s a distinctly human element to draw audiences. Chris Pratt is terrific in the lead role of Peter Quill, an irreverent intergalactic outlaw.
Following the death of his mother in 1988 when he was just a boy, Peter is abducted from Earth by aliens. Growing up among a motley crew of scavengers headed by Yondu (Michael Rooker), all Peter has left of his beloved mom is a mix tape of her favorite songs.
When the film opens, Peter, an overgrown adolescent, is listening to one of those tunes and bopping around alone. He stumbles on a mysterious orb that comes with a substantial bounty.
Orb in tow, he soon tangles with green assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the adopted daughter of tyrannical Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin) and meets the wisecracking bounty hunter Rocket, a genetically-engineered raccoon (cleverly voiced by Bradley Cooper) and the feisty furball’s sentient side-plant, the kindly Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel).
After some disorderly behavior, the unlikely quartet winds up in jail, rounded up by a Nova Corps officer (John C. Reilly) who answers to head honcho Nova Prime (Glenn Close). Once there, they tangle with the vengeful Drax (Dave Bautista), who is hell-bent on killing Gamora, but eventually joins forces with the four. Their coordinated prison break is especially entertaining.
Everyone’s eye is on the prized orb, especially the megalomaniacal Ronan (Lee Pace) who plans to use it for interstellar domination.
Other villainous sorts pop up in the form of Korath (Djimon Hounsou), the Collector (Benicio Del Toro) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), but their characters don’t seem fully fleshed out. Pace’s villainous Ronan makes the most indelible impression.
The plot occasionally becomes overstuffed, perhaps packing in extraneous elements in order to set up future installments. Yet the zany script by director James Gunn and co-writer Nicole Perlman is sharply funny.
Meeting a fresh crew of comic book heroes is a bona fide treat after so many super-hero sequels. With its dazzling settings, Guardians harks back to the inventive feel of the original “Star Wars.” Like that 1977 classic, the key characters are folks you enjoy spending a couple hours getting to know.
The five have an offbeat chemistry, anchored by Pratt’s smart-alecky charm. Newly buff, he can pull off the heroic action sequences, as well as some adorable dance moves to the movie’s catchy soundtrack. He also communicates the character’s emotional shading, conveying vulnerability as effectively as he does plucky bravado.
Saldana is a top-tier female action star. She blends smarts and physicality in a way that works ideally for her character. She doesn’t get many humorous lines, but Cooper voices Rocket so adeptly and provides so many laughs that it seems churlish to point out who didn’t get to be funny. Rocket and Diesel’s Groot steal scenes from the flesh-and-blood types, but Bautista’s Drax also is a hoot. A clunky literalist with an annoying inability to understand the simplest metaphor, he is responsible for some of the movie’s most winning wordplay.
With its introduction of wonderfully memorable characters and blend of humor, action and catchy tunes, Guardians is perfectly pitched escapist fun.
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