We Are Groot

Rating: Null/10 (17 March 2017)

An alliance uneasily develops between five diverse individuals, each after the same valuable orb, in this action-packed science fiction film. It turns out that the orb in question has the power to destroy entire universes, and while the protagonists are initially motivated by greed, willing to sell to the highest bidder, they gradually become the responsible heroes of the title as they instead try to keep the orb out of evil hands. With little explanation of how the orb works, it becomes little more than a Hitchcockian McGuffin, and with a truckload of explosive action sequences towards the end, the film often seems more interested in being a spectacle to look at than spinning a decent yarn. That said, the characters here are surprisingly three dimensional with the film getting most of its zest from how well they interact with each other. Chris Pratt is especially good as the wisecracking Earthling among them with a fondness for 1970s and 80s music, though the best moments are had by a talking raccoon and tree, both genetically modified to the point of being sentient. The film is a little dry in the moments when neither Pratt nor the raccoon nor the tree are on screen, but as they are present in over 90% of the movie, it is an enthralling ride overall even when the action becomes a tad mindless towards the end. The sci-fi content may not be great here, but the humour frequently works, and with such delightfully offbeat characters, it is easy to see why this hit the right note with many filmgoers when it was first released.