We are Groot

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2015)

When I first watched Guardians of the Galaxy in the cinemas, I immediately wanted to watch it again. It's a great example of escapism that manages, inexplicably, to surprise expectations despite the waning Marvel trend. One of the words that is tossed around the most when describing GOTG is fun, and I certainly have to agree with that. But it also manages to be strangely heartfelt in some ways. There is no better character to champion this than the lovable living tree, Groot, who cannot communicate in any other way but a single repeated sentence. He's Chewbacca but animated with both facial expression and deadly danger in his stretching branchlike limbs, and so when he utters that line at the climax, we truly feel a part of the team as well. GOTG contains a mixed bag of characterisation, but it's done with eagerness and colour, so at the very least you cannot say they are boring or bland. It's a remarkable achievement to bring these unknown comic book characters to the big screen with financial success.
The main character is the charismatic Peter Quill, or Starlord, as he dubs himself, played by the rising star Chris Pratt. It's a lovable goof that he portrays - in similar vein to the wisecracking Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds, yet less entertaining and consistent. One moment he is being caring and considerate and slightly dashing, the next he's a insufferable man-child making dick jokes. There is a lovely opening prologue that surrounds the room with 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" in the same manner as those vintage earphones and establishes his back- story quite tenderly and gives some explanation behind the 60s/70s pop soundtrack throughout the whole film. That in itself is lovely and there are some great picks in there, yet it's not exactly fleshed out beyond that. There's a particularly unsubtle moment where the relatively unacquainted Gamora and Quill open up to each other and Elvis Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell In Love" chimes in. A better and more nuanced scene would be when he drifts out into the beautiful but hazardous red-green backdrop of outer space and sacrifices his air for hers just as Yondu as his crew arrive.
Similar treatments are given to the other guardians; Drax seeks vengeance for his deceased family, Gamora is seeking independence from his overlord step-dad Thanos, and Rocket Raccoon carries both physical and emotional scars from experimentation. But all these are conveyed to us via exposition and given hardly an extra thought, and then before you know it we're at the third act and they have made peace with these conflicts and become a super team that can face any challenge if they just stick together (or at least that's the cheesy explanation for them being able to tolerate the forces of the mind stone). Well, that's Marvel. What is more likely to be discussed as you walk out and dispose of your popcorn bags, the short emotional outburst from Bradley Cooper that we quickly move on from, or the running joke of him needing robotic body parts? Which is, to be fair, very funny. How good are Batista's antics?
Opposing them is most definitely the worst villain of the MCU so far, the Kree warlord who doesn't even possess a few lines of back- story. He is evil for the sake of being evil, and in the blandest fashion imaginable, so much so that it comes across as campy because he is played so straight in contrast to the jokester of Pratt. Even the excellent Lee Pace cannot save it. Remarkably, it actually works in favour of that climatic dance off - the cliché villain is so unbelievably out of place that his face lights up bizarrely and he is momentarily frozen in confusion. It's such a shame then that this action sequence takes place on a rather cold and alien setting. The special effects and production design team create such a spectacle above the skies of Xandar in the Star Wars-esque laser battle, interlocking barriers and explosions and the massive hulking spaceship of Ronan, the Dark Aster. But we are given but 3 familiar faces to root for, and no real insight into the Nova Corps or the citizens of Xandar. It's difficult to really feel too threatened by Ronan and his invasion. For all the work put into the fantastically detailed and unique make-up and costuming, these are blank faces. The father figure of Yondu? A means to get the Guardians where they need to go, and be uncharacteristically content in Peter Quill being good for once in his life. The pink skinned assistant of the Collector? Placed there to trigger the events that allow Ronan to make off with the mind stone. And Karen Gillan might as well be the exact copy of her sister Gamora, only she's the baddie because we are told she is.
Yet all this talk of the infinity stone reminds me of the real objective of this film; to introduce this band of heroes and further along the overarching storyline. What the MCU is doing is unique and ambitious, and GOTG serves the narrative well because we now will recognise the Guardians in the future franchise films. And cheer at cameos, as we've done when Captain America turns up in Thor 2, or savour those post credits scenes. Thanos doesn't even need to make that short appearance because GOTG for the first time has him in the flesh, and Ronan pales in comparison to his threat and presence. We're gonna need a Hulk, and a Thor, and lots more.