Guardians of the Galaxy

Rating: 8/10 (21 August 2014)

The Marvel Comics superhero movies are coming thick and fast in the last few years, the trailer for this next adaptation had a humorous approach, of course I saw a more action packed trailer too, so I was looking forward to seeing it, directed by James Gunn (Slither, Super). Basically, as a child, following the death of his mother Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) was abducted from Earth by alien pirates called the Ravagers, twenty six years later he has become an outcast, wanting to be known as Star-Lord, and he attempts to steal a mysterious orb. He is intercepted by Korath (Djimon Hounsou), subordinate to fanatical Kree maniac Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) , and after escaping Peter has a bounty put on him by Ravagers leader Yondu Udonta (Slither's Michael Rooker), assassin Gamora (Zoë Saldana) is sent to capture him and the orb. A fight ensues between them, and grabs the attention of two bounty hunters, genetically engineered raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and tree-like humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel), and the four of them end up arrested by the Nova Corps and imprisoned in maximum security artificial moon the Kyln. In the prison the four of them stick together, and are soon joined with powerful inmate Drax (Spectre's Dave Bautista) who wants revenge for the death of his family at the hands of Ronan, Gamora reveals that she betrayed Ronan as he wants to use the orb's power to destroy entire planets including Xandar, Ronan meanwhile meets titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) to discuss Gamora's betrayal and the loss of the orb. Accompanied by Drax, Quill, Gamora, Rocket and Groot escape the Kiln and flee to remote criminal outpost Nowhere, the group meets Gamora's contact Taneleer Tivan aka The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) who opens the orb, inside it is an Infinity Stone that has immeasurable power to destroy all but powerful beings who can wield it, this is proved when Tivan's assistant grabs it that engulfs him in an explosion. Drunken Drax summons Ronan, he is easily defeated while the others flee, pursued by Ronan's followers and Gamora's sister Nebula (Doctor Who's Karen Gillan), she manages to destroy her ship and captures the sphere, Gamora and Quill floating in space are collected eventually by Yondu, Quill negotiates a truce with him. Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot and surviving Drax agree that facing Ronan means certain death, but they must stop him from using the Infinity Stone to destroy the galaxy, Ronan meanwhile embeds the Stone in his warhammer and threatens to kill Thanos. On Xandar, Ronan's ship the Dark Aster is confronted by Yondu's fleet, the Nova Corps, and Quill's group who manage to breach, Korath is killed by Drax, Gamora defeats Nebula, who escapes, and Rocket damages the enemy ship to crash with Groot sacrificing himself to shield the others. Ronan emerges from the wreck and prepares to destroy Xandar, but Quill distracts him while Drax and Rocket destroy the warhammer, Quill grabs the Infinity Stone, and finds that he, Gamora, Rocket and Drax are powerful enough to withstand its force, and they use the power to destroy Ronan. In the end Yondu is given a false orb, while the real one containing the Stone is given to the Nova Corps, the group now called the Guardians of the Galaxy all have their criminal records expunged, Quill finds out he is only half-human, his father was part an ancient unknown species, and he finds the courage to open the last present from his dying mother, the Guardians leave in their repaired ship, the Milano, and Groot seen regrowing in his plant pot. Also starring John C. Reilly as Corpsman Dey, Glenn Close as Nova Prime, The Inbetweeners Movie's Laura Haddock as Meredith Quill, Peter Serafinowicz as Denarian Saal, Stan Lee as Xandarian Ladies' Man, Slither's Nathan Fillion as Monstrous Inmate, Rob Zombie as Ravager Navigator and Seth Green as Howard the Duck in an amusing post credits sequence. Pratt is likable as the wisecracking hero with his "Awesome Mix" cassette tapes, Saldana is cool as the green-skinned warrior, Cooper does almost steal the show as the fuzzy fast-talking sidekick with Diesel suitably voicing his walking tree partner who can only say "I am Groot", and Pace and Gillan get their moments as the villains. It takes perhaps a few minutes to properly get the plot, but once you do it is an engaging one as the heroes of the peace try to stop the power-hungry aliens achieving galactic domination, the high octane chase and fight sequences are impressive, and the CGI and makeup special effects creating the spaceships, creatures and imaginative space spectacle is brilliant, the soundtrack with "awesome" songs like "I'm Not in Love" - 10cc, "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and "I Want You Back" - The Jackson 5 is a nice touch as well, a fantastically fun science-fiction action adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Make Up & Hair and Best Special Visual Effects. Very good!