Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

2014 PG-13 121 Minutes

Action | Science Fiction | Adventure

Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.

Overall Rating

9 / 10
Verdict: Great

User Review

  • WHAT I LIKED: Like all James Gunn films, 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' may be pretty irreverent on the surface, but its heart comes from being about a bunch of small, forgotten, downtrodden misfits coming together to do something honourable and save the galaxy.

    They start out as the kind of scavenging, self-serving folk that writer/director James Gunn has always been interested in - the egotistical Peter Quill from Earth (Chris Pratt), lab-rat product Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), quiet talking tree Groot (Vin Diesel), avenging widower Drax (Dave Bautista) and stolen daughter of Thanos Gamora (Zoe Saldana). All of them do nothing but steal and kill for their own aims without any further meaning, but Quill's quest to unknowingly steal an Infinity Stone leads him - and the others who somehow join along the way - to eventually defend their world from the generically-geonicidal hands of villain Ronan (Jonathan Adams).

    Seeing those arcs take place is moving, especially considering the fact they also find friends amongst each other, but it's equally joyous because the humour and original character with which it's all delivered. The world-building has all the gritty ingenuity of Star Wars and the humour is genuinely off-the-wall amusing, and that all adds a new, unique brand of style to this otherwise monotonous universe.

    WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: There are a lot of plot mechanics to get the many characters through those arcs.

    VERDICT: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is a properly fresh, properly fun comic-book movie with no shame. It's got soul.