I get it. You’ve never heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy and so it’s difficult for you to get excited about a film with these characters you’re not even remotely invested in. But guess what, you’d never heard of Luke Skywalker, or Han Solo, or Princess Leia, or Chewbacca before Star Wars… you’d never heard of James T. Kirk, or Spock, or Jean-Luc Picard, or Geordi La Forge before Star Trek… I promise you, just because you’re not familiar with these characters DOES NOT MEAN you won’t like this movie.
Last night I had the pleasure of catching the 17 minute, exclusive footage sneak peek of Guardians of the Galaxy, at a local IMAX theater. It was, without question, the best 17 minutes of film I have seen all year long. I want to share with you all the unbridled epicness that I bore witness to, so please snuggle into your office chairs, or couch, or kitchen stool, or beanbag, and allow me to share a few points of info with you…
It’s not your typical comic book movie.
Sure the Guardians of the Galaxy is a comic, but the style of this film is more like a B-style, spaceplotation’s spirit in a big-budget, space epics’s body. It doesn’t really seem to be like the other Marvel movies, or really any other comic films at all. The only potential exception is maybe Hellboy. The dark tone of Hellboy and the bizarre visuals are touched on here. There are certain aspects that are reminiscent of, say, The Avengers, in that these people all have different talents and abilities that all serve their team-functionality.
Rocket Raccoon really is “the heart of the movie”.
In a previous interview, director James Gunn made that statement regarding Rocket’s role in the film, and it’s clear from the footage I saw that this is absolutely true. He’s not just some cartoon-ish comic relief, he is an integral and crucial part of the team. They definitely NAILED that aspect from the comics. Also, Bradley Cooper does a fantastic job injecting the right amount of snark and ego without making Rocket a parody. He’s like a hairier, Goodfellas-era Joe Pesci.
The scope of the film is HUGE.
It’s apparent from the get-go that this movie uses a very large scope of filming. Every piece of set and CG imagery is so big and elaborate. It definitely gives even The Avengers a little bit of a run for its money. I wouldn’t say it ventures into Beyhem by any means though. The big, elaborate moments seem to serve the purpose of the story and plot, and not the the way around.
Gamora is not just eye-candy.
It’s typical for comic book movies to employ a woman to be the “sex-factor” in the film. There’s no denying that Zoe Saldana is sexy and attractive, which does translate to her portrayal as Gamora, but they’ve done a great job of making her more than that. She’s a vicious killer and she gets shit done. I’m really eager to see more of her because this is the female character I’ve been waiting for in a comic movie. She kicks ass, but doesn’t bother with taking names because they don’t matter.
It’s by far the funniest Marvel movie to date.
The crowd that I saw the preview with was laughing so much that we all actually missed other jokes. Between Rocket’s mischievousness, Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) quick-witted sarcasm, Drax’s hilarious obliviousness, and Groot’s Charlie Chaplin-like physical comedy, it appears there are more laugh-out-loud moments in this one movie than in all the other MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films combined.
It’s the raw, rugged space-epic we’ve been waiting for.
Sure, Avatar and both of the new Star Trek movies are great. They’re clean, polished films and everything is pretty. This flick right here though, is not afraid to be ugly. Not “ugly” as in “unattractive”, but “ugly” as in “real”. It’s got grit. It reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark blended with Star Wars and a pinch of Serenity to give it that modern flavor.
It’s gonna kick all kinds of ass so get your tickets, and get a front row seat (or back row seat, or middle row center, wherever you prefer to sit) for the chaos and excitement that is the Guardians of the Galaxy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHUBlv5_K8Y