Guardians of the Galaxy review

BEST NEW FEATURE (of course)

Guardians of the Galaxy is finally here, and it's really good. But how good is it? Read below the break to find out.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the newest film from Marvel Studios, maker of many of the most essential films of the past several years. Based on the comic series of the same name, the film film takes the form of an action-comedy, as have the rest of Marvel's films, but what sets it apart is the increased emphasis on comedy and style. It's not the best movie ever, but that doesn't keep it from being one of the best of the year.

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a galactic thief, but on one mission he comes across a powerful item that puts him in the sights of the terrorist Ronan (Lee Pace). After assembling a team consisting of assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), brute Draxx (Dave Bautista), bounty hunter Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper, who is not a raccoon), and tree creature Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel, who is not a tree creature). 

Guardians of the Galaxy is perhaps the most irreverent of the Marvel films, placing at least as strong an emphasis on comedy as the Iron Man movies, if not more. Indeed, the jokes in this film are uniformly clever. That is partially credit to the witty script, yes, but it's definitely not hurt by the charismatic performances. Pratt in particular steals every scene he appears in, completely selling the cocksure attitude of the protagonist. He already has comedic chops from his role on the acclaimed sitcom Parks & Recreation, and that is on full display here. 

Characterization isn't limited to comedy, though. Four of the five protagonists (sorry, Groot) are written with their own past in consideration, an element to their character that lends them depth. They are made into more complicated characters because of that, with clearer motivations and personality traits traceable back to their problems. The increasingly fond relationship between the five characters is also of note, as although it sometimes descends into cheese, there is a heartwarming element to their realization of their friendship. 

Side characters are less developed, but they're distinctive and have their own interesting character traits. Yondu, for example, has an attitude comparable to Quill's, but without many of Quill's better traits. He's not particularly concerned with people's lives, although he certainly gets a kick out of Peter's attitude. Meanwhile, you have Corpsman Dey, who has a slightly sarcastic edge to his tone, but is fleshed out a bit more near the end of the movie. 

Meanwhile, the galaxy itself boasts absolutely phenomenal design. Like the best science fiction universes, it's bursting with ideas and creativity, bolstered by the gorgeous visuals. We only see a few parts of this galaxy, but they are all labelled and very intriguing. Knowhere, for example, is rendered quite nicely, and has quite a bit of backstory to it. Meanwhile, the Nova Corps' fleet boasts some creative ship designs and tactics, including one particularly interesting maneuver in the final battle. This is all helped by some of the best CG on offer, resulting in many scenes that look absolutely breathtaking. 

In addition, typical of the Marvel canon, the fights are great. There's still the usual explosive destruction, but it's less focused on than even Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with the most explosive scenes focused more on everything around the explosion than the boom itself. The Winter Soldier still ended with a prolonged shot of a plane crashing. The equivalent in Guardians of the Galaxy is viewed from a much farther distance, and is over much quicker. Most of the fights are either handled with a sprinkle of comedy or choreographed fantastically, and more often than not both. 

Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't have anything to say, and its main plot includes a lot of cliches, but the movie is filled with enough character and personality, not to mention charm and wit, that it doesn't matter. It's reputation as one of the year's best movies is definitely earned, because even if it's not the best movie of all time, there's not a whole lot more that you could ask of it.

10/10