Guardians of the Galaxy is the perfect reminder of what a good summer blockbuster should be like: witty, charming, full of heart, and above all else, fun. What’s more, it manages to be all these things without pandering to the lowest common denominator, instead keeping the jokes smart and the pace lightning-fast.
Directed by James Gunn, the film stars Chris Pratt as “Peter Quill,” an Earthling who is abducted by aliens as a child and grows up to be a space outlaw. When he stumbles upon an artifact that is the crux of an intergalactic war, he is forced to cooperate with an unlikely band of degenerates, from a genetically modified talking raccoon (Bradley Cooper) to a giant tree creature (Vin Diesel) to an alluringly angry green lady (Zoe Saldana).
The movie feels much shorter than its two-hour runtime, thanks to Gunn and his writing team’s sense of speed. The plot moves fast and the gags move faster, never feeling rushed but never allowing the audience’s attention to drop. Remarkably, this rapid pacing doesn’t come at the expense of characterization – on the contrary, by the time the film hits the 20-minute mark, we feel like we’ve known these people forever.
Of course, writing can only take a movie so far, so it’s a good thing the actors work so well together. Pratt is an unlikely choice for an action hero, but his comedic timing and buoyant presence make him the perfect fit for Gunn’s particular style. Cooper and Diesel give their characters’ relationship a wonderful history almost solely through their voices, and Saldana, while not deviating from her standard stoic sci-fi heroine attitude, brings a much-needed gravity to several scenes.
If the Avengers films are beginning to feel a bit too dark for your liking, Guardians of the Galaxy will feed your Marvel appetite with something that’s lighter but no less well-crafted. With a killer cast and a comic book feel, it’ll make you feel like a kid again, without the lack of intelligence that would normally entail.
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