Recollection Reflection Review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is nearly upon us and while I won't have a review for that installment up till later this week, I figured this would be an appropriate time to revisit the original. Keep in mind this review will be include some spoilers though considering it's been nearly three years since the film's release. The review's a bit long but I promise it's a significant improvement over my last attempt.

'Guardians of the Galaxy' Review

Nominated for: Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Recollection- Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Reflection- I remember around Guardians of the Galaxy's initial release when it was predicted to be Marvel's first flop yet caught the world unawares, bursting onto the scene and becoming an instant pop culture phenomenon! I love the first Guardians but I'm admittedly not over-the-moon on it as many other people I know seeing as it's not quite my favorite MCU film (read more about this at my most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranking). That's one of the reasons I thought it would be fun to revisit this one on-top of the fact I reviewed it back in 2014 when I was relatively new to blogging. Really, the most interesting part of these Triple-R Reviews, as I like to call them, is that I can show how much I've improved and grown as a writer and critic. I plan on introducing other new review formats soon that will be more akin to short essays on behalf of a detested film and against ones I consider over-rated.

Review- Guardians of the Galaxy opens in the year 1988 as a young Peter Quill must watch his terminally-ill mother pass away and is immediately abducted by a crew of space pirates known as Ravengers. Fast-forward to 2014, Quill now goes by the monicker Star-Lord and has stolen an ancient intergalactic artifact resembling an orb for an intermediary broker. Quill soon discovers about half the galaxy wants the orb, including the militant Kree fanatic Ronan the Accuser, and winds up working alongside a rag-tag group of misfits to save the galaxy when the orb ends up in the wrong hands.

Guardians of the Galaxy was something no-one expected to succeed, making it all the more exciting when it was launched to interstellar heights at the box office for a property practically no-one was familiar with. For starters, the team included a talking raccoon and a tree whose vocabulary consists of the three words "I am Groot." Writer-director James Gunn had to sell audiences on these obscure characters if he was going to pull this off, and fortunately he did. Gunn understands that these characters are weird and kinda messed up but finds touches of humanity within them all so that these characters can not only be likable but relatable. Gunn succeeded in spades on delivering Marvel's most outlandish property yet by trusting in the unconventional nature of the cosmic characters.

The script penned by Gunn and co-writer Nicole Perlman focused first and foremost on bringing out character and succeeded in making the most of a roguish outlaw, an assassin, a vengeful maniac, a smart-aleck raccoon, and a walking, talking tree. Every character has his or her own arc that plays out beautifully, the only flaw lies in Ronan the Accuser coming across as yet another forgettable baddie. However, I must credit the duo for crafting heaps and heaps of quirky quips and hysterical one-liners, resulting in Marvel's consistently funniest entry to date. I've seen Guardians of the Galaxy countless times yet still find myself chuckling at just about every single joke the Guardians have at their disposal.

Another element that makes Guardians of the Galaxy so great is that Gunn and Perlman never lost sight of an emotional through-line when striving for a light-hearted affair, I'll even admit to welling up at the film's devastating outset and towards the stirring conclusion. Not only are the characters and story in the far reaches of Marvel's cosmic space interesting but the sights and sounds of Guardians of the Galaxy are simply out of this world! The visual effects remain among Marvel's best-to-date with stimulating space battles and motion capture that's probably the closest you can get to bringing a talking raccoon and amiable arbor to life. The unique production design meshes with the visual effects seamlessly to make numerous wacky worlds plausible and the hair and makeup team responsible for the looks of Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Yondu, Nebula, and Ronan the Accuser do an exceptional job.

That's not even to mention the stunning cinematography capturing all the cosmic craziness, the aesthetic is astounding from start-to-finish, and I absolutely adore the full aspect ratio that enlarges during some of the film's key action sequences. On that note, the action to be found in Guardians is a stirring spectacle that's only enhanced by the film's rocking Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack and Tyler Bate's incredible score. The Awesome Mix Vol. 1 has plenty of retro-hits that will get your mouth moving and your toes tapping like "Hooked On A Feeling," "Spirit in the Sky," "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)," "Cherry Bomb," and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to name a couple. Don't count out Tyler Bates' sensational score though, because none of his compositions miss a beat!

While all the aforementioned components are crucial to the film's success, none of it would have worked if it weren't for the correct cast. Chris Pratt lends the ideal mix of charisma and space swagger to Peter Quill that makes his Star Lord alias click perfectly with his personality. Pratt's leap to stardom basically began here and he exhibits all the qualities of a memorable movie star audiences have come to appreciate. Pratt's able to serve as the unlikely hero, but simultaneously exhibited roguish charm that made it seem like it couldn't have happened any other way. Zoe Saldana brought the right mix of sentiment and grit to Gamora that makes the claim she's a killer with a conscience seem all the more real. I appreciate that her character doesn't fall into the camps of being subservient sex appeal or the conventional love interest but rather something in-between that stands apart from the archetypal heroine. My one gripe about Gamora is that her character doesn't come across to be nearly as complex as the source material, but I guess that could change in Vol. 2.

Dave Bautista hits it out of the park in his feature film acting debut, I truly believe he will stand alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as one of the best wrestler-turned-actors in Hollywood. Bautista's got the bulk that you'd imagine would accompany someone going by the designation Drax the Destroyer and gets so much mileage out of being the moronic muscle. Bautista's blunt, straightforward line delivery matches Drax to a tee and allows some of the film's funniest dialogue exchanges to occur.

Bradley Cooper's snarky demeanor matches the wisecracking Rocket Raccoon eloquently, while Vin Diesel lends his oaky voice to Groot. If it weren't for these two, the entire enterprise would have fallen apart, but luckily Marvel's casting department haven't floundered yet. On that note, I've gotta credit Sean Gunn and Krystian Godlewski for providing the motion capture element to the portrayal of these two character.

Among the supporting ensemble, Micheal Rooker injects a sleazy, roughness to Ravenger captain Yondu Udonta, Benicio Del Toro lets loose as the eccentric Collector, Laura Haddock will bring tears to your eyes as Meredith Quill, and John C. Reilly, Peter Serafinowicz, and Glenn Close play straight laced space cops known as the Nova Core. Lee Pace's Ronan the Accuser makes for another vaguely-motivated Marvel menace with Djimon Hounsou and Karen Gillan by his side as cyborg Korath and the inscrutably freaky Nebula.

Oh, and Josh Brolin sits in Thanos' throne for a bit as the Mad Titan. Maybe we'll see him get up from that chair in a little indie called Avengers: Infinity War coming next May but only time will tell.

To sum it all up, none of the individual elements of Guardians of the Galaxy could work independently and they actually rely on one-another to collaborate as one grand, booming superhero space opera that's forever fervent fun. Guardians of the Galaxy may not be the best Marvel Studios release in my eyes, but for the time being stands as their most amusing and entertaining effort yet!

Film Assessment: A-