Guardians of the Galaxy

Morning all!

Welcome to yet another casual Friday here at The Bosses’ Desk! We’re rounding out another work week with our box office blockbusters. To start things out the Professor and I will be sinking our teeth into Marvel’s Guardian’s of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn. Staring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper.

That’s right folks! Marvel’s highly anticipated film is in theaters now, and the Bosses have that fresh from the theater smell ready to give you the latest on Marvel’s recent release, and our first collab review in a while. So have a seat, class is in session. (I know… that’s his line!)

The Big Boss:  I have to say, the space western is alive and strong with this film! Guardians of the Galaxy was a nonstop thrill ride from start to finish with visuals that would make you drool. James Gunn manage to introduce us to a series of characters  while telling a story that didn’t seemed forced.

The Professor: Let’s put this out there: I loved this movie. It was really, really well done. If you loved Star Wars and loved Firefly, then this movie is directly within your wheelhouse. Hell, if you listen closely enough, you’ll hear ole Captain Mal himself, Nathan Fillion. Just don’t actually look for him, you won’t recognize him. I’ll also say this up front: while this was not my favorite Marvel movie (Winter Soldier still reigns), if I was doing a ranking, it would be 1 and 1a, with Guardians getting 1a. It was that close. More than likely I rate them that way because going into Guardians, I had next to no knowledge of what they are about. I have a much tighter connection to the Captain America cast of characters, so that is always going to color my lenses.

Now, since we’re doing our first collab in some time, I’m going to try to keep things shorter and tighter than usual so y’all don’t fall asleep on us. Let’s get into it:

The Professor: What I didn’t like – not much. For the most part, this really was a perfectly laid out movie. No real moments of slowness, nothing completely out of place, and nothing that didn’t make sense. If there was anything I didn’t like, it was that the movie was a little *too* goofy at times for me. I get that it was supposed to have it’s share of comedy and silliness, I think it might have had a little more than necessary. That being said, it did not take away from the movie or take me out of it at all, it was just something I noticed.

What I did like – everything else. Literally. I would love to get into each character, but we would end up being here a while. Chris Pratt was fantastic. He brought that perfect balance of wise-ass thief and stoic leader that the role needed. He reminded me a little of Chris Evans. I honestly believe you could swap the two of them in their current Marvel roles and each would be just as good in the new character. You can bet that this movie is going to score him some major leading roles outside the Marvel universe down the road. Zoe Saldana was great. An excellent mix of grace and stone-cold killer. Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket was a great choice. Cooper has one of those voices that is just able to portray all kinds of emotions, knows exactly how to make it happen, and did it fantastically. Michael Rooker is also great as Yondu. He plays such a great scumbag when called for, there was no doubt in my mind he would do just as well here. I mention them first as I pretty much expected them to all be good. The big surprises for me? Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Lee Pace. Bautista I was honestly worried about. As a former hardcore wrestling fan, I’ve seen his acting in that world, and oof. It was never real good. Fortunately, he proved me wrong. He was able to bring a fire to the character that was really necessary to make Drax turn out right. Lee Pace is a guy who I was not really familiar with, but probably now should be. His portrayal of Ronan the Accuser was excellent. They wanted Ronan to be a stone cold, heartless killer with ultimate destruction in mind, and he could not have come across more so. You knew from the beginning there would be nothing stopping Ronan from achieving his goal, not even the mad Titan. Of course, being the Whovian I am, I saved the best (re: sexiest) for last, Karen Gillan. Is it bad that I found her even MORE sexy as a bald, blue, heartless assassin? Cause I did. I loved her as Amy Pond and I loved her even more as Nebula. I’m seriously hoping we see more of her in future movies like this.

The other great thing about this movie? The visuals. Wow. When you are creating a comic book movie set in space, you really have to step your game up effects wise to pull off anything remotely believable, and Guardians does that on an epic scale. It pulls you straight in and never lets go, always giving you something to keep your eyes pinned on the screen. I can’t really do it justice with words. It’s just beautiful.

The Big Boss: Yeah I gotta say visually, I think GotG is the best film so far this year. There’s not a movie that’s come out this year except for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes that can compete with it. We were given an opportunity to travel to different worlds, drift in space, and meet different species of characters; the experience, being sci-fi fantasy, still had a feeling of being grounded. As far as how to watch this film, if you can, make your way to IMAX 3D do that, this film is so very worth it. There are particle effects that will have you trying to dodge bullets (lasers) and missiles in your seat.

I’ll be the first to admit, when it comes to Marvel properties, Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) isn’t the most well known to me. I only have a very surface knowledge of the Guardians, having only seen their collabs with the Avengers. Having never experienced this property, I found it very easy to settle into the story and enjoy the development of the characters.

The thing I like about this movie is the fact that James Gunn tells the story in the style of a western. Reluctant heroes from a far off land come together to save a world not their own. It’s a very engaging genre.

• You’ve got your Puckish Rogue (heh), Peter Quill , played by Chris Pratt.Chris Pratt was a delight on screen. He definitely brought a lot of himself to the character. He made me believe that of this eclectic group of space cowboys, he could lead them.
• You’ve got the money hungry smart mouth Rocket Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper; and his seemingly simple yet loyal companion Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel.This was an interesting casting when I first heard, but Vin Diesel work as Groot was reminiscent of his work as the Iron Giant of the movie of the same name. I would like to see the special features though to see how much he put into the motion capture process of Groot. Diesel said that this role was an actor’s dream. To play a role that challenges you to deliver a level of emotion in a variety of stages by saying one line in different ways.Bradley Cooper as Rocket was just brilliant. The smart mouth galactic raccoon provided much of the comedy delivered in this film and his exchanges with Groot and Quill are classic. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of this guy in Marvel’s future work.
• Your brooding hero bent on revenge, Drax the Destroyer, played by David Bautista. I have to say that I was surprised by David Bautista in the film. Now lets keep things in perspective, I not saying he revolutionizes the acting game, but Bautista was definitely a natural on screen. I have to say the character of Drax definitely suited him.
• You also have your relentless mysterious killer, Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana.What I love about Saldana in this role, is, like all her action flicks, she brings grace and poise to her combat exchanges. She said in an interview that she modeled her fighting style to the flow of a matador in a bull fight. She brings a level of professionalism to action roles that I think is a breath of fresh air.

All of these characters come together to form an ensemble that is captivating.

Another favorite of mine in this movie was the soundtrack. Most of the music for the film is straight from 70’s Pop, Soul, and RnB. All this, made the film fun and enjoyable to watch. Normally this type of tempo change would bring you out of the movie, but (and I don’t know how) the music queues manage to keep you with the characters and in the story. Take us home Prof.!

There’s so much more about this movie that was well done, I could go on for a while. The visuals are stunning, the music is excellent, and story was so well written. Even the little things were great, like a quick homage to Terminator 2 (I swear it was, prove me wrong) and an awesome brief cameo in the credits that “shot an arrow straight to my heart.” Bottom line? Go see this. More than once if you can. And do it right, so IMAX. IMAX 3D if you enjoy 3D. You won’t regret it.