Summer sci-fi at its rollicking best.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Grade: B+
Director: James Gunn (Super)
Screenplay: Gunn, Nicole Perlman (from Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning comic book)
Cast: Chris Pratt (Her), Zoe Saldana (Avatar)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 121 min.
by John DeSando
“So here we are: a thief, two thugs, an assassin and a maniac. But we're not going to stand by as evil wipes out the galaxy. I guess we're stuck together, partners.” Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)
Quill, the thief among the “Guardians,” pretty much sums up the rag-tag heroes of the summer’s entertaining sci-fi spoof—even if you don’t take my word, believe that several hundred million dollars of tickets and the box office champ is funny. With its tongue firmly placed in its cheek, Guardians of the Galaxy is an amusing, lighthearted take on just about any space opera you have seen, Star Wars being the touchstone for characters and laughs.
It’s the same-as-always wacky mission for these societal rejects—save the galaxy and they save their reputations and themselves from jail time. Quill leads four misfits: Gamora (Zoe Saldana—she is sinfully attractive!), Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper as a raccoon), Groot (Voice of Vin Diesel as a tree and sinfully underused), and Drax (Dave Bautista at his bulked best).
The plot is so convoluted you’d need some of the computer power behind the graphics to make sense of it. But coherence is not the point—this is a summer fantasy better than most because it doesn’t take itself seriously.
The smart dialogue may be best expressed in this exchange:
Gamora: “And Quill... Your ship is filthy.”
Peter Quill: “She has no idea. If I had a blacklight, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting.”
Does that mean it’s superficial? Absolutely. Silly? You bet. Entertaining? Obi-Wan Kenobi would approve.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
