Guardians of the Galaxy

A bunch of minor criminals and bounty hunters all after the same MacGuffin reluctantly join forces against the Really Bad Guys who want to Destroy the World with said MacGuffin.

We have a motley ensemble cast: human space pirate Peter Quill [Chris Pratt], green humanoid assassin Gamora [Zoe Saldana], uplifted raccoon bounty hunter Rocket [Bradley Cooper, voice] and his sidekick the tree-like Groot [Vin Diesel, voice], and paisley-tattooed humanoid assassin-hunter Drax [Dave Bautista].

After a rather slow start (a dying mother foreshadowing trope) the action gets going, accompanied by a 1980s pop soundtrack (for reasons that make sense at least in the story). There’s lots of running around, lots of wisecracking, lots of fights, lots of CGI things being blown up.

The team of good guys has one woman (Gamora); the team of bad guys has one woman (Nebula, an unrecognisable blue bald Karen Gillan); and the team on the planet has one woman (Nova Prime, Glenn Close). Oh, and Peter’s mother [Laura Haddock], in her death scene. It arguably just passes the Bechdel test: sisters Gamora and Nebula have a few conversations, not necessarily about a man. But that’s not exactly a high bar.

It doesn’t take itself seriously, but isn’t as funny as it thinks it is. Nevertheless, it’s sufficiently entertaining piffle for a dark winter’s evening viewing. And at least the raccoon isn’t cute.

Rating: 4

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 26 December 2015

This has all the strengths, and fewer of the weaknesses, of the original. The same motley crew (although Groot is a wee bit smaller) have now shaken down, and so we have less backstory, and more action.

The plot isn’t really important, but, suffice it to say, they Save the Galaxy. Again. And along the way there are lots of super CGI battles, an amazing CGI palace-planet, lots of snark, more 80s music, and moments of redemption. Good mind candy, even if at one point I did realise that I was laughing at the amusing way someone is killing about a hundred people…

Rating: 4

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 29 December 2019

We have the mainly same crew, but now we have Rocket’s backstory, as well as lots of action. I had a few jarring moments where I thought I’d forgotten a major plot point from the previous film, but it turns out highly significant events happened in one of the other Marvel Universe episodes. I don’t mind it being assumed I’ve watched the direct prequels, but do object to it being assumed I have watched the entire canon.

Anyhow, the plot this time it that Rocket’s maker is trying to kidnap him for Evil Genius reasons (hence all the backstory), and the crew need to mount a daring rescue to save the life of their team-mate (at the expense of the lives of many NPCs). There are more super CGI battles, a much more dynamically-morphing Groot, lots of snark, and somewhat more obscure 80s music. Good mind candy, although again, a lot of people die…

Rating: 4

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 11 January 2025