The 68th film in my 100 film challenge is Guardians of the Galaxy. Since Marvel decided to make their own movies instead of letting other people, we have witnessed an ever growing and truly ambitious project begin to unfold since 2008. Throughout multiple films we have seen the development of many characters across several films, that exist in many interconnected story lines.
The fans know that in the next few years many of these stories and mainstream characters will be reaching huge climaxes. Marvel’s ambition is big though. In fact it’s huge, and why wouldn’t it be consider the volume of comic book content they own and could use. So why not move on from the big heroes like Iron Man, Thor etc. and brave new territory.
Guardians was the first of the new characters that Marvel released, and for me it didn’t disappoint. I have come to realise that often what I want from a superhero film is to have fun. Some of Marvel’s recent entries are lacking in this area, but not Guardians. It has excellent comedy elements and is genuinely funny and exciting.
The great humour is helped by brilliant casting and chemistry between the 5 guardians. A lot of credit has to go to James Gunn, as co-writer and director, he delivers so well here. I love each of the out anti-heroes, but Groot and Rocket steal the show. They are a cinematic duo that will be loved for years to come. They have a genuinely interesting character arc too.
The humour, the action, a great cast, a decent baddie, a rich new universe of characters and places – all these things come together to make one of Marvel’s best films in recent times.
There’s a sequel in 2017. Bring it on!
Dan at the Movies 