Cinema Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel movies are always one of the highlights of the summer and Guardians of the Galaxy is no exception. From its moving opening sequence to its special effects laden finale, this is a film that will make you laugh, laugh, laugh and maybe, just maybe feel a little sad in places. The story opens in 1988 with Peter Quill’s abduction by a spaceship and moves quickly forward to the main action which centres around a mysterious orb that Peter Quill (now Starlord) has been asked to collect. Obviously this sounds far too simple, and it won’t surprise you to know the orb is also being hunted by the villainous Thanos and Ronan, and there’s a bounty on Starlord’s head too. This results in a seamless introduction of alien characters both good (Rocket, Gamora, Groot, and Drax) and bad (Nebula and Korath – along with a faceless army of baddies!).

The plot zips along to its predictable conclusion, and running at just over two hours the time will fly by. This is largely due to the humour in the writing which is nothing short of superb. With Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) limited to 3 words (I, am, Groot) there are some amusing conversations between him and the cybernetic racoon, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper); and Starlord (Chris Pratt) is always on hand to disarm friends and enemies with his own effective brand of wit and charm. This means there’s a lot more light than dark in contrast to many other Marvel movies.

With fantastic special effects, first class humour and a pacey plot, there has to be a decent soundtrack to match and the choice will appeal to young and old alike. When Peter is abducted onto the alien spaceship, he has very little with him – he only has a present from his dying Mother and a Walkman (yes, youthful readers look it up…) complete with mix tape (I refer the youth to my previous comment). This means the soundtrack is straight out of the 1980s with tracks such as ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ (Blue Suade), ‘I’m not in love’ (10cc) and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ (Tammi Terrell) which adds to the light hearted nature of the film.

This is undoubtedly one of the must-see films of the summer. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the sequel, with the imaginative, provisional title of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ is due for release in 2017. If they stick to the formula of this film then further success will undoubtedly follow.

Nutleyone rating: 9/10

Guardians of the Galaxy opened across cinemas nationwide today (Thursday 31^st July) – please check individual cinema listings for further detail.

OK I’m not quite finished. We all know Marvel movies always have a post credits scene. Here’s my post review comment, taken from another cinema goer I overheard on the way out, summing up their opinion on said scene.

‘All that for a duck?’

Draw your own conclusions folks!