Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Movie Review

Synopsis:

Working for The Ravagers, space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) must retrieve a powerful orb. This device is also sought after by Kree fanatic, Ronan (Lee Pace). Discovering this, Peter seeks help from other unwilling heroes. Alongside Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax, and Gamora, each of them must unite to save the galaxy.

Review:

Guardians is another attempt by Marvel Studios to expand the popularity of a lesser-known group of characters.

As a whole, this film has quick pacing and possesses a catchy soundtrack. It also has colorful visuals.

Guardians of the Galaxy, though, is not without its weaknesses.

While most characters have a reasonable amount of development, others are hollow. Most of this film’s story focuses on Star-Lord (Chris Pratt).

Pratt’s charm and personable nature make his interactions with the other Guardians fun to watch.

Bradley Cooper embodies the character of Rocket Raccoon with ease. This is also due to quality CGI and motion capture.

Alongside his friend, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), they, without a doubt, make up this movie’s most fun scenes.

Other additions to the main cast of heroes are Drax (Dave Bautista) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana).

Bautista maintains a good physical presence throughout and has some decent action scenes.

This movie offers a brief insight into Drax’s motives upon his introduction. Despite this, it isn’t focused on much after that.

Most of Gamora’s development is through interactions with her sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan). Aside from this, character depth is minimal at best.

One area that Guardians of the Galaxy had difficulty with is their main antagonists.

Ronan (Lee Pace), in a similar way to Drax, maintains a strong physical presence. Despite this, his motives and development are simplistic.

Also, making a brief on-screen performance is Thanos (Josh Brolin).

While Thanos’s presence is not major in this film, he is further expanded upon in later movies.

As most of Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in space, this leads to many creative visual sequences.

As a whole, the special effects are a highlight in Guardians. This is whether the film introduces a new planet or showcases a character’s abilities.

There are points, though, where there is an overabundance of CGI. As a result, this makes the action difficult to keep track of.

Conclusion:

All things considered, Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun, entertaining adventure.

Its main weaknesses are a lack of interesting villains and some confusing action.

It also has underdeveloped motivations for certain characters.

Despite these flaws, quality CGI and an energetic soundtrack make the film a recommended watch for any MCU fan.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 7/10

Story - 7/10

Action - 7/10

CGI and visuals - 8/10

Soundtrack - 7.5/10

Overall score: 7.3 out of 10