Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Plot: Peter Quill is a thief, one used to obtaining goods to sell to the highest bidder. But when his latest mission has him literally holding the fate of the galaxy in his hand, he must learn some morality and decide the best course of action for once.

He isn’t alone. Tracked down by both bounter-hunters and someone working for the bad guy, Quill and his strange band must join forces, learn to trust each other and ultimately learn to work as a team. For without them, the galaxy has no chance. With them, it doesn’t have much of one.

Quote: `Why would you want to save the galaxy?

Because I’m one of the idiots living in it!`

 

Opinion: Despite having wanted to see this film for a while, I had no expectations as to what the plot was going to be about. As it was a 12 rating, I knew it wasn’t going to be anything too complicated. So imagine my surprise when I realised that not paying attention actually forced me to rewind and watch again because I literally had no clue what was going on.

The second half is stronger than the first. The plot has come together and gathered momentum. The audience have more of a feel for the characters and their complexities, whereas the first half just had everyone seemingly trying to kill each other without too much of an explanation as why. Once the stories started coming together more, I was engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the film.

The dialogue was especially well scripted. Several moments of banter left me smiling, providing a light-hearted atmosphere. However, they were inserted at the right moments rather than cheapening moments through an inappropriate comment. What did surprise me with the script was the amount of swearing taking place – for the intended audience, I felt there were too many of these moments for twelve year old’s to be watching.

The acting was strong. For those playing a human character, at least. The film is silly and light-hearted, meaning it doesn’t have to have the world’s best actors taking centre stage. For those where only their voices were present, the lines were delivered well, implying emotion for even the characters that seemed to be unfeeling.

A film like this cannot be reviewed without mentioning the special effects. One of the characters is a glorified racoon, for one thing. However, both details on a living tree and a large scale space-fight were delivered with high quality and didn’t seem to be going over the top, unlike on previous films I have seen.

Overall, a very silly but enjoyable film. It isn’t one I would rush back to watch again, nor did I understand the amount of hype surrounding it. However, I enjoyed it while watching (once I had established what was going on), it made me laugh and I wouldn’t turn down the sequel when it comes out. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it enough to pay cinema prices though.

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