Flashback: MCU Edition: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

    Hey everyone welcome back to Silver Screen Spectacle. Sorry, I didn’t post yesterday, but life got busy. So today we’re continuing our MCU Flashback with 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. They released the film to immediate success, but I wasn’t sure leading up to release. While Winter Soldier made people realize Marvel could still be great, there was some concern that a talking tree and raccoon would be too out there for general audiences. Years later, the Guardians are some of the MCU’s most popular characters. So let’s look back on their introduction...

    This was not as good as I remember it being. Now I still like this movie but I used to consider this top-level MCU. Let’s start with the performances. Chris Pratt was strange but perfect casting. He nails the mix of comedy and action. Dave Bautista is still great as Drax, with his dry humor and physical presence. Bradley Cooper is an inspired choice for Rocket. He makes him his own character where I don’t see a digital creation. Zoe Saldana did great things later on with Gamora, but she’s pretty wooden here. She has moments where she’s interacting with the rest of the cast, but otherwise; she doesn’t work. Karen Gillan also is just fine here as Nebula. While a great character down the line, she has nothing to work within this film. Lee Pace is yet another terrible Marvel villain. His performance is okay and has an intimidating voice, but his dialogue is nothing but generic villain garble. 

    James Gunn was the right choice for these characters, but you can tell he isn’t used to directing a film of this scale yet. While plenty of the action is fun thanks to the character dynamic, the fights in themselves aren’t very exciting. The script is a pretty basic story, but the Guardians are extremely likable characters and that’s thanks to the writing. Many laugh-out-loud moments are throughout the film, especially in the latter half. The first act of this movie was tough to get through in parts. I don’t hate it and there are definitely moments, but the film doesn’t work until we get to the prison sequence and all the Guardians are together. The visual effects have mostly aged well outside of a few shots. In terms of music, the score and soundtrack are both phenomenal. 

    Despite my issues with this movie, there are still moments I love. The prison escape is such a fun and well-designed sequence. Moments such as the dance-off will always be engrained in my mind. So overall, while it definitely not as good as I remembered, Guardians of the Galaxy still has plenty of enjoyment to be had. So, guys, that’s it for this MCU Flashback. Next time we’ll be covering Avengers: Age of Ultron. See you guys next time.