Guardians of the Galaxy

This is, without a doubt, the most slapdash and ridiculous film yet in the Marvel film catalog. And it knows it. But being in on the joke and playing along is not enough to give it a pass. I realize I recently recommended another movie for being knowingly ridiculous while I’m criticizing this one for the exact same reason. Maybe it’s because that one was completely a comedy, while this still takes some of its parts seriously. Perhaps Guardians of the Galaxy should have likewise gone all out. On second thought, I have no idea how it could have been any more ridiculous, but I do know it probably wouldn’t have been a good thing.

I’ll probably lose some nerd cred for this, but I have no idea what exactly is happening onscreen. You might think this is because these heroes and their antagonists aren’t as big of household names as Marvel characters like Iron Man or Captain America, but that’s not all of it. Every other Marvel film made time to properly introduce its characters and familiarize viewers with their origin stories. In other words, they took into account the fact that people who weren’t familiar with the comics might be in the audience.

Not this one. In this case, the audience is dropped right into a complicated conflict and just left to try to figure it out on their own. All that is clear is that a ragtag group of heroes—human space pirate Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt), green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana), vengeful alien Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), mouthy, gun-slinging raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and walking, talking tree Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel)—are searching for a mystical orb that is wanted by treasure hunters, collectors, and parties from both sides in a galactic war. To anyone who isn’t familiar with the comics, all the new planets and character names come off as just gibberish. It feels like a low-rent Star Wars knockoff painted over with brighter colors.

There’s eye candy galore in the film. But going with that metaphor, what happens when you eat too much candy? Well, the equivalent effect happens watching the film, nearly resulting in sensory overload (the picture isn’t nearly as bad as the legendarily awful Batman & Robin, but its garish colors make that movie look like a muted, understated spectacle). It doesn’t help that it seems like it was shot with 3D in mind, as there are several layers to many shots that look like they’re meant to pop off the screen at different levels. Declining the few extra bucks for a pair of glasses means all the imagery is smushed into one layer that’s too busy for the eye to take it all in. This happens quite a bit, and hampers a lot of the action, some of which is otherwise well done and imaginative.

And yet, in spite of all this, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh. The heroes, as well as a few supporting players, are all very funny. Especially well cast are Pratt as the whip-smart sarcastic lead and Bautista as the straight man who’s so serious that he hilariously lacks all tact. The arguing among the characters brought some loud and frequent fits of laughter, so much that it drowned out nearly half the dialogue in a few scenes.

The characters almost save the picture. Maybe it’s even worth seeing just for them. But the movie around them is still pretty dumb and convoluted, both in narrative and aesthetic. Plus, the soundtrack of dated 70s and 80s pop gets annoying. Seriously, pop culture, those decades are long gone! Get over it!