Guardians of the Galaxy

Q is for Peter Quill

Peter Quill aka Star-Lord is another character who I wouldn’t call one of my favourites. But again, the letter “Q” is always an awkward one and needs must.

Peter Quill is very much a big kid – and not necessarily in an endearing way. He was kidnapped from Earth as a child, grew up living amongst a bunch of space thieves, and became a criminal who just wants to have a good time. Meeting the other members of what will be the Guardians of the Galaxy does make him start thinking about more than himself and try to do some good, but he’s still very hot-headed and immature.

It makes sense that he is immature as he’s grown up in an environment where there was the threat of death almost every day, so while he’s learnt to be smart and resourceful, he never had a childhood and the chance to be a kid. Quill’s very sarcastic and brash, but he’s also proved himself to be a good leader, that can think on his feet.

Quill cares deeply about those he loves so when he’s told that someone he loves is dead, his emotions get the better of him, causing him to lose control and lash out. That scene in Infinity War is tough to watch for a lot of reasons but I don’t hate it, or Quill, like some other people do. That’s because Quill’s actions are very much in character because when he learnt of the true reason his mother died, he acted exactly the same way.

N is for Nebula

Nebula is one of those characters that has grown on me over time. As you’ve learnt more of her backstory, seen more of her personality, and her relationship with her sister Gamora is fleshed out, she becomes more and more interesting to me.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think much of Nebula when we first meet her in Guardians of the Galaxy. She was a cool looking character, and a skilled fighter, but you didn’t get to see much of her personality as she was like a secondary antagonist. I liked her more in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as you got to see more of her relationship with Gamora and, as she was more like an antihero, she had a bigger role and her personality shined through more. I really like her sort of wry sense of humour that makes a brief appearance every now and then.

I think Nebula is incredibly brave and resilient. Every time she lost a fight as a child, Thanos replaced a part of her body with machinery. It’s truly barbaric and it’s clear at time that her mechanical parts hurt her.

I’m not one to make predictions about Endgame (mainly because my severe fear of spoilers and I have no real idea how everything’s going to go) but one thing I hope happens is that during their space road trip of misery, Nebula and Tony have become best buds. I think their dynamic would be super interesting and compelling. They have things in common, terrible dads, and neither of them have any prior knowledge of the other so they would only judge one another on how they act in the moment. I think they’d be great, and deadly, friends. Plus, I think it’d be great if Nebula trusted Tony enough for him to fix a part of her body. That would mean a lot to both of them.

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

My original review of Guardians of the Galaxy, written and posted in August 2014 can be found here.

When intergalactic terrorist Ronan (Lee Pace) threatens the galaxy, an unlikely group of heroes – all criminals of some kind – are forced to work together to stop him.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the first proper foray into space and beyond for the MCU. Each world our dubious heroes visit is its own unique place. The design of each of these worlds and their cities have so much personality and all look like real-lived in places. The special effects make space look beautiful and the whole film is full of colourful worlds, costumes and characters.

The so-called Guardians of the Galaxy are formed of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) a man who was kidnapped from Earth when he was a child and has grown up to be a thief, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) an assassin, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who takes everything literally, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) a genetically engineered racoon and Groot (Vin Diesel) a large talking tree. They are an odd mix of characters who certainly don’t get along all the time, but their dynamics are often both compelling and hilarious.

I can’t not mention the soundtrack. Music makes up a huge part of Guardians of the Galaxy and all the songs add something to the action on screen, whether it adds to the humour or to the emotion these characters are feeling. The soundtrack is just as fun as the film is.

The only thing that really lets down Guardians of the Galaxy is its villain. Ronan is your typical bad guy and forgettable one really. It’s other antagonistic characters like Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Yondu (Michael Rooker) who are more convincing adversaries as they both have history with our heroes. Also the plot itself is quite cliché but the way its executed makes it more unusual and entertaining.

Guardians of the Galaxy is so much fun. It’s really a near-perfect mix of humour, action and larger than life characters who each get their moment to shine and who forge a surprising connection. 4/5.

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy

18b149286ca6f2920e017bd5d2ffcbf5Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my most anticipated films of the year so I was both extremely excited and a bit apprehensive since there’s always the fear that when you get yourself hyped up about something you’re left disappointed. I was not disappointed but it wasn’t perfect.

Guardians of the Galaxy are about five misfits/criminals that must come together to save the Galaxy from Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). It’s a simple plot that we’ve all seen before with the bad guy wanting to take over/destroy the galaxy with the aid of some “thing” (in this case it’s an orb) that the good guys are trying to keep away from the bad guy – but the way the story’s told is what makes it feel fresh and interesting.

The Guardians themselves are all played really well and generally each have their time to shine. Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt) is funny, cocky but has a good heart. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is a total badass but does have a conscious and a softer side. Drax (Dave Bautista) is unintentionally hilarious as well as being slightly crazy. And then there’s Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel), the talking raccoon and tree, two characters that if they didn’t work then the whole film would fall apart. But work they did! Both Cooper and Diesel (as well as amazing visual effects and animation) brought these characters to life and the moments where I teared up were usually because of those two characters. Yes you don’t get to connect too deeply with the characters since you only get the bare minimum of their back-story (except for Starlord) but what you do get is interesting and works well as a starting point for the characters.

The action scenes were spectacular and the whole movie looked gorgeous. I think it was like a breath of fresh air seeing a big, bombastic film full of colour and humour rather than the more “dark and gritty” stuff we get. The humour was brilliant and never took away from the more dramatic or serious moments of the film. The only problem with so many laugh-out-loud moments is that everyone’s so busy laughing that you miss the next line – though that’s a problem with seeing any comedy film in the cinema and it just gives you another reason to go see it again.

The soundtrack was indeed awesome and I don’t think I’ve ever watched a film that uses music the way Guardians of the Galaxy does. It was clever and added something different to story. As a side-note, I have had the Pina Colada Song stuck in my head for almost a week.

The only real negative I have about Guardians of the Galaxy is the villain. Like I said, it’s the typical bad-guy-wants-to-destroy-everything plot and while Ronan is a foreboding presence it still lacks something. Also I think Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou) were underused and could have been really interesting villainous characters. Also Ronan sometimes feel like the discount villain as the audience knows that Thanos (Josh Brolin) is out there ready to cause havoc across the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see it again (though won’t be for a week or so since I gotta wait till I’m home so I can see it with my geeky-mother) so I can get all the lines I missed and appreciate it even more.