GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

A MOVIE REVIEW

BY Lorenzo Vallente and Anton Sobreviñas

Directed by: James Gunn

Starring: Chris Pratt    Zoe Saldana       Dave Bautista

       Vin Diesel    Bradley Cooper

PLOT SUMMARY:

The story centers on a ragtag bunch of “heroes” from very different backgrounds: Peter Quill, a smuggler who steals things from others for cash, Gamora, an assassin for Thanos who seeks redemption for her past sins, Drax the Destroyer, a warrior who is seeking revenge against Ronan the Accuser for killing his family, Rocket, a genetically engineered raccoon who is a weapons expert, and Groot, a tree-like humanoid who is the accomplice of Rocket. The story is quite simple, not uncommon for a Marvel film. Peter Quill steals an orb containing an Infinity Stone, which Ronan wants as well as it will grant him infinite power over the galaxy. Through different circumstances, these five people meet and form the Guardians of the Galaxy, intent to stop Ronan from going through with his master plan. It’s all pretty standard stuff.

REVIEW PROPER:

VALLENTE’S OPINION

As usual, much has been said about this movie. Most, if not all of the human population seem to love this movie, and the amazing reviews and box-office results seem to prove this statement correct. In my humble opinion, the movie was not all that amazing. Let’s start with the positives. The direction was very confident and the special effects were spectacular. James Gunn was the right choice for director as he captures the world he is bringing to life well. He handles the action scenes very adeptly. The one that sticks to my mind the most is the action scene between spaceships at the midway mark of the movie. It was genuinely exciting and fantastically shot. The special effects are also amazing, as we have come to expect from Marvel movies with gigantic budgets. Most of the acting was great as well, save for a few underwhelming performances.

Now to the negatives: as stated before, not all of the acting was superb. I found some actors to be too dry, and the glaring example is Zoe Saldana. While she has genuine acting chops, for the most part, it seemed like she was either acting too emotionlessly or was just genuinely bored. The dialogue also felt too expository. I did not think that people could actually tell these lines to other people without sounding a bit loony or dull. While the characters were developed enough, I thought the villain was very lackluster. There was nothing wrong with the actor’s performance. It’s just that the script does nothing but make him sound scary without him actually doing anything that scary. He was too one note to me.

SOBREVINAS’ OPINION:

I disagree with my partner and think that this is an exceptionally made film. The story, while basic, was effective. The acting by most of the actors was great, the special effects were amazing and the humor was genuinely funny. James Gunn really took this world and made it his own.

VALLENTE’S RATING: 6.9/10

SOBREVINAS’ RATING: 8/10