MARVEL'S LATEST CONFECTION IS A MIXED BAG
Art: Copyright Marvel Studios
After much anticipation, thanks to the customary year-long publicity
drip-feed ( and inventive use of continuity crossovers ) Marvel’s newest
addition to their so-called ‘Cinematic Universe’ has arrived. Since Iron Man
unexpectedly stole the thunder from household names such as Spiderman and DC Comics' Superman, Marvel were quick to realise that there is gold in their comic-book
hinterlands, and now serve us the first instalment in what is Phase 3 of their
comic-book film universe ( Phase 2 spanning Iron
Man 3 to next years' Avengers: Age of Ultron
).
Once the cinematic Avengers and its spin-offs got
established, many were caught off-guard by the choice for Marvel’s second
super-team launch ( the Fantastic Four and X-Men still being handled – rather
shakily - by other studios ). Guardians was originally a 'C'-list comic property,
memorable for its whacky characters that, being set in the far future, wouldn’t
trouble the continuity of the regular Marvel universe too much. This reviewer
seems to dimly recall characters such as Starhawk ( who for some inexplicable
reason, could switch from being a man to a woman ), and Nikki, a chick whose
head was permanently on fire. Certainly, the abiding memory is that at the
time, Marvel creatives were kicking back, and having a bit of fun. They were
probably heavily stoned, too.
So, ten Marvel films in, does Guardians of the Galaxy bring
anything new to the table?
The film is marked by its breezy use of sweetshop colours (
a fizzy purple and lime-green palette with just about every other part of the
spectrum cranked up for good measure ), lending its alien characters, hardware,
and most impressively, spaceships the look of a Roger Dean and Chris Foss
fantasy art mash-up ( are these guys even on the payroll? – because they should
be ).*
On the rare occasions you get to see an Earth-type planet,
it's an architectural visualizer’s dream – all newly-built promenades
and walkways drenched in sunshine that renders the whole thing a painterly
vision of California Futuroid. So the
film could get a pass on its visuals alone.
Admirably, Guardians gives us the fastest origin story in
movie history, and after establishing that Peter Quill - AKA StarLord – is a
hero with the obligatory parental-separation issues, we can get on with story
at hand. Namely that he’s gone from 1980’s suburban earth-kid to intergalactic
pirate within thirty seconds. Getting picked up by space police while on a
scavenger hunt, he ends up in a criminal line-up, where he meets the rest of
the ‘Dirty-Dozen-In-Space’ – forms the Guardians, and mayhem ensues.
Unfortunately, the brevity of the build-up does leave the
audience grasping for a central thread by which to anchor the spectacle. Seeing
the film with local writer and aficionado James Burr, we both exited the film
thinking that there was something missing, but we couldn’t quite put our finger
on it. ‘Maybe because it didn’t feel like there was a three-act structure..?’ my
colleague pondered. It certainly felt more like a ‘middle-movie’, and perhaps
that’s why the Empire Strikes Back similarities have been mooted on the
internet. Unlike the landmark Star Wars sequel however, Guardians lacks any real emotional depth, therefore there is little corresponding investment in the
characters’ story arcs. My friend also mentioned that the 3D – which he was
seeing in a cinema for the first time – though impressive, was distracting,
occasionally making him look at places away from the actual story-telling. Upshot: Stick with 2D.
Either way, we did feel a sense of anti-climax, as the
publicity campaign had led us to expect a sharp Douglas Adams-style
intergalactic romp. A bunch of characters pointlessly bickering between
set-pieces, is not exactly Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Hell, it’s not even
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
There are, I suppose, many movie-goers who would appreciate
being jacked straight into the story, with no messing about. And it would seem
that the casting department contributed to this notion – they didn’t exactly
stretch themselves, put it that way. Chris Pratt as a semi-loveable layabout?
Check. Zoe Saldana as a feisty arse-kicking person-of-colour? Check. Michael
Rooker as a shouty ( blue ) redneck? Check. ( Bradley Cooper as an annoying
squirrel?...you get the picture. ) So it’s difficult to wrap your mind around
what it is that director, former Troma
schlock-trooper James Gunn, actually had to direct. ( ‘Don’t stand there, or
you’ll get blown up...no, don’t stand there, either’ ).
Ironically, several elements do succeed where you don’t
expect them to. Many of the humans still manage to bring out a performance
despite being buried under layers of makeup and prosthetics, notably Dave Bautista as the amusingly
literal Drax, while Groot the Tree Guy is a brilliant piece of animated pathos.
The marketing department certainly did their job, as the
film is on track to score the biggest August opening in history. However, as
far as the summer of 2014 goes, it’s not as good a superhero movie as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, nor
does it pack the pathos or punch of Godzilla’s
beautiful reboot. Ultimately, Guardians is a cheerful palate-cleansing confection
to round off the summer, and the kids will love it. Those not used to a diet of
Skittles and Cherry-ade, however, may feel like a detox is in order.
*14th January 2015: It looks like Future-Rocker's content droids should make more effort to crawl the end credits of movies. Apparently Chris Foss's art played an important part in getting the film green-lit, and Chris was also brought on board to contribute designs, as James Gunn explains at COMICBOOKMOVIE.COM . Apologies to all for the incorrect information!
