Making Sense of Marvel: Should I Care About "Guardians Of The Galaxy"?

Hello all, I've been thinking for a while about how to follow up my Pacific Rim musings and, although I could probably write another 10 or so posts on what is probably going to end up as my film of the year, I figured I should probably do something a bit more useful/appealing.

As you may or may not know, San Diego Comicon took place last weekend.  Comicon has evolved over the last decade or so from a simple (but massive) comic trading convention into what has been called "the Cannes of geek cinema".  In particular, during the tentative first years of the Marvel Studios "Avengers" project (now regarded as "phase 1") it was a safe haven to show costumes, trailers, concept art and other bits off in front of a fairly loyal crowd.  Now days it's pretty much an early focus group for prospective geek/mainstream crossover films (read: comic/superhero films); come with the goods (Joss Whedon directing the Avengers!?) and the positive buzz generated can sustain a film through to opening day and beyond, fail to impress (looking at you Green Lantern) and well, Green Lantern happens.

This year, Marvel turned some mainstream news heads at their press conference, when, for an as yet un-hyped phase 2 film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Karen Gillan, Dr Who favorite, rising star and all around image of perfection (according to science, probably) turned up for the panel and did this*:

So there it is, Guardians of the Galaxy, but what is it, and should anyone care? Lets find out!

GotG first appeared in the comic world way back in 1969, in an alternate timeline (get used to alternate timelines, we're going to deal with a lot of them as we go exploring comic back-stories), however the current team were put together in 2008 by Dan Abnett, drawing characters from the Annihilation: Conquest crossover event to act as an intergalactic, proactive police force specializing in preventing attacks from other universes.

Cast:

The Guardians are:

Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) as Star Lord, a half human, half alien who serves as the team's leader and possesses increased strength and durability thanks to the suit he wears.  Imagine Marvel's take on Han Solo and you're pretty much there.

Dave Bautista (WWE Wrestler Batista) as Drax the Destroyer, a human who is killed along with his family by Thanos (remember him, from the Avengers credits scene?).  He is resurrected in a more powerful body for the sole purpose of destroying Thanos, pretty much a cold blooded killer.

Zoe Saldana (Avatar) as Gamora, an alien, the last of her species, raised and trained by Thanos, eventually turning against him.  She is a master assassin and combatant and has enhanced speed and strength as a result of treatments performed by Thanos.

Rounding out the team are Rocket Raccoon, a highly evolved raccoon and tactical and demolitions expert and Groot, a tree-like alien who can control trees, regrow himself and possesses a genius level intellect.

Both Rocket and Groot are as yet unrevealed in terms of casting, with an announcement expected "very, very soon".

I could go into the rest of the cast, Benicio Del Torro, John C. Riley, Karen Gillan and more, but this is going to go on forever if I do that.

So bottom line, should we care about Guardians of the Galaxy? Absolutely!  I'll admit, I kind of didn't give a damn before I started writing this post, but having dug a little into the universe, read an issue of the comic and explored a little of where the story could fit in with what we already have, I'm really excited to see it on the big screen.  Throw in that it's being directed by James Gunn (Super, Slither) and is more or less Marvel doing Firefly/Serenity then it should do enough to please.  Even more important is the role it will play in building the central Avengers story, adding a ton of depth and menace to Thanos, who (after more Comicon reveals) now won't pop up as a main bad guy until Avengers 3, as well as expanding the size and scope of the Marvel Studios Universe.

It's a risky move, a big departure from the safe "money" films Marvel have stuck to so far, but all the talent seems to be in place and if everything goes well it'll be a perfect change of pace before we get to Avengers 2 in 2015.  I'll be keeping my eye on this on, as we'll definitely find out more before it comes out in just over 12 months (August 1st 2014).

At least it'll be better than Green Lantern? Right?

Ben J

*on the Karen Gillan head shaving debate, as someone who is going alarmingly thin on top at the age of 25, I'm not the kind of person who particularly gives a damn about how someone wears/cuts their hair.  Personally I think it's a bit sad/verging on sexist that any woman is 2013 has to be labeled as brave or courageous for altering her appearance to deviate from gender stereotypes.  That said, it generated plenty of publicity for the film, Karen still looks lovely and I'm sure she'll have a great time counting the fat stacks of cash she probably made by taking the role on.  Everybody wins!

Pacific Rim (or how Guillermo del Toro saved my childhood)

It's 3.55 on Friday the 12th of July, I walked out of Pacific Rim just over an hour ago, the bus journey home was 40 minutes of torturous heat, it took serious effort for me to not get sweat on my limited edition poster (see below) but I don't care, my head is still spinning.  Long story short, your mileage may vary, but, for me, Pacific Rim was as close to a "perfect" summer blockbuster film as I suspect I will ever see.

Ok, long story time, in order to get across how Pacific Rim made me feel, I need to go into some detail about my childhood, don't worry, I'll be as brief as possible.  When was about 4 or 5, my mum took on more hours in work, including working every Friday, as my Dad worked shift patterns as a firefighter (4 days working, 4 days off) I usually had to spend about 2 Fridays a month at my Nan's, staying over until Saturday morning.

As I'm the oldest of my generation, my Nan's "first grandchild" if you will, my Nan had nothing in her house to entertain me.  So she did the decent thing, she went to every charity shop, bargain bin and video rental shop (remember those?) to grab as many cheap "boy friendly" cartoons/shows as she could.  I spent a lot of time watching those videos, to the point where to this day I can still remember all the plot points of the stories, if not the titles.  There was an eclectic mix of Transformers, generic dubbed Japanese mecha anime, Thunderbirds and classic Godzilla movies.  Within the first 5 minutes of Pacific Rim, I was face to face with HD, 3D, IMAX sized reminders of all those hours spent watching videos with my Nan, I didn't stand a chance.

There's a saying I'm quite fond of: "Never argue with an idiot, they'll just bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience", Pacific Rim brought me down to it's level, it's a film for 12 year olds who like bashing their toys together and throwing them round their bedroom.  Where it spectacularly succeeded, is that it made me feel like a 12 year old again.  I was scared by things that shouldn't scare me, I cared about characters other reviewers said were unlikable and I was moved by dialogue which could probably be described as boiler plate.

So about the film, I'm not going to spoil anything, but giant robot/monster fights are on the poster and each one is easily worth the price of admission.  I thought Man of Steel had satisfying conflict until today, combatants go at it like they should for beings which are described by one character as "2500 tons of awesome".  Every punch has tremendous weight, every impact resonates through the whole cinema, the choreography is spot on as well, this isn't the Yoda lightsaber fights from the Star Wars prequels with back flips for back flips sake, this is two forces of nature straining against each other, using any means necessary to win a battle to the death.

In between the epic smackdowns are, obviously, some quieter scenes.  While some have expressed displeasure or disappointment at these parts, I found them to do a perfectly serviceable job of building both the characters and the world.  The world in particular is beautifully imagined, with a real "lived in" feel and great details (one example being how, in contrast to our own society, beachfront housing and property on the water is considered the domain of the poor/working class, with richer citizens now living inland, further from potential monster landing sites).  The script also moves along at a great pace, not lingering too long on any particular scenario and making sure the 2 hour 10 minute run time seems more like 90.

To sum up, it was going to take some spectacular balls up for me to not love Pacific Rim, the film reaches right back into my childhood memories and flicks all my switches.  If you can't recall those experiences, if you never had them, or if you need every film you watch to have a profound message and an Oscar winning script then you'll probably hate this film, and I won't be upset, because it's probably not for everyone.  If you're on the fence, please go and give this a try, if you're deciding between this and Grown Ups 2, I implore you to give your money to this film instead.  Del Toro took a massive risk making a $180 million, lovingly crafted, passionately filmed masterpiece of a Summer blockbuster and he hit it clean out of the park.

                                                                                                                              Ben J

P.S The 3D is well worth it, coming from someone who prefers not to bother if possible, it's handled excellently and really gives a great sense of depth in the fight scenes.

P.P.S Stay through the credits.