Guardians of the Galaxy

Our Review

The movie that should not have worked. A talking raccoon with a machine gun, a sentient tree who says one word, a cast of nobodies from a comic strip nobody read, and a director best known for schlock horror. James Gunn turned all of it into the most confident swing of the early era, a space western scored to a dead mother’s mixtape.

Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill is Han Solo energy without the smirk protection, a guy who genuinely believes he is a legend while everyone around him checks the brochure. The chemistry of the five leads carries the film: Zoe Saldana’s dead straight assassin, Dave Bautista’s literal minded bruiser getting every laugh, Bradley Cooper’s wounded raccoon, Vin Diesel finding a full character in three words.

The needle drops are famous for a reason. The opening title sequence, Quill kicking alien rodents across a cave to Redbone, announces the whole tone in ninety seconds. Lee Pace’s Ronan is a dour nothing of a villain, the one genuine weakness, but the finale’s dance off distraction is exactly the joke this movie earned the right to make.

A joy. Our score: 8/10.