Guardians of the Galaxy

 

It feels like ages since anybody had fun in space. Of late, space has come to Earth and tried to blow up or invade it, treating the pesky humans who inhabit it as a nuisance or a mobile buffet. Few movies since The Fifth Element have tried to portray the wider galaxy as anything more than a succession of grim, rainy alien worlds full of dangerous fauna that will eat you or plant their sharp-toothed young in your abdomen. Those that have tried just contain a parade of flatly rendered CGI backdrops, populated by CGI aliens and slightly bored actors trying to forget the fact that they’re surrounded by nothing more than twenty feet of green screen. So thank God for the Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie that thinks whatever else space might be, it’s also awesome.

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), abducted from Earth as a child, is a space-faring freebooter who unwittingly steals the McGuffin at the heart of the plot. This orb of mysterious power is sought by a hooded, hammer-wielding genocidal maniac named Ronan (Lee Pace), the oddball Collector (Benicio Del Toro) and the scavenger Yondu (a blue-skinned Michael Rooker). Quill rapidly falls in with the deadly assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana, green skin), the vengeful Drax (Dave Bautista, grey skin with red swirls), Groot (walking tree, voiced by Vin Diesel) and the smart-alec Rocket (racoon with a penchant for guns, voiced by Bradley Cooper), and together they form the ragtag band who, wouldn’t you just know it, are the galaxy’s only hope against the bad guys.

So far, so traditional, but director James Gunn joyfully undercuts the straightforward heroics every chance he gets, and the script is shot through with real wit and invention. Quill’s straight-faced attempt to convince Gamora of the Earth legend he calls Footloose, and of the hero Kevin Bacon, is one of the many highlights. The movie is as enjoyable when the cast are sitting around bickering amongst themselves, as it is when they are dog-fighting spaceships or breaking out of prison. Bradley Cooper’s sneering, cynical Rocket is a joy to behold, and the latest in a line of entirely CGI creations that manage to gel effortlessly with a real cast. Lee Pace’s villain is a bit of a one-note snooze, but Karen Gillan as his psychopathic right-hand woman Nebula looks fantastic, a blue and silky streak of malevolence.

The movie is suffused with a soundtrack of seventies classics, the songs from a tape that Quill keeps with him as a memento of his mother. We see a ship cruising through the hollowed out skull of a giant space god to the sound of David Bowie’s Moonage Daydream, and the big plan to take down the bad guy is played out through a montage of scenes set to Joan Jett’s raucous Cherry Bomb. These are lovely touches, lending colour and cool to the wonder that the beautiful visuals amply evoke, keeping things fresh where a traditional orchestral soundtrack would have felt tired and familiar. Also welcome are the bold touches of colour out of which Gunn builds his alien worlds: bright swatches of yellow and red and green where too often we’ve been given gun-metal grey and black.

At first glance this may seem like the riskiest movie Marvel Studios have made yet: a new franchise with only tangential links to the ever-expanding roster of heroes back on Earth. But it also feels like the smartest. Just when superheroes were beginning to feel a little bit familiar, Marvel swerve and give you a witty science fiction adventure that cares not a jot about Earth. It’s a terrifically enjoyable romp through outer space, and a timely reminder that saving the galaxy should be fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy is now showing at Savoy, Cineworld, and Showcase Nottingham Cinemas now.

Guardians of the Galaxy official website