guardians of galaxy
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.
Running time: 121 minutes.
Three stars out of four.
As I’m writing this review of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” I have “Come and Get Your Love,” the bouncy 1974 pop tune by Redbone, stuck in my head. Actually, it’s been stuck in my head pretty much non-stop ever since I saw the movie earlier this week.
Chris Pratt’s character — a space scavenger who refers to himself as Star-Lord, although nobody else does — dances around and listens to the song on a decidedly low-tech Walkman while dressed in high-tech gear to search a cave for a mysterious object. The catchy chorus kicks in just as the title bursts across the screen in giant, vibrant yellow. It’s a joyous moment and an early indication of the irreverent, infectious vibe that makes “Guardians of the Galaxy” the cheekiest, wackiest blockbuster of the summer.
You don’t need to know anything about this Marvel property to enjoy it. The characters who make up this motley crew aren’t nearly as familiar as Iron Man or Captain America or the Hulk, but they’ve got a relatably flawed humanity to them — which is ironic, given that most of them aren’t even human in the first place. Director and co-writer James Gunn brings a giddiness and a wondrous, endless sense of why-the-hell-not? possibility that’s reminiscent of “Star Wars” — sorry, “Episode IV: A New Hope” — as well as some character similarities to match. But we’ll get to all that later.
Pratt stars as Peter Quill, an unflappably confident rogue and ladies’ man who bops from one job to the next, staying on his toes and staying out of trouble in a mixed-up future. As we see in the film’s dramatic start, he lost his mom to cancer when he was a kid and then promptly got sucked into space by a timely UFO. Now that he’s in his 30s, he’s a loner, a rebel — and his only tie to Earth is the mix tape of ’70s pop songs that serves as his own personal soundtrack to all
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.
Running time: 121 minutes.
Three stars out of four.
As I’m writing this review of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” I have “Come and Get Your Love,” the bouncy 1974 pop tune by Redbone, stuck in my head. Actually, it’s been stuck in my head pretty much non-stop ever since I saw the movie earlier this week.
Chris Pratt’s character — a space scavenger who refers to himself as Star-Lord, although nobody else does — dances around and listens to the song on a decidedly low-tech Walkman while dressed in high-tech gear to search a cave for a mysterious object. The catchy chorus kicks in just as the title bursts across the screen in giant, vibrant yellow. It’s a joyous moment and an early indication of the irreverent, infectious vibe that makes “Guardians of the Galaxy” the cheekiest, wackiest blockbuster of the summer.
You don’t need to know anything about this Marvel property to enjoy it. The characters who make up this motley crew aren’t nearly as familiar as Iron Man or Captain America or the Hulk, but they’ve got a relatably flawed humanity to them — which is ironic, given that most of them aren’t even human in the first place. Director and co-writer James Gunn brings a giddiness and a wondrous, endless sense of why-the-hell-not? possibility that’s reminiscent of “Star Wars” — sorry, “Episode IV: A New Hope” — as well as some character similarities to match. But we’ll get to all that later.
Pratt stars as Peter Quill, an unflappably confident rogue and ladies’ man who bops from one job to the next, staying on his toes and staying out of trouble in a mixed-up future. As we see in the film’s dramatic start, he lost his mom to cancer when he was a kid and then promptly got sucked into space by a timely UFO. Now that he’s in his 30s, he’s a loner, a rebel — and his only tie to Earth is the mix tape of ’70s pop songs that serves as his own personal soundtrack to all