Marvel's latest is a glorious way to wallow in epic daft space-opera for a couple of hours. Gunn's quirky and off-kilter directorial style together with his brilliant handling of character and throwaway humour all remain intact, making this a lavish, ambitious, colourful and hugely enjoyable romp. Indeed, the film opens with unexpectedly strong and well-handled emotional beats that inspire confidence from the outset and which is maintained throughout. The comedy genius of Chris Pratt is a superb piece of casting as Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill, centring the film with genuinely joyful swagger and strength, Groot and Rocket are winning characters realised wonderfully on screen, and Zoe Saldana and (an almost unrecognisable) Karen Gillan flesh out their characters strongly. The links to the MCU work effectively but Guardians expands the existing scope considerably and with great success. The main triumph of the film is establishing its space-hopping expanded universe so naturally and effectively (as well as its relatively unknown band of likeable rogues) that the film is easy to engage with and extremely entertaining. (Be warned: the now-traditional credits scene - right at the very end of the credit roll - is inessential and bizarrely unexpected!)
No comments:
Post a Comment