Yes, I’m still alive!
Back with a movie review, after more than a year of being in
hibernation. So naturally it comes with a warning. Here goes-
Warning: Long post ahead!
I mostly wrote stories or wrote about stories (movies
i.e.). There had been several superhero movies since my last review, and
believe me I wanted to write about them but being in Production support, I
could only afford time to watch the movies and not write about them.
There were Thor 2, Captain America 2, Amazing Spiderman 2,
Godzilla (2? Or x+2?), Hobbit 2, Hunger Games 2, Kick-ass 2, X-men (god knows
which part, it being the mash-up of prequels and sequels), and then there was
‘Dawn of the Planet of Apes’ which was the sequel of the prequel of the reboot
of the original Planet of Apes movie (which was based on a novel). I thought I
should write a post and then left it there. Meanwhile in Bollywood Sunny Leone
acted in three movies and I thought “Man, I haven’t written a post in a long
time”. See, the problem was all these movies were prequels and sequels and
reboots, and although good were pretty generic, movies that feed on our
nostalgia for the familiar characters (and I’m not talking about Sunny here.
grow up, sheesh!). Enough about me.
‘Guardians of the
Galaxy’ was a fresh change in the action/sci-fi genre. It was quite risky of
Marvel studios to make a movie on not-so-well-known characters, but they pulled
it off really well, connecting them with people from the ‘post-credit’ scenes
of other Marvel movies (giving us something to relate with) meaning these
characters live in the same age and universe as our other heroes and can very
well join the Avengers in the future. Character development is done really nice
and these characters will stay with you for a long time.
The thing about the characters is that they are some of the
most unconventional heroes around; ‘An alliance of misfits’ as described by
IMDB. None of them are heroes by themselves, and they meet in strange
circumstances like while stealing, hunting for money and in the prison. But you
know how chemistry works, Hydrogen and oxygen both friends of fire can combine
to make water. Without disclosing the story let me dive into the characters.
Characters:
Gamora is the typical warrior princess… except… she works
for the bad guys. Adopted by Thanos (that guy from the Avengers post-credit
scene) and sent to do internship with Ronan (another baddy) all she does is
doing their bidding. Gamora is played by Zoe Saldana, a lady who loves playing
alien gal. From being Blue in Avatar to Brown in Star Trek and then Green in
this movie, it seems she won’t stop until she has covered the whole rainbow
spectrum.
Peter Quill a.k.a the ‘Star-Lord’ is the most notorious,
most wanted outlaw in that quadrant of the galaxy. Or at least that’s what he
says. He steals precious objects for a living. If that doesn’t sound heroic
enough, he was born to a human woman and ‘some supreme being’. Come on! We’ve
had enough Hercules movies this year already.
‘Drax the Destroyer’ is a big bulky wrecking machine. With
the body of a wrestler (Batista), the immaculate vocabulary of a British
novelist and brain of an ostrich, this is a very confusing character. More like
‘Drax the Dumb Destroyer’. But big body guards do come in handy. ‘nuff said.
‘Rocket’, my second favourite character, is a very talented
bounty hunter. Result of some genetic experiment on a racoon he can talk, work
with any piece of machinery and make it a weapon, and doesn’t know what a
racoon is. Although small in stature he’s not afraid of anyone. Why would he be
since he has his buddy, my favourite, Groot.
Groot is a humanoid tree that can walk and talk. Well, he
can talk enough to introduce himself. Well, actually he can ONLY introduce
himself because “I am Groot” is all he can say. I suspect he’s a Pokemon. You
thought Ironman and Batman were egotistical referring their own names? Wait
till you meet Groot. Some of the most memorable quotes made by Groot include
that time he made some pretty good argument against Rocket and exclaimed “I am
Groot!” or that time when during a motivational discussion he added “I am
Groot” and so much more but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Although
from his limited vocabulary it may sound like he’s too self-centred but he’s immensely
generous, loving and ready to do anything and everything for his friends, just
like any other tree in this world that only give and give and never ask for
anything in return. His smile made me fall in love and made me appreciate the
real non-walking trees around us. Oh, and he’s a bounty hunter too.
Do any of these characters look like they could be a team?
Of course they don’t and they beat each other up real good to prove that. What follows
is a roller coaster ride, through the stars. It’s a fun filled ride, totally
crazy and hilarious, and will be entertaining to people of all ages. Take a
break from the brooding serious superheroes and indulge in some madness. I hope
if anyone has not seen the movie yet, I have piqued their interest by now.
(psst, Go watch it for Groot at least).
Another marvellous movie from Marvel.
P.S- Post credit scenes are a specialty of Marvel movies,
but you may want to skip this one. But if you insist on keeping seated till the
very end of credits and keep your eyes open you might catch a disclaimer- “No
Racoon or tree creatures were harmed during the making of this film.” Phew! And
I was going to call the Blue Cross and Green Peace in a conference call.
P.P.S- Here’s a baby Groot I sketched on my desk board.
