3 reasons why I’m hooked on Guardians of the Galaxy

Made up of a green lady, a machine-gun-wielding raccoon, a walking tree, a tattooed hulk and a Walkman-toting Hans-Solo wannabe, the Guardians of Galaxy looks to be one of the most ridiculous superhero tag teams, much less in matching yellow prison wear. Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Like most Marvel movies, Guardians of the Galaxy features a bunch of ragtag heroes who must team up in order to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions. (Some of you are probably groaning, “Not another superhero flick”.) However, that’s where the similarities end.

In Guardians of the Galaxy, we find lead hero, space scavenger Peter Quill (played by buffed up funny guy Chris Pratt) wreaking havoc across the galaxy while head bopping to a 70s pop mixtape on his Walkman (how many of you still own one of these?), one of his souvenirs from Earth, from where he was abducted as a child in the 80s. Alongside more unlikely heroes — green-skinned assassin Gamora (played by sci-fi franchise queen Zoe Saldana), tree-like humanoid Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel),  hulking, red-marked Drax (played by Dave Batista) and machine-gun-wielding, hyper intelligent raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) — he finds himself sucked into a fight to prevent big bad Ronan (Lee Pace) from destroying the galaxy.  

It sounds ridiculous, and it even looks ridiculous, but that is precisely where its charm lies. Not convinced? Here are three reasons why you’ll love Guardians of the Galaxy.

1. You’ll have a blast (sometimes literally) ...
… just as long as you don’t take it too seriously, clear from the first look at all-grown-up lead hero — and lead goofball — Peter Quill on one of his treasure-hunting Indiana-Jones-esque space romps. Still carrying around his old mixtape (dubbed “Awesome Mix Vol. 1”), he grooves, goofs off, grabs an alien lizard as a makeshift microphone and generally shows us that he’s never really left behind his 80s childhood. Add to that the hilarious one-liners and relentless gags, you’ll find yourself laughing hysterically for most of the movie — even at all the wrong moments. Like your typical Hollywood bachelor, director James Gunn seems to be inflicted with a healthy dose of commitment anxiety, undercutting every sentimental or touching moment with his signature smarmy, self-decapitating quips. Sure, this does make for great lighthearted fun — much appreciated amongst the DC/Warner drama queens — but at the end of the day, it really doesn’t help me to connect as deeply to the characters, and believe me, I tried.

2. It’ll make you love nature ...

Look at that face; have you ever seen such an adorable tree or raccoon? Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

… or more like the amazing CGI and animation. Most times, seeing these “realistic” computer generated characters on screen (cough, Ninja Turtles, cough) set my hairs on end and have me running towards my collection of Disney animated classics. However, one look at the completely adorable raccoon-tree-duo is enough melt away all my past prejudices towards CGI characters. While they both look equally aw-worthy, the two could not be more opposite of each other, with the sullenly sensitive and sarcastic talking Rocket and the gentle giant Groot. Yet the unlikely friendship formed between this barely talking (but walking) tree and always talking raccoon becomes the heart and soul of the movie. (Yes, I’m not afraid to admit that more than a few tears were shed over these two.)  

3. Throwback to old school fun
Unless you’ve been stuck on a spaceship for the past 30 years, (or even then) it would’ve been hard to escape the classic 70s hits. Even if you don’t like pina colada or getting caught in the rain, Rupert Holmes’s “Escape” will strike a chord in you. Having Guardians playing to the sounds of these familiar, cheesy tunes is what makes our awkwardly hilarious, tomfool heroes even more comfortingly ridiculous. Seeing Peter Quill breaking out in silly dance moves to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love”, particularly, won’t fail to bring out the kid in you again. (Come on, who hasn’t has their fun sliding around in socks and miming into imaginary microphones?) If that still fails, 80s kids will find it hard to resist the call of childhood memories with all the wacky pop-culture references crammed into the film. Even someone like me who was born in the 90s cracked up at the crazy Footloose reference.

If you’re tired of all the dramatic superhero flicks, love the 80s and appreciate a good space opera, you definitely have to catch the Guardians of the Galaxy. Still not convinced? Take a look at this gif from the movie:

I rest my case. Image: Tumblr