What is there to say?
I mean, I watched the movie twice opening weekend. I know for a fact I'll be seeing it again in theaters. I know for a fact that I'll own it on blu-ray. I saved the movie tickets so I can have them inside the blu-ray, because I feel it is important. And I've done that for exactly one other movie, and that one was because it was my first movie date with my now-wife then-date-partner. I put up a quickie review on facebook and tumblr (you should really follow me there, too, if you don't). It is great. It is beyond great. It is the best summer movie I've ever seen. It is the best comic book film I've ever seen. It is superbly directed down to minuscule detail. It is superbly acted.
Let me harp on that for a moment. In the majority of scenes, you had three actors who were actually there and two stand-ins. The two stand-ins did a very good job, but really, on set, there were only three out of the five major stars there. The energy between actors there and not ... that is something that you would think would impact the film. Yet, Rocket and Groot are never NOT there. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are part of the movie just as strongly, seemingly, as the other three leads. But they were not there, in person. Their voices weren't added until after the film was basically shot. Yet Groot and Rocket are very much a part of the franchise. It was emotional to see them react and act and grow and change.
After the second viewing, one of the folks at the theatre with us asked me what I thought about the movie not having a story. It had plot: go get the thing, bring it here, stop the guy from getting it, get it from the guy. But he wondered how there was no story. And I wonder if others think that as well. But I can very much assuredly tell all of you, readers, that there is a story. It is a story about character. It is a story about making difficult decisions. It is a story about what it means to be "good." These characters never stop being "a-holes" as the trailer and the movie constantly refers to them. But there is a marked difference in them as the film progresses. They learn to trust. They learn to love. They learn they are not alone. They have friends.
And that is a HUGE deal. This is not a movie or story about family. Family bonds are easy to write about. It is not about love or significant others. It is about a group of people becoming friends. It is not just circumstances that bring them together and they have to save the galaxy! No, they are brought together because of their actual actions and choices. And they save the galaxy because they choose to. It is about choice.
The movie isn't perfect. There are some silly things, like that most bladed props are rounded, and some of the CGI mouth shapes do not match the words being said by the CGI characters. But those things do not actually matter. What we are were given broke every single mold. There was no "good enough." There was no "small part." There was no same-old-same-old tropified story. What we watched was ... well ...
Marvelous.
Excuse the pun.
Go see the movie. If you don't, you'll be that dumbie that didn't see Star Wars: A New Hope in the theaters when they had the chance.
Grade: A+++
Oh, and the after credits sequence. It doesn't matter. It is a fun joke for comics fans, and that is all. It leads to no further plots or films. Guardians of the Galaxy is standalone. Except for the fact that they started working on a sequel a week before the film's opening weekend, and part of the credits let us in the audience know for a fact that there would be another. But yeah, anyway. Go see it.
A little bit more, bulletpoint form
- Every single actor is amazing at what they do, and they are all my favorite
- Every single song is purposeful, and relevant
- Every single shot is exactly what the director/writer wanted them to be
- Every single person involved is proud of what they created
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