Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy"

It what will undoubtedly be the weekend's #1 movie (and possibly the summer's - even the 2:30 2D matinee I saw was packed), Chris Pratt becomes a bona-fide movie star;  Bradley Cooper's and Vin Diesel's voices get the most laughs and Marvel has yet another critical and popular hit franchise on it's hands. Is it the 'Best Marvel Movie Yet!'? You can decide for yourself. I'm not going there.

Pratt is Peter Quill, an Earthling abducted by space pirates in 1988, after the death of his mother. In the slightly heavy-handed and deliberately complicated plot, an unlikely band of heroes is brought together to fight against an evil force that wants to destroy the planet (sound familiar?). This time the weapon is powerful stone forged during the Big Bang and the villain, Ronan the Accuser (my beloved Pie Maker, Lee Pace) has some unclear grudge against the prosperous and peaceful people ruled by a severe-looking Glen Close in some wigs that would make Effie Trinket giggle. 

Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista is actually hilarious as a voile-skinned Drax, an out-for-revenge literalist who doesn't understand jokes or irony.  Zoe Saldana (who is fast becoming a Sci-Fi regular) isn't given much of a character to play, though I hope she'll get the chance to develop one in the inevitable sequels. A bulked-up Pace, hidden under weird makeup and an even-weirder headdress, hams it up as the bad guy like Pacino on steroids. And the few lines Close has, are barked out like she just wanted to pick up her check and to go home. But this is Pratt's movie all the way and his goofy charm and egotistical swagger as "Star Lord" are reminiscent of so many great Sci-Fi movie heroes - almost like a hot guy playing Peter Griffin playing Han Solo in the "Family Guy" Star Wars parodies.

Director James Gunn (Slither - one of my faves!) keeps the action moving while managing to keep the many homages and nods from becoming cliches. There are lots of great 70's tunes and 80's references (the 'outlaw' John Stamos, for one) and plenty of cool Sci-Fi gadgets and space ships. "The Walking Dead" alum Michael Rooker; Djimon Hounsou; John C. Reilly; and Benicio Del Toro (looking particularly silly) are also on hand with voice cameos from Nathan Fillion and Rob Zombie.

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy is fun and faced-paced and loud and bright and so very, very colorful. My eyes were exhausted in 2D. I can't imagine it in 3. In all honestly, it is visually stunning and Gunn's palette works beautifully for a comic book movie with no actual super-heroes. Well, except maybe for Groot.* And while hardly perfect, it is undoubtedly the most fun I've had at the movies all year. **** (Four Out of Four Stars). Guardians of the Galaxy is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language." Make sure you stay for the after-credits Easter Egg, which is hilarious and had to be explained to every teenager attending with their parents. It was hilarious hearing them all. Oh - and Stan Lee's cameo is particularly hilarious.

*If someone doesn't market a desk-top Dancing Groot toy, I will be very unhappy. Because I must have one.

More, anon.
Prospero

Somethin's Wrong With Me!

I was watching ABC's "Castle" tonight on my DVR and thinking about how Nathan Fillion should be a bigger star than he is. He's good-looking, built like a brick you-know-what and very, very funny. Sadly, he's been bounced around in so many TV shows, he's often hard to keep track of. He was in the terrible sitcom "Two Guys and a Girl" (which didn't hurt Ryan Reynolds' career); "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a show I enjoyed when I saw it, but never got into); "Firefly" (a show I never got the chance to get into); the regrettable "Miss Match" (a show I never saw); "Drive" (a show that aired once) and "Desperate Housewives" (as a character with very little air-time). He's also the hero in Joss Whedon's amazing and hilarious web-series "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." But I think the first time I really noticed him was in the disgusting and hysterically funny Horror/Comedy, Slither.

Written and directed by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead), Slither concerns a small town over-run by alien slugs who turn folks into zombies and the richest guy in town into a tentacled beastie intent on taking over the planet. Fillion is Sheriff Bill Pardy, still in love with his High School Sweetheart, Starla (Elizabeth Banks). Starla is married to Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), an obnoxious creep who stumbles upon a meteorite in the woods (never a good thing). The creature in the meteor attacks and invades Grant, transforming him into something other than human. Grant, of course, is cheating on Starla with the town pump, and soon after he's infected, he impregnates said slag with a million alien slugs. Hiding in a barn and eating live animals, the slut finally bursts open (in one of the movie's funniest and grossest scenes), setting her progeny loose on the town. It's up to Bill, Jack Mac Ready (character actor Gregg Henry) and young Margaret (Jennifer Copping) to save the town - and the world - from the invading monsters.

Eventually, they track Grant down to a field and confront him, only to have this happen:

Gooey; icky; creepy and a whole lotta fun, Slither is one of those movies best enjoyed with a whole group of friends who will scream and cringe and carry-on in the way that all good Horror movies can make a group of friends react. Add a cameo by "The Office" star Jenna Fischer as bubble-brained dispatcher and a voice-over by Rob Zombie, and you have 95 minutes of pure Horror movie fun. Note: If, like my dear friend K, you have an aversion to snails, slugs and other goopey creatures, you may want to avoid this one.

And just because I love Fillion, here's an hilarious little short film he did with Gunn not too long ago, PG Porn: Nailing Your Wife:

BTW, if you haven't seen "Castle," I highly recommend it. Fillion and Co-Star Stana Katic (The Quantum of Solace) have terrific on-screen chemistry and TV legend Susan Sullivan is a hoot as Castle's actress mom.

More terrors, anon.
Prospero