One scene into "Guardians of the Galaxy," Chris Pratt's Peter Quill — thieving Ravager, self-styled Star Lord, and general galactic ne'er-do-well — walks into an alien treasurehouse.
He takes off his high-tech mask. Looks around. Pauses. And then, grooving to the tape on his carefully preserved Walkman, boogies down to that '70s guilty pleasure, "Come and Get Your Love."
And that's when we see what "Guardians of the Galaxy" is doing. And know that it knows exactly what it's doing.
And that's when we see what "Guardians of the Galaxy" is doing. And know that it knows exactly what it's doing.
On one, most obvious level, of course, it's digging deep beneath Marvel's fertile but definitely overfarmed topsoil to uncover some of its more outre offerings.
Getting a little jaded with iron men and mutant teens? OK, well how about a slacker spaceman? A walking tree? A cyber raccoon? Does that get your attention? And if not, how about a lot more comedy than you're used to in these movies, and a bit more sex?
Not that "Guardians" is raunchy. But it gets away with as much as it can (there are a few almost-pronounced four-letter words, and a flipped finger). And it feels like Peter could probably show even Captain James T. Kirk a thing or two about going to bed with a thing or two.
But on another, deeper level, "Guardians" is a serious tribute to pop culture. Quill's doesn't love old, top-40 rock because he's being ironic; he loves it because it reminds him of his dead mother. He cherishes it because, as artificial as it can be, it connects with him in a very real way.
The movie knows that junk art is still art, that no one is more in need of something to speak for them than the inarticulate — and with that it takes the secret pull of comic geekdom and elevates it to a kind of bittersweet, obsessive romanticism.
The plot — well, that's a bit of a fall back to the Marvel comfort zone, where some not-very-interesting villain wants to destroy the cosmos, or a good chunk of it, for some not-very-clear reasons. Of course, first he needs to get his hands on some fabulous, ancient power source; it's up to the good guys to stop him.
And really, how many times has that script been dusted off? It's more Mad Libs than Marvel, with blanks to fill in the new names.
Except this time, the names are ones like Rocket (that streetwise, almost-a-raccoon) and Groot, the walking talking tree (well, semi-talking — all he's learned to say is "I am Groot"). And Gamora (with Zoe Saldana once again, as a kick-butt alien) and the lethal Drax (with fighter Dave Bautista as a kind of Tor Johnson who's in on the joke).
The star, though — and this is definitely the movie that makes him one — is Chris Pratt. He's developed a six-pack (or maybe even an eight-pack) to do his one obligatory shirtless scene as the hero and in some ways that's a shame; it would add to Peter's real-guyness if he was just a little less of Han Solo and a little more of a stoner schlub.
But Pratt, who's been happily coasting along for awhile in rom-coms as the hero's best-bud, no-worries sidekick, is absolutely charming here, and definitely ready to move up to the next stage in his career — that is, if he can remember to set his alarm and make the meeting.
Sadly, the chief villains are a little forgettable, as they often are in Marvel films, while Bradley Cooper is a slight disappointment as the voice of Rocket; what the film needed was a quintessentially authentic New Yorker, like Christopher Walken or Harvey Keitel. (Seriously, dream casting? Martin Scorsese.)
But director Gunn — who also made the low-budget satire "Super" and the underrated horror movie "Slither" — is good with his large cast. He's also good with the action sequences, particularly the one-on-one fights; the more complicated they become, with dozens of spaceships filling the screen, the more removed from real emotion they get.
But "Guardians of the Galaxy" isn't about that kind of scale. It's about the lazy comfort of underachieving (and the nagging guilt that maybe you should be doing more). It's about the sloppy squabbles of friendship (and the realization that, despite them, those bonds matter, and only grow). It's about finding real, honest emotion in a stupid 10CC song.
And it's about — well, it's about the best summer blockbuster this year.
Ratings note: The film contains some strong language, adult material and violence.
'Guardians of the Galaxy' (PG-13) Disney (121 min.)
Directed by James Gunn. With Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and the voice of Bradley Cooper. Now playing in New Jersey.
