Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

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Review: Marvel’s ‘Gaurdians of the Galaxy’ is a summertime success

Elizabeth Pulanco/ Winonan

“I could watch this movie over and over again and not get bored of it,” sophomore Janet Odeku said when asked about “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

At the beginning of August, the premiere of “Guardians of the Galaxy” started the cinematic exploration into the cosmic branch of Marvel Comics.

Similar to the 2011 film “The Avengers,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” brings a group of unlikely heroes and friends together to fight a common enemy.

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In “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Peter Quill, or as he prefers to be called, Star-Lord, leads former assassin Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and his buddy Groot on a quest to stop Ronan the Accuser from destroying a planet.

Along the lines of other Marvel films, the movie is also a massive success, having already made $500 million worldwide.

The start of the film treats audiences to an impromptu space karaoke session by one of the movie’s breakout stars, Chris Pratt. Right away Marvel Entertainment showed moviegoers they were going to have a good time. With most audience members, they did not disappoint.

“I thought it was a very funny movie with an awesome soundtrack and classic Marvel superhero action,” sophomore Noreen Jay said, who saw the movie with a group of friends.

One of the main highlights of the film was the stunning visual effects. Color and light burst across the silver screen creating a visually pleasing experience for the viewer.  Since the movie takes place in space, each planet and star was more spectacular than the next. The computer generated imagery (CGI) also played a central part in creating the characters of Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

Another highlight of the film was Chris Pratt’s performance as Star-Lord. Pratt portrays his character with the perfect amount of ego. Although his character is selfish and sarcastic, Pratt is able to use his charm to win over the audience.

The biggest and brightest stars of the film happened to be the feisty Rocket Raccoon and the kind hearted Groot. The characters were brought to life by CGI and the voice talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. Rocket is a genetically modified Raccoon with knowledge of weapons and technology. Groot is a tree-like creature who doubles as Rocket’s muscle and best friend. As strange as these characters sound, their relationship to each other is even more ridiculous and the rest of the Guardians are the heart and soul of the film.

Though the movie is great piece of work, there is no such thing as a perfect movie.  One of the downfalls of this still very enjoyable film was the somewhat boring villain Ronan.

Ronan’s goal of domination and destruction was all too similar to the goal of Loki in “Thor” and “The Avengers.”  Even though Lee Pace’s portrayal of the bloodthirsty warlord was wonderfully menacing, behind the blue face paint the character was not scary enough and a bit predictable. Fortunately for Marvel, the weak antagonist did not do any critical damage to what is an entertaining movie.

At the end of the day, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is full of the explosions and fight scenes we know and love, but it doesn’t take itself seriously.

While creating the atmosphere of a stereotypical superhero movie, “Guardians of the Galaxy” goes the extra mile by mixing in a little heart.

 

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