Well, what is there to do but lean back and . . . well, marvel. Yes, Marvel’s done it again. After Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past, arrives Guardians of the Galaxy and it may genuinely be the best of the three. But three four star movies in one year? It’s safe to say Marvel’s in a groove. And they continue the smart strategy of giving all their movies very different styles and tones and visions. This one is really a comedy with some great action, not an action movie with great comedy. The cast is outstanding, one and all. I love the Guardians themselves; all perfectly acted and wonderfully written. The humor genuinely comes out of character, the way in which each of these ridiculous individuals finds themselves behaving when forced to attempt to function as a team. The clashes feel real; the characters feel real, absurd as they are, and they behave consistently. This is sharp writing. Some have denigrated Lee Pace’s Ronan. He’s a little thin, perhaps, but he works; Pace’s crazy eyes do a lot of work in convincing us that Ronan’s feeling a genuine religious fervor. The way Pace hits full throttle in every scene, as seriously histrionic as if he was doing Shakespeare, creates a wonderful counterpoint to the ramshackle crew that opposes him. And the film even gets the drama right. At the climax there’s a moment when there is, yes, a huge body count, but the film actually pauses for a moment to ponder it and let us feel real sorrow at all the heroes that just died. And even little Rocket, far and away the breakout star here, has his dramatic moments and, against all odds, sells them. This is a wonderful, invigorating, hilarious, iconoclastic, silly, thrilling movie. These guys, I could watch many, many more movies about, assuming the level of quality stays high. I’ve been saying for a year or so that this movie would be the greatest test faced by the MCU thus far, featuring, you know, an entirely new cast, a radically different tone, a talking raccoon and a walking, talking tree. Test grade: A+. I’m inspired to actually have hopes for Ant-Man again. Great flick. Highly recommended. 4 stars.
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Je n'aime pas dans les vieux films américains quand les conducteurs ne regardent pas la route. Et de ratage en ratage, on s'habitue à ne jamais dépasser le stade du brouillon. La vie n'est que l'interminable répétition d'une représentation qui n'aura jamais lieu.