On The (Galactic) Western Front: The Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) needed more screen time

Warning: There are spoilers

Earth 1988 – not only the year of my birth, but the start of Peter Quill’s story according to Marvel’s highly anticipated new film Guardians of the Galaxy.  The film is a space western with Quill (Chris Pratt) as the main, jocose protagonist.   Along with his companions Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Batista) become reluctant heroes as they face off – or should I say – dance off with Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace).  Amidst the glossy and pulchritudinous cinematography the film exhibits some familiar and conventional themes.  Power, control, domination, greed, revenge are all the usual suspects.  Honorable death within the context of war – self-sacrifice for the better good – is also a major theme with superhero movies.  Guardians of the Galaxy was a fun film to watch, and I would like to give you some of my thoughts. Be aware that I am not basing my review on any knowledge of the comic books, but purely from what I already know and have seen on screen.  This is also not a negative review so do not fret Marvel fans.  I am simply pointing out what I noticed. 
               

First off, Peter.  He is the Flynn Rider of space; a whimsical guy with a penchant for tunes from the 70’s and an outlaw name – Star Lord – that everyone mispronounces (don’t call him star prince). It seems like they tried to paint him like an anti-hero ala Tony Stark – minus Stark’s bank funds – because in the opening sequence, once he was back on his ship, an unsuspecting Quill is surprised to see a one night stand – whose name he cannot recall; typical – pop up as he escapes.  I get that it’s supposed to be funny, and the audience I saw it with laughed, but it honestly seemed unnecessary to create a lothario persona with Quill because Chris Pratt’s performance apart from that would have been enough to carry the film without filmmakers resorting to a tired, sexist narrative.  The female aboard the ship remains a nameless plot device, and I didn’t like it.

                As the part of Quill’s charm he makes several pop culture references that audiences would be familiar with such as the mutant ninja turtles, John Stamos, footloose and Kevin Bacon.  He even references famous outlaws like Billy the kid and Bonnie and Clyde, which reinforces the American outlaw cowboy myth.  As part of his constructed masculinity, Peter is a romanticized ideal of individualistic freedom.  A lone ranger with questionable motives, which can glamorize his bad boy behavior while highlighting his humor.  He’s basically the sole representation of human beings within this galaxy, and true to male form he’s a dude that makes dick jokes.  I would say he’s the galactic western frontier version of Captain America, though Steve Rogers would never make dick jokes; it would be unpatriotic of him.

As part of this American outlaw masculine construction, a direct opposite of Quill is Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker) whose ship kidnaps Peter at the start of the film.  For twenty odd years Peter has been working for Yondu and his crew, which presumably has led to one misadventure after another due to Peter’s rebellious nature.  Yondu is interestingly called out for being “too soft” in always keeping Peter alive.  The crew constantly tells Yondu to kill him or punish him severely, but Yondu does not though he portrays himself like a ruthless pirate of sorts.  Even in space – a world far from our own – compassion is an undesirable trait for male characters.  It’s a world where Yondu has to pretend to be as vicious has his reputation in order to maintain leadership, and that can tell us a lot on how society views men. 

Ronan the Accuser also has a reputation to hold.  He is a one dimensional character whose sole purpose is to seek revenge for the death of his father and grandfather. Violence is always an underlining feature in men, and though Ronan may be of an alien race called Kree, he is still a male bodied person who inhabits humanized masculine traits.  His desire for revenge comes from brewed hatred not unlike our own.  He is terribly wounded by his loss, but he is driven by his need to dominate and desolate everyone that stands in his way – this means he’s all about genocide.  He is not a sympathetic character, but a total villain, and ultimate power is what he wants. 

But perhaps the most sinister character of them all – the most vile and villainous – wasn’t a main character, but a side character.  When we first meet The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) at the end of Thor the Dark World not much is distinguished of what kind of person he is, but in Guardians of the Galaxy he is established further, and I was particularly troubled by his nefarious temperament.  He uses his position to enslave female servants as well as cage them shall they disappoint him.  The way he spoke to his nameless servant – how he demanded her to use her elbows – was quite reminiscent of abusive language, and for me, on a deeply personal level, that scene with the collector was agitating. It almost was no surprise when his servant sacrifices herself to end her pain.  

Regardless of what the scene made me feel it does serve a purpose to remind us that once again, despite the alternate universe in which more than just humans coexist, there is a polarization of the sexes. I mean, you would think that science fiction or fantasy stories do elaborate more on different perspectives of not only gender expressions but on homosexuality and race relations, but I truly do not expect big studio films such as these to make any commentary on any of these subjects within its timelines – not because I don’t think they can’t, but because we have become so absorbed in ourselves that we can hardly fathom more than what we have already created.    Though, it does become exhausting to watch the same story with different characters.  I thought it was particularly telling of the galaxy’s perception on gender when Rocket tells Groot to “learn “genders” as if male and female is a universal concept that would dominate all life forms outside of planet earth.  It’s something to think about when letting your mind consume different worlds. 

I was convinced that I would not like Rocket the anthropomorphic raccoon before watching the film, but he (along with Groot) became one of my favorite characters.  It wasn’t his one liners and comedic timing that gave Rocket a very human heart, but his confession while in drunken stupor.  “I didn’t ask to be made like this,” he says while arguing with Drax.  Being a laboratory experiment, I couldn’t help but imagine Rocket through the lens of Frankenstein’s monster.  An unwanted creation that now has to face adversity in a scrambled universe.  It becomes painfully clear how much Rocket uses his humor to mask the struggle he has endured, which is not different from many of us.  This is what film can do – it takes an animated creature that once existed solely in the imagination of a writer, and personified its humanness that now he is a part of our psyche. Though, I still wonder, how is a film studio like Marvel able to give a nonhuman character more depth than most of its female characters?   

I don’t know about you, but with all the hype I saw for Nebula and Gamora I was anticipating something more than what I got.  Their scenes together showed the vast difference in the sisters, but it wasn’t enough for me.  I wanted a more drawn out fight sequence.  I wanted their heart to heart talk that took place on intercom microphones to have taken place when they were in the middle of hand to hand combat.  I think that would have been more effective in showing their drastic polarization with more humanity and character.  I mean, if you can give a talking raccoon a scene where his agency is established then I think you can give me a scene with sisters that had more dimension.  I particularly loved the scene when Thanos calls Gamora his favorite daughter.  The stoic expression on Nebula’s face and sarcastic remark gave me, as an audience member, a more understanding of the rift between the two characters.  I wish this was explored more within the film.  I would exchange the dick jokes and nameless one night stand for more Nebula and Gamora. 

I read an article over at Bitch Flicks about Nicole Pearlman, the co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy.  It is wonderful to know a woman had some level of say in writing the film, but I am also frustrated that it is commonly still complicated to write science fiction stories without a hint of sexism affecting the ability to truly enjoy Marvel movies.  But I feel like a lot of us have this problem – one we all have accepted because we still love all the characters.  I always have to remind people as well as myself that it is okay to like something problematic so long as you understand why it is. 
While there are no shortage of women writers there is a lack of confidence in making female lead comic book adaptations, and I believe that studios think that female lead movies will fail.  When they do they say women can’t sell films, but they never accept this same logic to other franchises lead by male actors.  How many times have they made a batman movie, or a superman movie? (I know both films are from DC comics, but still it’s the principle of it).  How many of you debate which of these the better version is?  Do you ever once say, “No, men can’t sell movies because this version of batman failed or this version of superman failed?”  And even if you don’t want any more versions of a certain franchise film you’ll still endure more sequels and prequels and side projects than you can stomach, but studios still are reluctant to make a superhero movie about wonder woman or black widow. 
In all honestly I won’t be satisfied until we have an Avengers style film where all the heroes are females.

However, despite all I’ve ranted I still enjoyed the film, and I do recommend to “come and get your love” for the Guardians of the Galaxy – the space western of the Marvel universe.  It will have you “hooked on a feeling” with its music and a baby Groot with so much swag it will groove with all your feels. 

Also, the post credit scene is highly disappointing.  I was hoping for a clip that eluded to the next marvel film, but instead they gave us Howard the Duck, and I don't know how many of you remember Howard the Duck, but that fool was ridiculous is the worst ways.  Stay or don't stay for the scene, but don't expect much.