Guardians of the Galaxy

Review Written By: Adolph Vega

3D:

            Guardians of the Galaxy uses 3D in gimmicky ways to make the movie more fun but does not attempt to genuinely enhance the movie in any way. Several scenes in the movie make good use of 3D and have things fly at you, or objects floating near you, and certain characters appear closer to you than others, but several other times the 3D is totally forgotten and not remarkable at all. Inconsistent is the best word I would use to describe the 3D within this movie. The movie was not shot with 3D in mind but postproduction converted to make the most out of a few select scenes. I feel at times the movie should just post a sign when 3D glasses should be put on and taken off because the 3D aspect is totally limited to select scenes within this movie. The ratio to quality 3D to forgettable 3D is about 51% good to 49% forgettable. The movie does look a little blurry and dark at times due to the 3D. This is one of the hardest movies to review the 3D visuals because it’s not a big aspect of the cinematography, but it does not completely harm the movie in any way and occasionally it's a nice effect when they attempt to use it.

Final Verdict: GOOD 3D

Movie:

            The Guardians of the Galaxy is a rare fun summer treat of a movie that the whole family can enjoy. This movie is not a sequel/prequel, remake/reboot, and is based on a comic book series that most people have no knowledge of so it feels very fresh and new. This movie is an ensemble effort and all the main characters are introduced within this movie and explained within the movie, so there is no need to be knowledgeable of the comic book source material before watching. The main story revolves around Peter Quill who acquires a metal sphere from an isolated planet. This sphere is highly valuable and a large bounty is placed to capture Quill and recover the sphere. Ronan the accuser and Thanos are the two main villains within this movie and both want the sphere for their own sinister plans. Sadly the villains are underdeveloped and not given enough motivation, backstory, or screen time and are the weakest aspect of the movie. The movie is very fast paced and throws you into the action without excessive explanation. The main stars of this movie are Peter Quill (Star-Lord), Rocket a walking talking raccoon, Gamora, Drax the destroyer, and Groot a tree like creature. This ensemble cast is all likeable and given enough backstory to make you care about them. These characters have a great chemistry with each other and the friendship between them is well developed. Rocket and Groot are fully digital characters that look fantastic, and have great voice work and personality and practically steal the show. The movie itself has a great flow with lots of humor and action and never slows down for very long. The overall plot is very strait forward with the characters fighting to stop the villains who will cause certain doom. So many other recent comic book movies are dark, dramatic and gritty and this movie is the exact opposite, and is light hearted, funny and just a joy to watch. Marvel Studios has done it again with Guardians of the Galaxy; they brought to life characters from the comic books that I never knew existed and made an incredibly entertaining movie.

Final Vertidct: 8/10