Awesome Mix: Volume 1

Year: 2014

Director: James Gunn

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista

Run Time: 2 hours 1 minute

MPAA Rating: PG-13

For any but the most die-hard comic book fans (*coughcoughHenry*), the Marvel Cinematic universe has been wearing out its welcome. Despite the relative merits or deficits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Thor: The Dark World (this year also overloaded us with another Amazing Spider-Man and X-Men: Days of Future Past), the overwhelming feeling is that of one long drawn breath while we anticipate Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Notice how none of those films are numbered. No easy-to-follow chronology like Iron Man 2 and 3. That's because Marvel knows that if they give us Cap 2 or X-Men 7, they'll tip us off to just how many of these darn movies they're shoving into cinemas and the weariness will set in like a rot. Again, to be clear, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with these movies, merely that the stranglehold of Marvel in American cinemas has been slowly draining the enthusiasm of the public.

Luckily, almost supernaturally, the company managed to transform an almost unknown series into a ringer. It is quite obvious in retrospect that Guardians of the Galaxy would reignite the Marvel craze like no other film since Avengers for one reason and one reason only. They hired an auteur. Because, frankly, nobody cared about the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, director/writer James Gunn was allowed to make a film imbued with his traditional sense of humor (derived from years of writing for the notorious production company Troma and fighting his way through the horror trenches) rather than just dumping out another homogenized and slick superhero thriller.

Also, considering that he is the man who made this happen, he is nothing less than a god.

So, the story. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is an intergalactic outlaw who operates under the name Starlord, abducted from Earth at a young age in 1988 and raised by Ravagers, a roving band of thieves led by Yondu (Michael Rooker of The Walking Dead and Slither), a blue dude with a hella cool magic science arrow.

After some plot happens, Starlord ends up thrown together with a ragtag band of escaping prisoners after stealing a mysterious orb from a deserted planet. These prisoners with their clashing motives and personalities, end up becoming unlikely friends and guarding some galaxies or whatever. 

Anyway, they are Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a wisecracking bounty hunter raccoon, his best friend/partner/house plant Groot (Vin Diesel), an animated tree-being who only has enough intelligence to say "I Am Groot," and Drex (Dave Bautista), a muscle-bound warrior whose race has no concept of metaphor, so he takes everything quite literally to hilarious effect.

Last but (debatably) not least is Gamora (Zoe Saldana, who must have gotten so fit from all the times she had to walk up stairs so we could see her butt), a green alien woman adopted by Thanos (Josh Brolin), this film's obvious sequel tag villain who, despite his vast power and supposed menace mostly just looks like a blue Jay Leno. When Thanos lends her and her sister Nebula (Oculus' Karen Gillan) to the eeeeeevil Ronan (Lee Pace) as assassins, she betrays him in an attempt to obtain the orb he so covets and sell it so she can buy a ticket to a better life.

Any life is a better life with him.

I really don't want to get into the mechanics of the plot beyond the level of character because, let's face it, it's really not important. Everybody wants the MacGuffin. MacGuffin holds infinite power. Bad guy meets with bigger bad guy on mysterious hunk of rock. Stop the bad guy from using it to destroy the galaxy. (I know it's the title, but man what a narrow-minded evil plot. Just one galaxy? Color me unimpressed.) Bing bang boom.

The plot is typical Marvel, but it's the trappings that allow it to transcend as one of the best superhero movies of... definitely the decade, maybe even the century. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. And James Gunn can really... say.

Guardians of the Galaxy puts witty humor at the forefront, shoving action and plot into a secondary position (smart, because it is both of these elements that are the weakest in the film - the first thanks to some occassionally haphazard editing, the second due to a certain lack of emotional heft). This is a witty comedy movie with some superhero elements, not the other way around like your Iron Mans or your Avengers.

Because of its ability to exist almost entirely unbeholden to a truly large-scale story, the characters have room to breathe and bounce off one another, providing thoroughly comic entertainment. By which I mean two things, in that it is consistently, effervescently hilarious and that it provides the joy and amazement of experiencing an actual comic book with all the flash and glamour and not-so-thematic bedazzlement that that entails. Although those looking for a more solid thematic throughline or character arc certainly have material to work with, that's not what we're about here.

We are too cool for school by a considerable margin.

With a fantastic soundtrack of 70's and 80's pop songs that acts as both an ironic underscore to a sci-fi extravaganza and a link to Starlord's eternal childhood and connection to Earth, Guardians of the Galaxy really didn't have to work hard to get me on board (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'M, hooked on a feelin'). And it shouldn't have to work hard for you either, if you're receptive to a wonderful bit of popcorn movie mayhem.

Of course there are flaws. The largely unmotivated villains are too generic to ever feel like a legitimate threat, despite game performances by two wonderful actors. The editing will occasionally slip up and cram too many images together to make sense of a few sequences. There is a tendency to overexplain plot points in the dialogue. Glenn Close is wasted in a weak "point and gasp" role.

But honestly you don't notice any of that when the lights go down and Gunn hits you with the good stuff. This is his first big break to show off his style to the world and he pulled out all the stops, coordinating gags so effortlessly that they hit with the impact of a missed step when walking down the stairs.

And last but not least, the actors are delightful. The movie with be nothing without them, considering how much of the humor is grounded in their characters and interactions. Chris Pratt is the obvious anchor, combining his awkward and adorable Parks and Rec style with an action hero stud body. If, after this, there's not more Chris Pratt in cinemas, I will personally tear down my local theater brick by brick.

Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are also standouts as comic relief characters that almost supernaturally fail to get on my nerves. The digital animation for both these characters is astounding and their timing is pitch perfect. And Dave Bautista makes you forget he was ever involved in the WWE, a gargantuan feat if you ask me. Only Saldana gives a performance not worth raving about, but in a less-developed, more straight-faced role. You can't blame her for the character. And she does get some great moments.

Anyway. Guardians of the Galaxy. Go see it. It might not be the most important movie of the year. It's not going to change your life or alter your worldview. But if you want to go to the movies and just have yourself a meaty slab of fun, get your tickets now.

TL;DR: Guardians of the Galaxy is a dazzling sci-fi comedy bolstered by impressive performances and an auteur for the ages.

Rating: 8/10

Should I Spend Money On This? Yaaaaaaaas!

Word Count: 1311

Reviews In This Series

Guardians of the Galaxy (Gunn, 2014)

Avengers: Infinity War (Russo & Russo, 2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (Reed, 2018)

Fright Flashback: James Gunn

For our Scream 101 episode about this film, click here.

Welcome to Fright Flashback, where every week until the end of summer we will revisit an older horror film that is in some way a spiritual precursor to an upcoming new release. This week we are anticipating Guardians of the Galaxy, the new Marvel feature that was written and directed by James Gunn. Having never seen one of his films, I decided it was best to explore one of his early horror efforts, Slither.

Year: 2006

Director: James Gunn
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker
Run Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

It's a mystery how some movies just fail to get by in popular culture. If Slither had been made but a couple years later than it did, it would be all over the place thanks to its cast of now well-known faces. I mean, how can you put Elizabeth Banks, Nathan Fillion, Merle from The Walking Dead and Pam from The Office in the same film and not have it make a splash?

The world is a strange and confusing place and I'm not sure I want to live here anymore.

You know what? Never mind. I guess I could stay here a little longer.

Combining the zany comedy of an Evil Dead movie with the B-horror sensibilities of 50's classics like The Blob and the growing fervor of the Zombie Renaissance, Slither is a delightful and creative mishmash of genres. It doesn't breathe new life into them, but rather leaps deftly between them to create something cannily nostalgic and intelligently campy in glittering combination.

Slither tells the story of Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks), a small town schoolteacher in the South. When, unbeknownst to her, her husband Grant (Michael Rooker) is infected by a creature in a mysterious meteor in the woods during an illicit tryst, he begins to act very strangely. It turns out that "for better or for worse" does not include being taken over by an alien parasite that uses worm-like minions to turn all the townspeople into shambling zombies, so Starla must team up with the lovelorn Chief Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) to eradicate the alien menace before it is too late and humanity is devoured.

Part of the fun of being tossed into a zombie-type movie is guessing how exactly the disease works this time around. Sure, the whole idea of what a "zombie" is is pretty much set in stone, but the genesis and pathology can range all over the map. Is the disease an ancient one or a new creation? Does it make people rise from the grave or merely infect the newly deceased? Is everyone infected or just those who are bitten? There are hundreds of different factors that go into the specificity of the thing and Gunn's complex mythology blows them all out of the water.

The bathwater, that is.

Slither isn't the best horror movie I've seen (which would be [REC]), nor is it the best zombie movie I've seen (which would be [REC]). Heck, it's not even the best zombie comedy movie I've ever seen (which would probably have to be Shaun of the Dead or Dead Snow). But it's got a lot of pizazz and squelchy charm that makes it about as far from a chore as a low-budget zombie movie could ever possibly be with its stellar wit and brisk pace.

While the genre trappings mostly remain intact (save for some terrific reversals and subversions in the finale), the humor is as fresh as it gets and provides Slither with a timeless edge that will keep you tickled even if the whole "worm snakes want inside my mouth" thing isn't your cup of tea. Comedy depends on the element of surprise, so I will refrain from shoving a laundry list of the best lines down your throats. I gotta leave room for the worms anyway.

Just pretend it's licorice.

Luckily for Slither and unluckily for its audience, the effects are top notch. The movie is unafraid to throw plenty of twisting, slimy goodness at the screen for as long as possible. Very influenced by the psychosexual works of the late H. R. Giger and the excesses of the Stuart Gordon era, it depicts the invasion of the human body by an alien force in excruciating detail.

This may turn off some viewers, but makes it a must-see for the horror faithful. Slither's monsters are all slime and gore, pulled from the deepest darkest recesses of the mind. And in a world so inundated with self-indulgent CGI monstrosities, it is a relief to see practical effects brought to the screen in the modern era. This relief is so profound that it includes even the outrageously bad deer puppet that stinks up a third act scene.

But the effects are one hundred percent convincing everywhere they need to be and keep Slither firmly in a hilariously disgusting camp. There's also some terrific B-movie foreshadowing where innocuous details play an important part in survival, a keen use of shadow and light in creating an effective environment, and a fearlessness that is uncommon in today's studio horror.

It's perhaps a little too cheesy and a little too bereft of thematic import to be a new classic, but especially when compared to the other horror of the year, even the entire decade, Slither is well worth your time. You deserve a good laugh. And where else are you going to see Elizabeth Banks murdering a zombie with a spike? Something tells me Pitch Perfect 2 isn't going to cut it for the gorehounds.

If you're a fan, check it out! If you're not, you might just like it anyway. Check it out!

TL;DR: Slither is filled to the brim with wonderfully slimy effects and sharp humor.
Rating: 7/10
Word Count: 963