Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy - Dir. James Gunn (2014)

"They call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy."
"What a bunch of a-holes."

When Edgar Wright famously departed as director of Ant-Man, the fanboy nation decried Marvel Studios for no longer being willing to take risks. After all, their entire cinematic universe was built on a risk. Iron Man was not a character in the mainstream consciousness. Jon Favreau had no experience in directing big-budget action features. Finally, Robert Downey Jr. had his own baggage and was not considered a bankable star. Yet, Iron Man performed well beyond expectations and allowed Marvel to grow into a juggernaut with The Avengers quickly becoming one of the highest grossing films of all time. If Guardians of the Galaxy is any indication, Marvel is clearly willing to roll the dice and gamble big.

The Guardians first appeared in 1969 as a team of superheroes gathered from across the galaxy and living in the 31^st century. In 2008, writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning revamped the Guardians with a completely different line-up of characters that had faded into obscurity. They have since become a cornerstone of Marvel's cosmic universe. The property is even less known to the general public and the movie features no huge stars in leading roles. Then, you've got writer/director James Gunn, a filmmaker who cut his teeth on the low-budget schlock of Troma Pictures. Somehow, it all came together and Guardians of the Galaxy has gone on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.

Guardians of the Galaxy opens in 1988 as a despondent boy named Peter Quill watches his mother succumb to cancer. As he runs out of the hospital, a spaceship whisks him away to the farthest reaches of outer space. Flash forward to an adult Quill (Chris Pratt), who now calls himself Star-Lord and survives as a thief. On the planet of Morag, Quill attempts to steal an orb before being caught by Korath the Pursuer (Djimon Hounsou), a henchman in the employ of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). Turns out, the orb is an Infinity Stone, a gem of immense power, which Ronan wants to use to wipe out his mortal enemies, the Xandarians.

Quill just wants to sell it to a fence on Xandar Prime and has now knowledge of the orb's true nature or how everybody in the quadrant wants it. His former comrades, the Ravagers, want it for the cash value. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) sees the orb as her chance to escape the clutches of her adopted father Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Mad Titan responsible for the Chitauri invasion of Earth. As Quill and Gamora tussle over the orb, a pair of bounty hunters is looking to cash in on the handsome reward on Star-Lord. These bounty hunters just happen to be Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a talking bipedal raccoon, and Groot (Vin Diesel), a tree-like being who can only speak three words, "I am Groot."

If the story sounds familiar, it's not déjà vu. Guardians is almost identical to the plot of Thor: The Dark World and shares many elements with previous Marvel movies. There's a big bad who gets his hands on an Infinity Stone and threatens to wipe out an entire civilization. The good guys must defeat him and place the Infinity Stone in the safe hands of a third party. While it's a necessary evil to plant the seeds that will inevitably lead to The Infinity Gauntlet, you do wish Marvel would shake things up a bit.

Guardians surmounts its shortcomings thanks to a wealth of compelling characters. Oddly enough, the two best characters are the ones that were completely fabricated through special effects. Indeed, Rocket and Groot represent the heart of the movie. Bradley Cooper truly gives one of his best performances ever as Rocket, an adorable bundle of fur, anger, and sarcasm. Rocket provides plenty of comic relief, but there's tragedy to the character when he briefly alludes to the twisted experiments that brought him into being. Vin Diesel gets the most mileage out of repeating the same three words again and again. His voice work is eerily reminiscent of The Iron Giant, which isn't a surprise given that there's child-like innocence to both the Giant and Groot. Even Drax the Destroyer has a lovable naiveté with his unwavering quest for vengeance and his inability to grasp metaphors. Then, you have a star making turn (no pun intended) from Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, a scoundrel cut from the same cloth as Han Solo. Pratt is pure charm and his comedic timing is right on the mark.

Not every character gets their chance to shine. Gamora and Nebula have an interesting relationship, but neither character is given the enough screen time. We meet Gamora in one scene, and then she's already turned against Thanos in the next. Much like Malekith, Ronan is a one-note villain. While Lee Pace does a terrific job chewing the scenery, his acting is almost inconsequential when he's buried behind layers of make-up. It is a shame that actors like Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, John C. Reilly, and Djimon Hounsou weren't given more to do, but the fact that Marvel is able to get thespians of that caliber for bit roles is incredible.

Credit goes to Marvel for not handcuffing their chosen director. If anyone is familiar with Gunn's filmography, you'll know he has a penchant for gruesome imagery and off-kilter humor. Obviously, some of that was reined in. Still, Gunn brings a healthy helping of comedy to weave Guardians into a lighthearted adventure. Though his action set pieces may not be mind-blowing, Gunn still manages to direct some memorable sequences, such as Nebula resetting her broken bones, the Nova Corps forming an energy net, and Groot lighting the way with luminescent spores.

Adding another unique dimension to Guardians is an eclectic soundtrack of pop tunes from the 70's and 80's, everything from Motown ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough") to punk rock ("Cherry Bomb"). "Hooked on a Feeling," which was a major component of the trailers, undercuts the brutality displayed when Quill is beaten by prison guards. David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" is effectively played as the Guardians arrive at a mining operation inside the immense head of an ancient cosmic being. After the heartbreaking prologue, Gunn cuts to an adult Quill as he retrieves the Orb (shades of Raiders of the Lost Ark) while joyously dancing to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love."

Guardians of the Galaxy is easily one of the best blockbusters of the year and one of the best offerings from Marvel Studios. It ranks right up there with Iron Man and The Avengers.

Rating: **** (*****)

The Five-Year Engagement

The Five-Year Engagement - Dir. Nicholas Stoller (2012)

Director Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel first worked together on the short-lived television series Undeclared, which was produced by Judd Apatow. They firmly established themselves in feature film with their smash-hit comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Though Stoller worked with Segel again on "The Muppets," he was only a writer and executive producer with James Bobin of Flight of the Conchords fame directing. The Five-Year Engagement is their first official follow-up to Sarah Marshall as they once again explore the volatile minefield that is the adult relationship.

Five-Year Engagement begins where most romantic comedies end with the proposal. Tom Solomon (Segel) is a successful sous chef making a name for himself in the trendy restaurant scene of San Francisco. He's been dating psychology student Violet Barnes (Emily Blunt) for a year and pops the question during a romantic rooftop dinner with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. A wedding date is set and invitations are sent out, but things hit a snag when Violet gets accepted into the post-doctorate program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They decide to move to the Wolverine State and postpone the nuptials until she receives her degree in two years.

Violet rises through the ranks of grad students after proposing an experiment to study self-control issues with stale donuts (an offshoot of the Stanford marshmallow experiment) that serves as an obvious metaphor. On the flip side, Tom has a miserable time dealing with the cold weather and lack of job prospects. He's stuck making sandwiches at a deli. The couple drifts further and further apart as the audience wonders whether or not these wacky kids will eventually tie the knot.

Of course, they do, which shouldn't come as a shock unless you've never seen a movie before. While the parts have been rearranged, the underlying spine of the film remains true to formula. As stated in the title, we know it will take Tom and Violet five years before they can enjoy wedded bliss. However, sometimes it's the journey that counts and not so much the destination. The Five-Year Engagement takes a meandering route towards the conclusion and falls into the trap of many Apatow productions by just being too long. The movie runs over two hours all while the story is crying out for a peppier pace.

Segel and Blunt have previously played romantic interests in the embarrassingly bad Jack Black vehicle, Gulliver's Travels. Luckily, they get better material here and display an easy chemistry with each other. The script is even keeled and doesn't paint either one of them as the villain in the relationship. However, they are written rather blandly until the comedy is ratcheted up into slapstick realm. At one point, Tom descends into a self-pitying spiral to the point he's grown muttonchops and shuffles around in a bunny suit.

Engagement scores major points thanks to a supporting cast flush with talented performers. First and foremost are Chris Pratt as Tom's best friend, Alex, and Alison Brie as Violet's younger sister, Suzie. Their impulsive affair acts as a counterpoint to the cautious relationship of the protagonists. Pratt is the overgrown man-child that is the classic Apatow archetype, but he's a nice guy deep down and not nearly as dim as the character he plays on Parks and Recreation. Though it's disconcerting to hear Brie speak with a British accent, she displays the same comedic gifts that have made her a hit on Community. Pratt and Brie also have great chemistry together and it almost makes you wish the movie had been about them instead. Brie and Blunt participate in the picture's most inspired gag in which they argue in the voices of Elmo and Cookie Monster. Second place goes to a running joke where the passage of time is marked by the death of one of Violet's grandparents.

Another NBC alumnus Mindy Kaling shines as one of Violet's fellow grad students along with Kevin Hart, Randall Park, and Rhys Ifans as their professor. Some of the funniest lines come from Tom's new Michigan friends, Brian Posehn as a geeky co-worker with an encyclopedic knowledge of pickles and Chris Parnell as a domesticated husband teaches Tom the delights of deer hunting and knitting. Rounding out the ensemble are Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver as Violet's mom, David Paymer & Mimi Kennedy as Tom's parents, and Dakota Johnson as a young and sexy party girl. Plus, watch out for cameos by Kumail Nanjiani, Molly Shannon, and Tim Heidecker from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show.

The Five-Year Engagement could have benefited from some judicious editing and a quicker pace. Also, anyone thinking this will be as rambunctious as Bridesmaids may be in for a disappointment. Still, the winning cast and some humorous moments sprinkled throughout make it a notch above the standard rom-coms.

Rating: ** (*****)

Moneyball

Moneyball - Dir. Bennett Miller (2011)

"…there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then, there's fifty feet of crap and then, there's us."

I used to be a big baseball fan back in the late-80's and early-90's. The Oakland A's were one of the most dominant forces in Major League Baseball back then. They won the 1989 World Series as well as three American League pennants in a row. At their disposal were ace reliever Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson (one of the greatest lead-off hitters in baseball), and the Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. My interest waned and I stopped following the sport aside from jumping on the bandwagon of the Padres when they made a World Series run in 1998. They were crushed 4-0 by the monolithic New York Yankees. The A's can sympathize as they were crushed by the Yanks in the 2001 AL championships. That's where Moneyball begins.

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball is the account of how the A's general manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) reconstructing the franchise on a shoestring budget with a radical approach utilizing the statistical analysis of sabermetrics, developed by Bill James, a statistician who wrote on the subject while working as a night guard for a pork and beans factory.

At the time, Oakland had a payroll of just under $40 million compared to New York's payroll of over $114 million. The A's lose three of their biggest players in the post-season to free agency as Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen leave for more lucrative contracts. Beane can't afford suitable replacements and his scouts are too fixated on superficial qualities like clean batting strokes and physiques. One opines that a prospect has an ugly girlfriend, which means he lacks confidence. He knows they don't always get it right. Beane himself was drafted straight out of high school to the Mets, despite receiving a full scholarship to Stanford. He never lived up to the high expectations imposed on him.

Desperate, Beane enlists the aid of Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale graduate with a degree in economics, who champions the use of stats, specifically on-base percentage, to determine potential players. Described as an "island of misfit toys," Beane and Brand recruit Chad Bradford (Casey Bond), a relief pitcher overlooked due to his unorthodox submarine delivery; David Justice (Stephen Bishop), an aging power hitter; and Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt), an injury plagued catcher shifted to first base. Traditionalists rage against Beane's reliance on numbers, believing it overlooks the complexities and intangibles inherent in the game.

Moneyball's production had as much of a rough start as the A's did during their 2002 season. Steven Soderbergh was previously attached to direct a screenplay written by Stan Chervin and Steve Zaillian. The director of Traffic and Contagion intended to use animated sequences to explain the statistics as well as interspersing interviews with real ball players. Soderbergh even cast Scott Hatteberg and David Justice to play themselves before being removed just days before filming was to begin. Sony went back to the drawing board, bringing on Bennett Miller (Capote) as director and commissioning a new script from Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. While I would have loved to seen Soderbergh's take, what Miller and company have crafted is the kind of the feel good drama Hollywood is known for.

Moneyball transcends the trappings of a mere sports drama or underdog story. It has a lot in common with The Social Network beyond the involvement of Sorkin or producer Scott Rudin. Both are stories about the cultural change in the current informational age. The power no longer lies in the hands of the physically strong, but the meek and nerdy, exemplified by Jonah Hill's socially awkward Peter Brand, a fictional character based on Beane's assistant Paul DePodesta. He's the perfect foil to the suave and confident Billy Beane as portrayed by Brad Pitt. If Clooney is the modern day Cary Grant, then Pitt is the 21st century Robert Redford, even if he is constantly snacking in every scene.

The film's weaknesses do come through with subplots that feel unfinished, perhaps a remnant of its troubled pre-production. There's a lone scene featuring Robin Wright as Beane's ex-wife and an uncredited Spike Jonze as her new husband that doesn't really go anywhere. Although, there are tender moments between Pitt and his on-screen daughter, Kerris Dorsey, his personal life isn't as interesting as his professional one. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives an understated performance as the A's manager Art Howe, who disagrees with Beane's direction. Howe is the primary dissenter and works against Beane's plans, but fades into the background during the second half of the picture. When the A's start winning, we never hear his opinions or whether he finally came around to Beane's philosophies (he didn't).

I'm not a big baseball fan and none of the names in Moneyball meant anything to me. Yet, I found the movie to be absolutely engrossing. Moneyball is a film that makes the backstage politics and the business of baseball as dramatic as the actual game itself.

Rating: *** (*****)