Metal My Movie: Guardians of The Galaxy

A group of misfit criminals come together to save the world alongside an awesome soundtrack that rocks. If this sounds like an awesome Metal My Movie segment, you are correct. It is also the premise of Marvel Studio’s Guardians of The Galaxy, directed by James Gunn. Unlike the classic Marvel heroes archetype, the Guardians are seen more as the anti-heroes that must put aside their differences and personalities to save the universe. As well it’s the first time that the music not only revolved around the score by Tyler Bates, but most notably a soundtrack jam-packed with rock tunes and nostalgia. If we look at these two aspects of the film, Guardians Of The Galaxy is the ultimate Marvel Metal My Movie (with apologies to Iron Man).

 

 

All of the members of the Guardians bring their own baggage and criminal past to the ragtag team of misfits. There is Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) or you may know him by his other name, Star-Lord, who is part of a team of ravagers led by Yondu (Michael Rooker). After stealing an orb belonging to the villainous Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), Ronan puts out a bounty on Star Lord and sends his assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) after the orb. After trying to sell the orb which no one will buy, a fight ensues between Star Lord and Gamora for control of the orb. This draws out a bounty hunter team of an cybernetic modified racoon called Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and his partner, a tree with a limited vocabulary called Groot (Vin Diesel). They all get arrested for their actions and while in jail meet up with Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who always speaks his mind as he does not understand sarcasm, nor does he trust Gamora due to her association with the villain Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the team in place they break out of prison in order to sell the orb. However, they finally learn about the true nature of the orb, leading to a test of their moral authority as a group of misfit criminals that must now work together in order to save the galaxy. 

 

Unlike the simple scores that Marvel films are known for, Guardians of The Galaxy relies on a mixtape soundtrack as well as the score from Tyler Bates. Motown classics, rock tunes and some punk tunes including The Runaways "Cherry Bomb" (the heaviest rock song the film has to offer) are also featured. It also takes some daring lighthearted choices when dealing with the villainous Ronan as Star Lord challenges him to a dance off to" O-o-h Child" by Five Stairsteps. Maybe it’s the analogy that the soundtrack helps connect Star Lord to his time on earth, but as my friend pointed out, if you look at the track list in order it’s a summary of the entire film. Aside from a Quentin Tarantino film, this is the most metal analogy that I can find for a film making full use of a soundtrack, and the last thing I would come to expect from a Marvel or even a superhero film. 

 

Is Guardians of The Galaxy a fun and at times candy-coated super hero film about a not so super hero group of criminals that team up to save the world? The answer would be yes. In the same way that DC has played with the same notions with their anti-heroes but given them an edgier feel that doesn't always work out quite the same way when it comes to the storyline, Marvel has handled moralizing complex superheroes by giving them always the more character complex storylines. Later on their heroes turned out to be more moralizing complexities giving human realism like in Logan (2017) or even Deadpool (2016). However, before grappling with their complexities, the Guardians of the Galaxy were the original band of Marvel misfit characters that will always be there to save the day and grow to learn how to work alongside one another for the greater good of the galaxy, not their own self-interest. 

 

Next week, the final installment of Metal My Movie will be Sound of Metal from director Darious Marder. Got a movie you feel should get the Metal My Movie treatment? E-mail us atmovies@cjlo.com to let us know.