Guardians of the Galaxy: Gamora, Groot, Rocket, a Great time at the Galaxy and Gunn's bull's eye!

Produced by Marvel (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers) and distributed by Disney, Guardians of the Galaxy (GOTG) is the tenth instalment in Marvel’s cinematic forays. It is co-written and directed by James Gunn, and is one of their best ever. Generous doses of humour, CGI used to stunning effect, incredible sets, mesmerising VFX, villainish/grey heroes from three kingdoms—human, plant and animal--of incredible shapes, sizes and colours, 3D that does not intrude and/or overkill, space-chases that are breath-taking, pace that makes 122 minutes easy viewing...it’s got everything going its way. GOTG is an inter-planetary joy-ride that also cuts across age-barriers and nationalities, having in its cast whites, blacks, greens, greys, a Filipino and  a Puerto Rican.

In 1988, following his mother's death, a young Peter Quill is abducted in a space-ship from his native Missouri (director Gunn is Missouri born!) by the Ravagers, a group of alien space pirates, led by Yondu. Twenty-six years later, on the planet Morag, Quill steals an orb, only to be intercepted by Korath, a subordinate to the fanatical Kree, Ronan. Although Quill escapes with the orb, Yondu discovers his theft, and issues a bounty for his capture, while Ronan sends the assassin Gamora after the orb.

When Quill, now known as Starlord (Star Wars, anyone?) attempts to sell the orb, Gamora ambushes him and steals it. A fight ensues, drawing in a pair of bounty hunters: the genetically engineered raccoon Rocket (first seen in the comics of the 80s), and the tree-like humanoid Groot (character created in 1963). The Nova Corps arrives and arrests the group, imprisoning them in the Kyln. A powerful inmate, Drax then Destroyer), attempts to kill Gamora, when he learns of her association with Ronan, who had killed his family. Quill dissuades him by convincing him that Gamora can bring Ronan to him. Gamora reveals that she has betrayed Ronan, unwilling to let him use the orb's unimaginable power to destroy entire planets such as Xandar. Learning that Gamora has a buyer for the orb, Rocket, Quill, Groot, and Gamora work together to escape the Kyln, and the conflict moves to a much bigger scale, with the galaxy's fate in the balance.

Pratt has described his character as a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly. Prior to filming, Pratt underwent a strict diet and training regimen to lose 60 lb (27 kg) in six months. After his selection, Gunn said, “Even if he stays chubby, he’ll still be better than anyone else. I would have put him in the film even if he stayed overweight.” Zoe Saldana said that she became Gamora through make-up rather than computer generated imagery (CGI) or performance capture.  Gamora is green, unlike her role in Avatar, where her skin was blue. Director Gunn had not even heard of Dave Bautista (a Filipino, former WWE wrestler, now 46), but found him to be an ideal Drax. Said Bautista of his casting, “I can just relate to Drax (by the way, one of the Bond villains was called Sir Hugo Drax!) so much it's not even funny. Simple things like the tattoos, the tragedy in his life – because, you know, I have a lot of tattoos and had a bit of tragedy in my life as well." Bautista's makeup took approximately four hours to be applied. It makes his body look like a steel statue. His skin tone was changed from a bright green in the comics to a muddier grey, to avoid visual similarities to Hulk. Some physical similarities, still remain, though.

Vin Diesel lends his voice to Groot, who took almost a year to create. Diesel often did 500 takes of “I am Groot,” which will endure as the funniest catch-line in the film. Another star voiced Rocket, the raccoon, (Gunn’s favourite character): Bradley Cooper. He does it with aplomb. Rocket is a genetically engineered raccoon, a bounty hunter and mercenary, and a master of weapons and battle tactics. Gunn worked with live raccoons to get the correct feel for the character, who was conceived as the sort of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. Sean Gunn, James’s brother, stood-in for the character during filming.

Lee Pace was originally auditioned as for Peter Quill, but, in the end, he played Ronan the Accuser. Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta has a quaint, if partly indecipherable accent. He looks the lovable rogue he is. Karen Gillan, as Nebula, researched Spartans, shaved off her hair, and trained for two months for her role, while her make-up took approximately four and a half hours to be applied. Featuring in cast is veteran Glenn Close, as Prime Minister, with a ‘carved’, designer hair-do. Puerto Rico-born Benicio del Toro (Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez, to use his full name) plays the Collector, another of the film’s villains, who also figures in the post-credit sequence. Like in his earlier films, The Usual Suspects and Traffic, Benicio impresses here too, and even seems to be enjoying himself.

Well, not too much is required when you have such heavy make-up or are a CGI created character, wielding all kinds of weapons or manoeuvring all manner of inter-stellar vehicles, but whenever the scenes demand, the actors have all put in the requisite effort. Saldana, not conventionally beautiful, has spunk. Pratt has the cool-dude swagger required for the role. If there was some doubt about the abilities and capabilities of the 44 year-old James Gunn in handling such a project, all that is more than cleared now. GOTG meets critical dissection and is already earning audience appreciation. In India, it comes to him as a birthday (August 5) gift, being released in the same week.

Co-writer Nicole Perlman spent two years writing a draft. In late 2011, Perlman was asked to create another draft, and, in early 2012, James Gunn was brought in to contribute to the script. Gunn has since stressed that Perlman's draft was very different from the script he eventually based the film on, including a different story, character arcs, and there was no Walkman. (The film has a strong inter-linked 70s and 80s connection, forming the link to Quill’s childhood, carried into future along with his Walkman and headphones). Admittedly, most of the plot situations are stock, but Gunn manages to use them as tropes. Variety is the spice of virtual life too. Gunn virtually proves it. Bull's eye!

Rating: ****

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LIQ2-PZBC8

James Gunn on GOTG, and himself

*We have a prison that is 350,000 pounds of steel (in the film). Anybody who knows me knows I love the mix of practical and CGI effects.

*I had a raccoon figurine collection as a kid...They come in my backyard all the time and we just stare at each other like a couple of idiots."

*Had it been twenty years ago, we definitely would’ve gone after Joe Pesci himself to play the role (Rocket).

*Some physical movement from Bradley Cooper, including facial expressions and hand movements, was recorded as potential reference for the animators, though much of Sean Gunn's acting is used throughout the film..

*I was as huge Spider-Man fan as a kid, but I really liked The Defenders a lot. I was also a big Moon Knight.

*Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson do in their films. Those are three people whose work I really admire.

*(On his GOTG pitch to Marvel) They must have liked it, because I suddenly had my dream job – all the things I love in one – Marvel comics, space operas, and raccoons. I had an office at Marvel studios. (See illustration from his official blog).

Short bio

At the age of twelve James Gunn began his film-making career with an eight-millimetre camera. His first film featured his brother Sean, shown being dis-embowelled by zombies. While attending Columbia University in New York, Gunn applied for a part-time job filing papers at famed B-movie studios Troma Entertainment, and ended up writing the screenplay for Tromeo & Juliet instead. Gunn left Troma to write and star (along with Rob Lowe, Thomas Haden-Church, Jamie Kennedy and his own brother, Sean) in the feature film, The Specials, about a group of super-heroes on their day off.

In 2002 the live action Scooby-Doo movie was released into theatres. Gunn wrote the screenplay for the film, the first movie he was involved with that he allowed his mother to see. Gunn’s love for the comedy and horror genres coalesced in the humorous horror film SLiTHER, 2006. In 2008 Gunn created Xbox Live’s first ever original content, producing seven comedy shows by horror directors, and creating his own, Sparky and Mikaela.

He lives in Los Angeles with his dog, Dr. Wesley Von Spears (yes, you read it right).