Trailer Analysis: Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel is doing really well right now with the release of the Thor: The Dark World DVD coming out just next week and Captain America: The Winter Soldier due out in April. However, they do have one more film due to come out in theaters at the tail end of this summer, Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy does not feature any of the Avengers, but some familiar faces will certainly pop up, mostly of the villain variety. The more interesting aspect to this film and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the fact that it will open up the world more as it introduces new elements into the world we have become fairly familiar with while also being the final film of Phase 2 before Avengers Age of Ultron. As far as this film goes, it also has one of the most impressive set of actors put together for a Marvel film yet. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillian, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Vin Diesel, and Glenn Close just to name a few. Despite being a relatively unknown group of characters too many people, it is tough to not pay attention to a film made by Marvel at the moment, especially one with such an impressive cast.
As far as the trailer goes, one thing people really wanted to see that at least know the characters would be that of Rocket Raccoon. In the comics he is a foul mouthed, explosive loving...raccoon. He can speak in large part due to experiments that were done on him in the past, but all in all he is one of the most beloved characters of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the trailer, he obviously was a stand out, but it was a little disappointing that we did not get to hear Bradley Cooper's voice behind the character. However, this first trailer above all else was Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)'s trailer as he is for all intensive purposes the leader of the group and the front man. The trailer showcased Pratt's ability for comedic timing which will be important to the success of the film but also his ability to look the part for the bigger action scenes that will inevitably pop up. He ended up coming off as a Han Solo type of character which is exactly how he should come off.
One aspect that was fairly underplayed in the trailer was the villains. The main villain of the film is Ronan The Accuser played by Lee Pace. In the comics Ronan was a member of the alien race known as the Kree. He was essentially an enforcer of the law within his ranks of the Kree Empire but he also meddled with the Fantastic Four among others frequently in the comics. It is still unknown exactly what his role will be in Guardians of the Galaxy, but I am sure he is trying to obtain a powerful weapon, which I will get to later in this article. He was seen very quickly in the trailer as evident in this screenshot to the right, where he lifts Drax the Destroyer with one hand. It is clear that it is Ronan doing the lifting due to his iconic hammer in his right hand in the middle of the shot.
The other villain who was a much more prominent figure in the trailer would be that of Nebula. Nebula is played by Karen Gillian, who must people will know of her by Doctor Who fame. Nebula has been a mainstay in the comics as a pirate, mercenary of sorts who claimed that she was the granddaughter of Thanos. In the trailer, they show off her abilities in a fight but also it seems that she is in the same prison as the Guardians of the Galaxy. It is believed that she is an assassin tasked to murder them, so it is still unclear if she was an inmate at the prison or she shows up there shortly after they break out.
One the early shots of the trailer, as seen above, shows Peter Quill getting to an orb of some sort. We have no idea what this orb might be, but when you take into consideration this film has both The Collector and Thanos in it, it is safe to say this item is most likely an Infinity Stone. Considering how all of the Infinity Stone's up to this point have been powerful, small items and the Collector received the Aether at the end of the Thor: The Dark World. The question of course remains, why does Quill want it? Does he plan to sell it for a fortune or does he know what it is truly? Taking his character into consideration, the former of the two is most likely. With Ronan the Accuser and Nebula standing in as the main villains it also begs to question how much of a role The Collector and Thanos have in the film. It has already been stated that Thanos has a part in it, as he does indeed have a history with Gamora and Drax, two members of the team. The Collector is obviously in the film as well as he was seen very clearly in the trailer. All in all, I am sure like myself, everyone is becoming more excited for this film.
