Guardians Of The Galaxy has roared onto the screens as everyone expected. It’s big, beautiful, highly entertaining, and at times surprisingly moving. We can debate whether or not it’s as good as the first one, but one thing is for sure: there is something in this movie franchise that is drawing people in droves. Yes, it’s fun cinema, but I think it’s more than that.
First, it’s a movie about self-identified “a-holes” saving
the universe. On the one hand, that bothers me. You’d think we could find
somebody – anybody – who doesn’t fall into that category. On the other hand,
maybe it’s just an honest acknowledgment that no one is righteous. For every
Captain America, there are a thousand Peter Quills; that’s probably a good
reflection of real world percentages. The movie is too flippant about the
seriousness of many of the offenses of different characters in the movie, but
it captures the messiness of human sinfulness mixed in with nobility and honor.
Sometimes people end well even if they have not lived well.
Yondu is a great example. On the one hand, we find out that
he bravely kept Peter hidden from his demi-god father, Ego, for all these years
because he knew that Ego was a terrible man. On the other hand, he is a Ravager
(read 'space pirate') who gets kicked out of the club for trafficking children
(which he claims he didn't know). On the other hand, he eventually channels Boromir and
does his best to atone for his failures.
I long for heroes who are brave, pure, good and true. In
Guardians, you are not going to get the full list. There are no King Arthurs or
Captain Americas. There are instead people like Peter Quill who, when offered good and bad, will
choose to do a little of both. Such is life. I would like to see a story that
shows a trend in the characters toward the good not just in their deeds but in their hearts; Guardians Of The Galaxy at least gets us to long for it.
