Luke Owen gives his thoughts on the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy…
(if you missed the trailer, view it here)
It starts off just like any other comic book movie trailer. Dark and dramatic music matches the blue-tinted visuals of a cool-looking character slowly reaching for what he came for. But before he can enjoy his captured piece, he is stopped by armed guards who ask him to drop what he is carrying.
This is where the trailer shifts.
In any other comic book movie trailer, we would get a cool quip from our hero or the start of an action scene, but in James Gunn’s trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, we instead get this exchange:
Guard: Who are you?
Star-Lord: I’m Star-Lord
Guard: Who?
Star-Lord: Star-Lord! Legendary smuggler? Oh, forget it.
This, ladies and gentleman, is our tone for Guardians of the Galaxy.
When the film was first announced back at Comic-Con in 2012, it was met with mostly ambivalence as the Guardians of the Galaxy are hardly ‘top brass’ characters within the Marvel Comics landscape. The fact of the matter is, while “hardcore” comic fans can look on with a knowing shit-eating grin because they know who Rocket Raccoon is, the majority of the movie going public have no clue. The first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy needed to not only set the tone of the movie, but also introduce the characters.
After the production title cards, we have a quick cut montage of John C. Reilly and Peter Serafinowicz running down our anti-hero’s wrap sheets in an effort to give us a better understanding of who they are. Although brief, the trailer gives us all we need to know: Drax is a meat-headed psychopath on a revenge mission, Gamora is a hired assassin, Rocket is a talking raccoon, Groot is his counter-part and Peter Quill is a belligerent buffoon who thinks it’s funny to flip off the guys who have arrested you. So as an audience we’re now clued in on their names, their character traits and that this is a team of misfits who are working together. For what reason we’re unsure, but we know they’re working together.
As mentioned earlier, getting the movie’s tone right was clearly very important for James Gunn when putting this trailer together and it’s unlike any comic book movie trailer we’ve become accustomed to. This isn’t a The Dark Knight Rises or Iron Man 3 where everything is dark, brooding and mysterious. This is a trailer where action scenes are set to Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede. It’s taken a few people by surprise as it’s not what they expected while others have embraced the wild and wacky world that Gunn is presenting. Every film blogger under the sun has called Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel’s riskiest movie to date and this tone reflects that risk. It has shades of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars but it looks to have more in common with Joss Whedon’s Serenity in terms of tone and presentation. That final shot of our heroes standing in a line while Star-Lord yawns over Björn Skifs belting out B.J. Thomas lyrics is a clear indication of where we’re heading with this picture.
Like any good teaser trailer, we now know enough about Guardians of the Galaxy without knowing too much. We know who the characters are and that there will be plenty of action and laughs, but that’s all we know. Who are the bad guys? What’s the plot? How does it tie in with the rest of the Marvel Universe? Will we see Thanos? How does Bradley Cooper sound as Rocket Raccoon? Like the teaser trailer for Godzilla, Gunn has given us all we need to know right now. The rest of the answers will come shortly.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a risky property for Marvel, but so was Thor. Given the right team and right marketing behind it and the movie will struggle to be anything other than a financial success. With regards to entertainment and quality, the trailer has shown us that we can expect both. The cast look great in their roles, the movie’s style is superb and the humorous tone will be a welcome change in a sea of broody superhero movies.
What a bunch of a-holes.
Be sure to read the rest of the Flickering Myth writing team’s thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy here and head over to the Flickering Myth Forum to discuss it there.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published February 20, 2014. Updated December 13, 2019.
