During the Cold War, Russia created a secret program called Patriot full of “super soldiers” in order to combat the country’s opposing forces. These soldiers were made to keep quiet and remain in the shadows, until the time came that they were desperately needed. This group of superhumans is now tasked with saving Russia and all that call it home.
Writer Andrey Gavrilov and director Sarik Andreasyan chose to move quickly into the story, not allowing audiences a chance to become bored or uninterested with what many might consider to be a knockoff of Marvel or DC team-up films. Within the first two minutes of the film (during the opening credits) each of the main characters were briefly introduced and audiences were given a glimpse of what each hero is capable of. Ler (Sebastien Sisak), Arsus (Anton Pampushnyy), Khan (Sanjar Madi) and Kseniya (Alina Lanina) are all shown to the audience and instantly prepared them for an action-packed ride. Gavrilov and Andreasyan do not disappoint, as much of the story is propelled by high-octane action and truly mind-boggling spectacles of war and death.
It seems that the two rarely take their foot off the gas and rely very little on narrative to guide the story. However, as little as narrative and character development appear in the film, they find their place and work together to create a connection between viewer and character. The characters, sans superpowers, were relatable and viewers were easily able to find parts of themselves in the heros.
The computer generated images were adequate, but fell short of expectations. While they were not the worst, as superhero films are becoming the norm in Hollywood, it is hard not to compare it to the likes of Iron Man (2008) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Alone, without referencing the CGI success of such films, Guardians manages to do enough to keep the audience engaged and allow them the ability to temporarily suspend their disbelief.
As a heads up to those who attempt to watch this film, the version on Amazon Prime is English-dubbed and makes much of the film very difficult to watch. The acting is sufficient, but the fact that the voices and the audible emotion does not match the characters’ physical expressions makes parts of the film difficult to accept. I implore you not to disregard this film due to the fact that it is dubbed in English, but it can understandably be a tremendous turnoff. The fact that the voices coming from Russian-speaking actors did not often match their physical emotion made it difficult to fully appreciate their acting ability. However, their precise and often intense facial expressions were wonderfully fun and accurate.
All-in-all, audiences were taken on a compelling journey of superheroes, world preservation and non-stop action. The film lends itself to being one in which viewers can kick back, throw their feet up and relax for a couple of hours while the story unfolds, which, for many reasons, is a beautiful compliment.
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