4) Groot
Give Vin Diesel a lot of credit; in live-action roles his performances are very hit or miss (mostly miss), but when he’s providing the voice over for a character, he effortlessly makes him endearing. Prior to voicing Groot, Vin Diesel voiced the titular Iron Giant in an animated film from the 90s, and elicited a great deal of emotion solely with noises and grunts.
Diesel’s role here as an anthropomorphic tree that serves as the muscle to Rocket Raccoon is no different. “I am Groot” is his only line in the movie, but he delivers it with enough conviction that every time it’s said you can’t help but just say “Awwwww” to yourself. In a superhero film where the superheroes are a bunch of A-holes, Groot is the saintly member of the group that is only capable of kindness.
Sorry, let me rephrase that, “Groot is the saintly member of the group that is only capable of kindness…unless you are his enemy.” If the latter is the case, he’ll stab you with one of his branches – that he can control the growth of at will – and bounce you between the walls of a hallway like a ping-pong ball. And even then, he’ll just playfully smile at you after he’s done kicking your ass.
Overall, Groot is a character with multiple layers that had to be nailed. The CGI had to be on point with animations and movements that instantly allowed viewers to become attached, while Vin Diesel had to bring out an innocent voice capable of reaffirming a pet-like love time and time again.
