'Guardians of the Galaxy' Is A Quirky Space Opera

I remember when they first announced they were making a Guardians of the Galaxy and wondering what the heck that was. I also thought it was some animated movie of some sort. Later on it was revealed to be set in the Marvel Universe while setting a new tone for the film. You know, the classic superhero movie vibe, but Guardians of the Galaxy are not your normal heroes, but rather a band of misfits stumbling their way though the galaxy. This is exactly what the viewers and the Marvel universe needed, something to change things up. Something that thinks outside the box and captures the audience. Add a killer soundtrack, and you're good. Guardians of the Galaxy was centered around Peter Quill, our lead hero, giving us some back story and something to relate with him. This did give the film little time to tell us more about the others, but it did just enough for us to know who they are. Guardians of the Galaxy is the summer movie you have been waiting for.

So Guardians of the Galaxy starts off with a young Peter Quill who runs from his dying mother and is abducted by Ravagers, who take the young boy in. Years later, Quill AKA Star Lord (Chris Pratt) is braking into a temple to steal an orb when he is interrupted by Ronan's men who want the orb for their master, Ronan (Lee Pace). Quill gets away, and when the Ravagers discover that Quill has tricked them, Yondu (Michael Rooker) puts a price out on Quill's head. This price attracts Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his houseplant/muscle Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Ronan also sends out Gamora (Zoe Saldana), an assassin to retrieve the orb from Quill. Unable to pawn it, Quill walks out to be attacked by Gamara and attempted kidnap from Rocket and Rocket. This fight lands all four of them in jail where they ban together to break out and sell the orb to make some money. With the help of Drax (David Bautista), they break out and head to Gamara's buyer, but they must avoid the law and Ronan to do so.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a great summer movie to sit down and go along for the side. It really does cover all the bases to make it a note worthy movie. It has a great cast, decent storyline, and a great soundtrack. Have I mentioned the music is from like the 80's (or at least I have been told so), which adds this certain atmosphere to the film. It also places these moments into these songs, so when you hear them again, the movie pops into your mind. Then there are moments you will always remember about a movie like the relationship between Rocket and Groot (You have to admit that Groot is freaking adorable and awesome). Or when Quill tell Gamara about the legend of Footloose and Kevin Bacon. There is honestly too many moments to mention that make you smile or laugh. Which is once again credit to the actors like Chris Pratt who really did feel like he was Star Lord. Oh him and his Walkman. The visual effects were well done with both the environments and character design. It is nice when the special effects look realistic and not slapped on. To top it all off, it's different formula from the usual Marvel timeline while still being tied into everything. Good job Marvel.

There are something I do have issue with in Guardians of the Galaxy. For me, the main problem I could see was that since Guardians spent so much time developing Peter Quill they had little time left for the rest of there characters. Like do we know how Groot and Rocket met or how they got to the place where they were? Or what exactly Groot is? It was just enough back story to give them purpose like with both Gamara and Drax's families being murdered. Guardians of the Galaxy didn't give us enough time to fall in love with these characters enough. The obvious favorites are going to be Star Lord, Rocket and Groot. I really feel that Gamara and Drax didn't make a big enough splash for me to care enough about this, but this is a fault of the writing. Another issue I had with Guardians was that the trailers had sold the film funnier than it actually was. I mean it was funny, but not as funny as I thought it would be. Thats about it though.

Overall Guardians of the Galaxy was a great summer movie for 2014, and a nice breather from the whole Hydra situation going on in the Marvel universe. In addition to having to watch out for continuity other than the whole collector and Thanos thing. Although I do wonder the purpose of The Collector. There are some scenes in the credits (middle and end), so look out for those. Although the final one is very pointless unless you know the character in question. So I wouldn't stay for that. If you are up for action, adventure, humor, and an awesome soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy is your movie. Our rating for Guardians of the Galaxy is:

Trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy below.


What did you think of Guardians of the Galaxy? Who is your favorite Guardian?