Marvel Mania: MCU Phase 2- Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
Directed by: James Gunn


Plot Summary: On the planet Morag, a smuggler from Earth named Peter Quill steals a mysterious orb and plans to sell it on Xandar, the capital world of the Nova Empire. An assassin named Gamora is sent to Xandar by her master Ronan and adoptive father Thanos to retrieve the orb from Quill. Quill and Gamora begin to fight over the orb, when two bounty hunters named Rocket and Groot try to capture Quill and collect a bounty placed on him. The four are arrested by Nova Corps and sent to a prison known as the Kyln. There they encounter a powerful inmate named Drax, who wants revenge on Ronan for murdering his wife and daughter. Quill convinces Drax to spare Gamora's life and help them escape, and she will draw Ronan to him. Gamora also admits she has betrayed Ronan and wants to take the orb to another buyer. The five must form an unlikely alliance and band together to escape the Kyln and discover the mystery behind the orb.


It's easy to throw around the phrase "instant favorite" when it comes to a recently released movie. You have the adrenaline still flowing through your veins of seeing something brand new, and since you enjoyed it, it becomes a "favorite." I've encountered this numerous times in recent years, whether it was The Dark Knight, Star Trek, Up, Inception, Toy Story 3, The Avengers, Fast and Furious 6, and a whole slew of movies that came out in 2014, each "favorite" changes over time. I usually like to give it one or two more repeat viewings to see what holds up, what doesn't hold up, and discover new things within the film I didn't notice before. With that said, Guardians of the Galaxy is an instant favorite, and yes, the quotes were taken off it for a reason. After first viewing, I knew it wasn't a phrase, it was a reality. I absolutely adored this movie and it was one of my favorite releases in 2014 (along with a few others I will talk about in May). The film was based on a Marvel Comics property that casual moviegoers weren't familiar with, so going into the movie, people were afraid this was going to be a failure, that the formula wouldn't work, that it would be the next Iron Man 2 (I knew I'd get to reference how much I hate that film one more time...) and not deliver with the quality fans expected for the MCU. My goodness, how surprised they were to find out this is actually one of the best, and in my opinion, THE best movie in the MCU so far...

As most could probably figure out with my reviews, I love great movie characters (heck, 80% of my reviews are usually spent on characters), and Guardians of the Galaxy combines 5 amazing film characters in one of the most unlikely superhero teams imaginable. The leader of the pack is Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt. Quill, who goes by the name of Star Lord, is a witty smuggler that is full of pop culture references from the '80s. Wait a second, our main protagonist is full of funny one-liners AND pop culture references? No wonder this character is a hit with the major demographic: Peter Quill is the epitome of a fanboy becoming a superhero. I know there were other members of the team that stole the show for a lot of people, but for me, my favorite character in the film is Quill because the show fell on Pratt's shoulders to give us a likable protagonist that we can root for and he gave us just that. He constantly has character growth that test his honor and loyalties for his new found friends, as well as being able to step up to the plate and be a courageous leader who is full of as many heroics as he does tricks.

Zoe Saldana plays Gamora, an assassin who is sent to retrieve an Infinity Stone from Quill, but ultimately joins with him to protect the Stone from the forces of evil. Saldana is quickly gaining traction as one of the best females in the sci-fi genre, with memorable character appearances in Avatar, Star Trek, and now Guardians of the Galaxy. The best thing about her roles is that all of them are different, with Gamora being my favorite for her complexity. Gamora was trained to be a vicious and ruthless killer, but resents her upbringing since she was taken from her home planet and made to be evil. Thanks to a developing relationship with Quill, Gamora is able to unlock a side of hers she didn't know existed, which includes demonstrating a wide array of emotions and establishing various forms of friendship with her fellow Guardians. Then, we have Drax the Destroyer, played by Dave Bautista. Being a wrestling fan, I loved the opportunity to see one of my first heroes in wrestling (known as Batista in the WWE) become a superhero on the big screen. Drax is way more than just muscles and fighting skills, he has a very serious story of seeking revenge on the film's villains for murdering his wife and daughter. Thanks to that blind rage, his actions are impulsive, but thanks to his loyalty for his new friends, he learns to work alongside a team. Drax also has an amazing running gag of taking metaphors TOO literally, proving Bautista has the skills to bring a balance of humor and action to a larger than life character like Drax.

Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, is a genetically engineered raccoon with skills as a bounty hunter and weapons expert. Yes, you read that correctly. That ACTUALLY exists in this film. It's one of those concepts you'd never expect in a million years would work or be taken seriously, and yet it does. Rocket is sadistic and cynical, usually looking for the best opportunity to make a profit or blow something up. I absolutely would love to see him and Tony Stark have a conversation one day (Avengers: Infinity War perhaps?). Cooper's voice is nearly unrecognizable as Rocket, proving that great acting can exist within the sound studio, as well as on-screen. Rounding out the team is Groot, a tree-like humanoid voiced by Vin Diesel. What is there to say about Groot that hasn't already been said? The world LOVES this guy. He can be one of the toughest enforcers you could have for a team one moment, and be a softer, caring companion the next. And let's be honest, who HASN'T said "I am Groot!" at least once since this film was released? His friendship with Rocket is one of the most compelling components of the film, and you wouldn't imagine a giant tree creature who only knows how to say 3 words having that much depth, yet Groot does. I mean, Rocket and Groot are so awesome, they could have easily had their own movie. However, they are equally well suited with Quill, Gamora, and Drax to create the Guardians of the Galaxy.

As you can tell, I LOVE this movie. Guardians of the Galaxy had an absolutely amazing supporting cast that I didn't have time to talk about. Just look at this cast: Lee Pace, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin are all in SUPPORTING roles. That's just amazing. It also had what has been universally considered as one of the greatest movie soundtracks in history (also known as Awesome Mix Vol. 1), with songs from the '70s and '80s that are sure to be stuck in your head after the film. Not only that, but it took a comic book premise and set it in some of the most breathtaking and creative planetary settings I've ever seen. So with that combination, and how positive the response to the film was, it left me very nervous for two HIGHLY anticipated films due out this year. Guardians of the Galaxy made me wonder if the bar was set TOO high for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That may seem silly to some but hear me out. These are two sequels from HUGE franchises, so moviegoers everywhere have high hopes for them to deliver. So, here comes a film most moviegoers were skeptical about, and it surprised the world by delivering as a superhero film AND a space film. So what happens if Avengers and Star Wars can't exceed the quality of a movie viewers were expecting to suck? That's a scary idea to think about, and we're only about 2 days away from knowing half of the answer when Avengers: Age of Ultron is released, so hopefully that film will deliver as well as the films in Phase 2 have set it up to be. But for now, excuse me while I go listen to some Awesome Mix Vol. 1.

And, with *SPOILERS* in mind, let's look at the mid-credits and post-credits scenes for Guardians of the Galaxy...

The mid-credits scene shows Baby Groot dancing to "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5, but freezes when Drax looks over to him. When Drax looks away again, Baby Groot continues to dance. This scene has become a pop culture phenomenon, and while not even remotely important to the film, it sums up the type of humor that was present throughout the film. The post-credits scene cuts to the Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro, sitting within his destroyed collection. An astronaut dog comes and licks his face, drawing the disgust from a character off-screen. Cut to Howard the Duck, voiced by Seth Green, drinking and sitting among the wreckage and it cuts to black. This was just an amazing Easter egg that I never saw coming. Half the audience got it when I saw it in theaters, and the other half were confused as crap. It's that kind of response that makes me love Marvel Studios.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Guardians of the Galaxy is an entertaining thrill ride of cosmic proportions. It has humor, action, heart, and some of the greatest characters to come out of the MCU thus far. Absolutely watch this as a standalone film and own it in your collection. Even if they won't be appearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron, still give it a watch, as it sets up a LOT of groundwork for the upcoming 2 part Avengers: Infinity War film.

Guardians of the Galaxy and movie images are copyrighted by Marvel Studios