THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes, characters can go from obsolete to household names and there is no better example than Guardians of the Galaxy.
PLOT
The film follows Peter Quill aka Star Lord, who was abducted by Ravagers in 1988, after his mother died of cancer. As an adult, he steals a mysterious orb that Kree renegade Ronan needs to deliver to Thanos (Josh Brolin). He is arrested when fighting assassin Gamora and bounty hunters Groot, a tree like organism, & an genetically, cybernetically enhanced raccoon named Rocket. They break out of prison together when agreeing to sell the orb and split the profit. An inmate named Drax the Destroyer joins them to get revenge on Ronan, who murdered his family, on behalf of Thanos. When selling the orb to The Collector (Benicio Del Toro), it is revealed that it contains an infinity stone. Drax mistakenly calls out Ronan to get revenge but fails spectacularly. Due to his actions, Gamora has the orb taken from her by foster sister Nebula, who attacks her for it. Quill saves her from death but allows his mentor Yondu to pick them up, after he ripped him off with the orb. When catching up with Drax, Rocket and Groot, Quill and Gamora are able to convince Yondu to help him stop Ronan from destroying the Planet Xandar with the use of the stone. Quill is also able to convince the Nova Corps to join the fight. In the Battle of Xandar, Nebula flees after fighting Gamora and when Ronan’s ship crashes, Groot sacrifices himself protecting his new friends by shielding them; He is able to be reborn afterwards from a cutting. Quill uses the stone with Gamora, Rocket and Drax to kill Ronan and all survive doing so. Their criminal records gets expunged for saving Xandar and Quill discovers that they were able to survive holding the stone because his biological father originates from an unknown species. The film ends with the new team of heroes giving the stone to Nova Corps for safekeeping and continue to go on adventures together with a brand new ship.
THOUGHTS
Like Iron Man, I did not read comics involving the Guardians of the Galaxy but that didn't stop me from enjoying this sci-fi film when first seeing it in theaters on 2014. Writer/Director James Gunn made many changes on the characters and are able to make it work. The first of many great things about this movie would be its visuals as every fictional landscape looks so surreal and the action sequences like the Kyln breakout or Battle for Xandar are fascinating to witness. If one thing is to be discussed of the film the most will be the 'Awesome Mix' soundtrack; I do love a good music shuffle we were provided the best one with this movie. And I am always laughing out loud when seeing this movie. With scenes like Rocket freaking out of Gamora keeping the Infinity Stone, after discovering its true power, him beating up grass because he got out voted, Yondu interrupting the broker with gibberish because he’s not giving him the answer he wants, or Quill accidentally dropping the orb when handing it to the Collector. Those scenes always find a way to get to my funny bone. Although I always enjoy myself when seeing this film, there are still some flaws within. The first ones go to Thanos. While it was great to see him again before he makes impact with Infinity War, I find it pointless for him to send Ronan to get the orb for him, because he has an army big enough to get it himself. We know that they agree for Ronan to get it with the promise that Thanos would destroy Xandar, but I honestly don’t think the Titan needs him. Hell, he does do it hisself when he got the gauntlet and Thor revealed during Infinity War that he did decimate Xandar to get it. Proof that having Ronan involved was pointless. Also, it was dumb to threaten Ronan to kill him for return to him empty handed because he knew he would show up empty handed when asking for him. During the Kyln prison scene, it is weird how Gamora has her own personal cell and every other prisoner is in a pile. That made no sense to me. It is goddamn badass that Yondu can summon an arrow by whistle but those henchmen should’ve killed him when they had the chance. The only problem I had with Ronan is that he doesn’t overkill his enemies. He drowns Drax but if he wanted less people on his back, he could’ve used his war hammer and he’d have less to worry about. Lastly, Quill’s dance off distraction is the biggest laugh for me but Ronan should’ve just killed him. Ignore all of this, and this is still a great superhero film. Going back to what I was saying with the cast, each character is memorable because Gunn uses their absurdities to create intrigue and use their flaws to make us relate, a method that works so well he would later use in DC's The Suicide Squad. Chris Pratt unexpectedly embodies the leading man Star Lord and we feel for this character immediately when it came to his mother. I mean it is not easy for anyone to watch their parent(s) die in front of them. I got to give a shout-out for Wyatt Oleff for owning that opening breakdown scene. Back to Pratt though, he is showing someone that has accepted his life traveling across the Galaxy but is still broken deep down. He’s someone who is struggling with the acceptance of a new family and although Yondu was a father figure to him, his acceptance towards others emerged when he meets his new friends that become the Guardians. When Quill reached out for Gamora as he couldn't for his mother is more emotional than expected because it's here where he finally accepts his new family. Zoe Saldana is able to do something similar with Gamora, the warrior forced into an unwanted life, hoping to get out but makes friends along the way. Dave Bautista succeeds in making Drax hilarious yet a badass warrior. He may not be the brightest compared to Quill, but that doesn't mean he has no care for those around him. He chose to join Quill in the Battle of Xandar because he respected his will as a warrior, seeing the honor he never thought he had in him. I wasn't sure who would ever play the talking raccoon that is Rocket, yet Bradley Cooper succeeds in providing an ideal voice for the character. He does come off single minded in order to keep himself alive, but is able to compromise that part of himself for the greater good. Vin Diesel's only line may be 'I am Groot' but I do respect that he did multiple dubbing for other international languages. Groot becomes the heart and soul of the group as he is a calm and gentle giant. But when trouble comes his way, he is not gonna hold back defending himself and those he cares for. Michael Rooker's approach as Yondu is the most creative part of the movie because Yondu is an OG guardian of the galaxy in the comics before the new team this movie is based on. He may act unscrupulous, but his unspoken fatherly love for Quill proves that there is more to life than focusing on yourself. Karen Gillian and Lee Pace are perfectly intimidating as Nebula and Ronan respectively. Nebula is full of hatred and you see it in every glare she gives to Gamora, which is then explored perfectly in the sequel. For Ronan, he may not be worse than Thanos but he definitely is still intimidating in these standards, considering that he wants to destroy the planet Xandar. This is a guy whose culture drove him to be a crusader and preferred superiority for his race more than anything. Although Thanos didn't really need him, it would've been a messy war between the two if he succeeded conquering Xandar. Of all the surprises in this movie, it's hard to not think about the after credits appearance of Seth Green's Howard the Duck. Whether or not you knew the character beforehand, it was a moment that would be hard to stop laughing about. I didn't mind Djimon Hounsou as Korath since he is everything Ronan would want in a soldier: stoic, disciplined and humorless. It is a shame that his origin wasn't explained in Captain Marvel because it would've been interesting to see how the two met before they both died in the hands of the Guardians. Since the Nova Corps are another piece of essential Marvel lore, I do hope there is a chance for it to be explored in the MCU's future. And lastly, seeing Thanos again was great because this helps build up that the Guardians would align with the Avengers to fight the titan in Infinity War. Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is a blast that becomes more fun than one would expect. And when you put aside Thanos, it is another MCU film that can stand on its own. If you love science fiction, this one can't be missed.
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