This review contains spoilers so see the movie before reading this. You will not regret it.
Going into Guardians of the Galaxy I didn’t expect much. The comics were cool and had a good plot but they never stood out like Marvel groups like the X-Men and the Avengers, but this movie pulled everything together with Thanos and made me excited for the next movie.
The hype is astounding. I see ads for the movie everywhere, I see ads for Guardians costumes in every comic book I read. Guardians of the Galaxy is essentially everywhere and it knows no borders. When hype is really high some people get very hesitant to see it. I’m usually one of those people, but Marvel always gets my money at the theatres and later on Bluray. Guardians is a captivating intergalactic action adventure with humor that appeals to all generations. Going into Guardians, I was looking forward to seeing David Bautista playing a role in a Marvel film as Drax, his acting is a lot more natural for the role than I even expected. I hope this film takes his career to new levels, as a wrestling fan of his with a signed photograph I can appreciate his net worth growth opposed to most wrestling fans that don’t like a superstar selling out. The truth is, Guardians of the Galaxy sold out… Theatres everywhere.
Rocket Racoon provided most of the adult humor as he does in the comics, but the real surprise was Groot in his spontaneous selflessness that borders on pure innocence. Star Lord is the protagonist of the films, but all the characters are quickly well established and play off each other. I bet Chris Pratt legitimately got chills like his character does when Bautista, aka Drax, pats him on the back and says “I am with you.”
Michael Rooker from Walking Dead and Mallrats plays Yondu Udonta which is a role very well suited for him as an intimidating guy with a great sense of humor once you can get past the fact that he’s blue and his teeth are messed up. By the end up the movie his character has its own arc despite being in the film for maybe 30 minutes of screen time. He ends up playing a pivotal role on several occasions, and one could argue that without Yondu, the Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn’t have come together.
From a comic book fan perspective, I was on the edge of my seat the second the plot reveals an infinity stone with Thanos working with Ronan and Nebula to obtain it from Star Lord. Meanwhile Thanos’s “favorite daughter” Gamora turns on him to join the Guardians of the Galaxy to main peace and order in the Galaxy with the infinity gem kept safe by the Nova corps. This has me excited for multiple reasons. I’m a fan of the superhero Nova despite other readers judging “I can’t believe anyone still reads Nova.” But many large storylines involve a Nova character and they’re far stronger than any Nova featured in the film. I’m curious if they will introduce him in the second Guardians of the Galaxy or in the new Avengers which also features Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch who are Magneto’s children in the comics but is subject to change in Avengers because Fox owns the rights to the X-Men.
The other thing I’m excited about for the Marvel plotline, at least in the intergalactic films (Guardians, Avengers, Fantastic Four), is to see Thanos start collecting the infinity stones to collect them all and form the Infinity Gauntlet. The Infinity Gauntlet series is my favorite Marvel series. Thanos because the all powerful ruler of the universe and has the likes of the X-Men and the Avengers teaming up with unlikely allies in Galactus, and the Beyonder. I feel the Infinity Gauntlet is at least several years away, possibly even a decade considering Guardians focused on one gem and Thanos needs to collect six gems, including the one now in the possession of the Nova corps. The series shows how evil Thanos is as he is motivated by love of Death itself. Other characters must also be established before the film may be released and Disney/Marvel needs to obtain the X-Men film rights. For fans, this means more unique heroes and villains with their own powers and when they come together it may not be as good as it seems. In the end, Thanos falls to Nebula and Nebula falls to the heroes.
Guardians of the Galaxy is awesome. The hype is completely warranted. The intergalactic battles show off Disney’s ability to take things to space in anticipation of the upcoming Star Wars films. Guardians ends with a cliffhanger for the next movie and ties into the franchises already established flawlessly. I focus on plot more often than others and I saw no hiccups. The editing and visual effects are likely to be candidates for an Oscar when that time of year comes around.
After the credits The Collector, shown near the second turning point of Guardians of the Galaxy is seen sitting with Howard the Duck in his destroyed lab where the Infinity Gem’s power was unleashed. Howard was shown in the background of an earlier scene in the same room in a hanging cage as one of the Collectors prizes. Howard the Duck is a former Marvel comic book hero that is also an unlikely paring of a duck named Howard with a twisted sense of humor. His comic series had very mature content similar to the infamous Fritz the Cat. With any luck, this isn’t teasing another Howard the Duck movie considering how awful the first one was.
themillennialperspective 