Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) --- "A Group of Extraterrestrial Misfits Save The Galaxy From A Purple Minion With A Funny Helmet."

Plot Summary

 After stealing a mysterious orb in the far reaches of outer space, Peter Quill from Earth, is now the main target of a manhunt led by the villain known as Ronan the Accuser. To help fight Ronan and his team and save the galaxy from his power, Quill creates a team of space heroes known as the "Guardians of the Galaxy" to save the world.

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Review

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Hello, Movie Buffs! 

     One would think that a movie studio at the top of its game might want to play it safe rather than strike out in new, bizarre directions. Marvel, yet again, scores once again with its willingness to head off the beaten track. Guardians of the Galaxy is an exceptionally well-made and expansive space film with impressive set pieces of beautifully comprehensive worlds, widely inventive action scenes to last a lifetime, a host of memorable characters, and a nice blend of seriousness and comedic value to every scene. What I cannot stress enough is just how insanely fun and entertaining Guardians of the Galaxy is for literally its entire run-time because the film is brilliantly done. The film has distinct qualities that set it apart from other Marvel offerings, yet there are enough elements that link it with other Marvel movies; like Avengers, Thor, and Captain America. While maintaining an impressively well-balanced pace whilst avoiding the problem of exaggeration that many superhero films fall victim to. Marvel made the smart choice in allowing director James Gunn (Scooby-Doo, Dawn of the Dead), who co-wrote the script, the opportunity to realize his vision; otherwise, this film would have most likely been a flop if someone else were at the helm.

     It is obvious that Gunn clearly feels a strong empathy for this bizarre assembly of misfits as each one battles to whether to save their own skin or save the world. The CG-created galaxy bounty hunters; a gun-toting raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper – Limitless, The Hangover) – who hides a world of hurt beneath his mouthy exterior – and his walking tree sidekick Groot (Vin Diesel – XxX, Fast & the Furious) – who manages to portray a great deal of character depth despite only communicating with three words -  providing  some of the most human moments of the film. Chris Pratt (Parks And Recreation) as Peter Quill is an eccentric gunfighter in the Han Solo mold who exudes an easy, rakish charm that makes Peter both dashingly arrogant and achingly vulnerable. He is complimented well by Zoe Saldana’s (Star Trek, Avatar) character as the world-weary, no-nonsense Gamora. Dave Bautista (Man with the Iron Fist), as the quite comical all brawn-and-no-brain, Drax the Destroyer, brings an unexpected depth of tragedy to Drax’ vengeance-minded determination to avenge his family against the villain Ronan (Lee Pace – The Hobbit, The Fall), a genocidal Kree radical. Out of all the characters, the only let down is that there is no real threatening villain. Ronan is a one-note madman that snarls and spits in his heavy make-up because he can't quite concoct much in the way of genuine menace. In addition, since there is practically no information as far as background goes, he makes for a less interesting villain and actually comes across as quite humorous at times. Karen Gillan's cyborg Nebula manages a smidgen of complexity but even then, she struggles to be half as fascinating as her conflicted "sister", Gamora.

     There is not necessarily a downside to Guardians of the Galaxy except for the fact that there are several plot lines all stuffed somewhat awkwardly into the film. We have Ronan's planet-destroying aspirations, which are somehow part of Thanos’ evil plans - the creepy purple dude who popped up at the end of The Avengers. For those who have not followed the marvel storyline, involving Thanos then it can be a bit rus d, until it all makes sense in the end. 

     Overall, despite its occasionally bulky script, Guardians of the Galaxy triumphs because of the gang of misfits at its core. The effects were excellent, acting was superb, story lines were compelling, and the comedy was humors. And since Marvel films have always been more tongue-in-cheek to the considerably grimmer theme of the Dark Knight franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy is an exhilarating trip in a new direction. Director James Gunn never loses sight of the prickly, selfish side of his characters and gives them plenty of rich, emotional moments without allowing the film to descend into what could have been dangerously sentimental territory. In contrast, Gunn fills those moments with bursts of odd, rebellious comedy, and ultimately dares to interrupt its most epic face-off with a clever homage to Footloose.

***Marvel Cinematic Universe (In order of how you should watch them)***

Iron Man (2008)

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Thor (2011)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Black Panther (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Captain Marvel (2019)

Untitled Avengers film (2019)

Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel (2019)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)

"I am Groot"

- Groot

Final Vote

Worth Seeing:  4.5 of 5 stars

Worth Buying:  4.5 of 5 stars

I hope you liked this post, subscribe to my blog via email HERE, send in your comments, and watch Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Movies Similar 

Ant-Man (2015)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Avengers (2012)
Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
Avengers 3: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers 4: Untitled film (2019)
Black Panther (2018)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBA)
Hulk (2003)
Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (2019)
Thor (2011)
Thor: Dark World (2013)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Cast & Crew

 Directed by: James Gunn

Writing Credits:

     (Written by) James Gunn and Nicole Perlman.

     (Marvel Comic Book by) Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

     (Character by)  Bill Mantlo, Keith Giffen, Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, Steve Gan, Steve Gerber, Val Mayerik, Gene Colan, Arnold Drake, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Roger Stern, Marv Wolfman, John Buscema, Dick Ayers, and Mike Friedrich

Produced by 

   Victoria Alonso          ---   executive producer

   Jamie Christopher    ---   associate producer

   Louis D'Esposito       ---   executive producer

   Kevin Feige               ---   producer

   Alan Fine                   ---   executive producer

   David J. Grant          ---   co-producer

   Nikolas Korda           ---   executive producer (as Nik Korda)

   Jeremy Latcham      ---   executive producer

   Stan Lee                    ---   executive producer

   Jonathan Schwartz   ---   co-producer

  

Cast:

Chris Pratt --- Peter Quill

Zoe Saldana --- Gamora

Dave Bautista --- Drax

Vin Diesel --- Groot (voice)

Bradley Cooper --- Rocket (voice)

Lee Pace --- Ronan

Michael Rooker --- Yondu Udonta

Karen Gillan --- Nebula

Djimon Hounsou --- Korath

John C. Reilly --- Corpsman Dey

Glenn Close --- Nova Prime

Benicio Del Toro --- The Collector

Laura Haddock --- Meredith Quill

Sean Gunn --- Kraglin / On Set Rocket

Peter Serafinowicz --- Denarian Saal

Christopher Fairbank --- The Broker

Krystian Godlewski --- On Set Groot

Wyatt Oleff --- Young Quill

Gregg Henry --- Grandpa

Robert Firth --- Dr. Fitzgibbon

Stan Lee --- Xandarian Ladies' Man

Nicole Alexandra Shipley --- Pretty Xandarian

Sharif Atkins --- Nova Arresting Pilot

Brendan Fehr --- Corpsman Dey's Partner

Tomas Arana --- Kree Ambassador

Mikaela Hoover --- Nova Prime's Assistant

Naomi Ryan --- Nova Centurion

John Brotherton --- Nova Starblaster Pilot