Guardians of the Galaxy Review

I'm always slightly hesitant to see a movie that is hyped as "The Blockbuster of the Summer" - I've been let down too often in the past to get my hopes up that it will be any good. As a comic book junkie, I've been let down before (many, many times) by the live action translation of some of my favorite characters. But Marvel has been slowly renewing my faith that it's possible to make a movie that will impress the fanboys and still keep the casual audience interested. And Guardians of the Galaxy does just that.

Plot aside, the movie is a great mix of comedy and action. Even if you can't follow the storyline or remember the back story of the characters, the effects, humor, and music make it an enjoyable time. So enjoyable, in fact, that I hardly minded the 2-hours of chatty patrons seated behind me. My attention was so focused on everything happening that I tuned them out until the credits started rolling and one of them said: "Yo, that should be the new Star Wars franchise!"

I've heard that comment before, that Guardians has the potential to be a Star Wars for a new generation. And it really could. While I love the ORIGINAL trilogy, the new one left a sour taste in my mouth. The crew of the Milano (yes, like the cookie) has a great dynamic that makes me wonder what would've happened had the Star Wars franchise made Han Solo the main protagonist instead of Luke Skywalker.

WARNING: SPOILERS

I could post the plot but heck, you can go an read that on Wikipedia, too, if you're interested in what happens. I thought rather than rehash the story myself, I'd rather post a list of the things that I liked, learned, and were irked by about the film instead. In no particular order:

1. Another Infinity Gem is revealed. I knew that there was a good chance that we would be seeing at least one of these in the movie and I was right. Let's tally them up: blue Mind gem from The Avengers, red Power gem from Thor II, and now the purple Space gem. We've now encountered half of the gems so we should be seeing an epic Infinity Wars cross-over movie soon, I hope!

2. Michael Rooker is a bad-ass space junker. Anyone who watches The Walking Dead will be pleased with his portrayal of Yondu. It's a different interpretation of the character than I've seen but it plays up perfectly to Rooker's strengths. Turning his trademark yaka arrows into a dagger for the film was an interesting adjustment, but one I can live with. Fun fact: Yondu, like Merle, lost a hand and had a hook, too.

3. Dogs in Space. In amongst the Collectors, uh, collections we see several live specimens including Cosmo the Spacedog who features as a character in the comics. Stay tuned through the credits and you'll see that he survives meaning he could make an appearance in GotG II. Who do I not want to see make an appearance in the sequel: Howard the Duck...

4. Lots of beefcake. Sure there's the beefy Drax walking around shirtless through the entire movie, but let me say: Chris Pratt is hot. I mean, he gives all the chubby guys out there hope that they, too, can become sex symbols. We get to see him half-naked, if slightly orange (watch the movie and you'll see) pretty early in the movie. But they aren't the only two showing skin. There's also Lee Pace as Ronan - yeah the main baddie - showing off his bare, blue backside, too. Maybe if Ned showed off those assets Pushing Daisies would still be on the air.

5. All clothes come in raccoon sizes. As far as I am aware, and the movie supports this, Rocket is one-of-a-kind. He does not come from planet of raccoons, he was genetically-engineered. Yet, of his four costume changes, each seems to be made in his size. I'll forgo his original and the prison uniform, but are you telling me that the humanoid Renegades and Nova Core both just happen to stock his exact size? A very minor flaw to the film, but it irked me just a bit.

6. You will love Groot. There's not much more that I can add to that sentence. He has really only one line in the movie, but despite the lack of meaningful dialogue, you can't help but  love his character. He seems almost child-like at times, but don't let that fool you - he's a bass-ass who will protect his friends from anything.

7. Star-Lord gets all the ladies. Back in the day, Captain Kirk was the player of players in space, banging alien chicks as he explored the Universe. Even though the newer version of the character played by Chris Pine lived up to that aspect of the character, Peter Quill does it better. He even has the scars to prove it.

8. Nebula is a whiner. Don't get me wrong, I loved the look of this character so much. And I was really excited to see that she would be in this movie. But, instead of being a bad-ass, unemotional killer, she's played more like a whiny child desperate for daddy's attention. Even her cool regeneration scene can't overshadow this for me.

9. There are Celestials in the Universe. Something that they didn't show when they introduced the Collector in Thor II was the location of his creepy shop. Seems that it's located in the middle of Knowhere which is in fact the severed head of a Celestial. If you have no idea what I am talking about, the Celestials are cosmic beings that have been alive since the dawn of time and are pretty much "gods" on the same power level as beings like Galactus.

10. There will be a GotG II. And that's not speculation. Just before the credits, the movie ends with the words: "Guardians of the Galaxy will return." That and a dancing Groot.



So, what's my final word on the movie? I think it's worth seeing, even if you have no prior knowledge of the comic. Heck, even if you're just a fan of sci-fi movies, or for that matter action-comedies, you're going to enjoy this one. And I hate to say it, but I really think this will be the Summer Blockbuster they touted it to be.

My Score: A+ - There's really not much more they can do to improve on this movie. Which means they have a lot to live up to if they're making a sequel.