Review of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) by Krastain E — 27 Mar 2018

Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge risk for Marvel. It was an introduction to the cosmos and the first adventure into space. It could have been cringy, silly, I mean cmon, it has a talking raccoon and a tree. It could have failed miserably. If it had failed, we may not have had the MCU we have today. Thankfully, not only was it a huge success, it was a fantastic movie.

The tone of the movie is set straight from the beginning. Our hero, Peter Quill, aka Starlord (apparently), dances and mimes his way to his destination with a great first song. After this, the movie only builds on it's great soundtrack with songs such as Hooked on a Feeling and Spirit in the Sky. You can't help but have a smile on your face. The best thing about these however, isn't that they are just there, it's the reason the songs are played. They are intricate into the movie in such a great way that they have a purpose. The fact that Starlord's mum was the one who gave him the songs and the Walkman, is a great and emotional connection that really makes the songs so much more important.

It isn't all about Starlord though, this movie is called the Guardians of the Galaxy, not Guardian of the Galaxy. It was absolutely vital that this movie fleshed out each guardian and made them characters that we love. Director James Gunn really gives each character the screen time needed. To be able to pull off Rocket and Groot is also a master stroke with the witty Rocket pulling out one liners and Groot being all sensitive and loving. For a character to be a tree and to only be able to say three words, the way in which Groot conveys emotion and you can actually nearly understand what he means is a great achievement. The banter between the group is never slapstick comedy and never feels forced. Even with Drax not being able to understand metaphors, it feels natural and brings an albeit surprising but great performance from Dave Bautista. The strongest link a character has to the MCU is Gamora who we find out is one of Thanos' daughter. This makes it all tie in nicely to the MCU and we can only think of the possibilities of how important this could be.

The characters make this movie what it is, which is why I've mainly spoke about them. The story is good and really introduces the theory of the infinity stones and importantly, The Collector. The villain falls into the MCU trap where we don't really understand why Ronan is doing what he is doing. Ronan just seems to want to destroy the planets and I guess prove himself to Thanos. Even with this, it doesn't take away from the movie and we get a great moment at the end, when the Guardians lock hands and control the infinity stone. Ronan, it doesn't matter if they're mortal bitch, they're the Guardians of the Galaxy .

DIAGNOSIS - DISCHARGED.

Yes the villain is a little weak but it doesn't take away from the movie at all. With great comedy, great heart and great characters, I honestly could finish this movie and then immediately re-watch it again. Guardians does such a great job setting up the cosmos that Marvel can honestly go where ever they want and it will be a success.

Matt.