Guardians of the Galaxy review

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY:

A BLAST OF MARVEL COMICS FUN THAT WILL SEND YOU INTO HYPERSPACE WITH THRILLS AND LAUGHS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

MARVEL STUDIOS

(From left to right) Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot protecting the galaxy as the Guardians of the Galaxy

            Marvel Studios, the team who brought us colossal hits like The Avengers and Iron Man strike again with their latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film series, Guardians of the Galaxy. Directed by screenwriter, James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead) who also wrote the film’s screenplay, and starring Chris Pratt (The Lego Movie, Parks & Recreation), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek, Star Trek into Darkness), Bradley Cooper (The Hangover trilogy, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle), Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious franchise, Riddick trilogy, The Iron Giant), and David Bautista (Riddick, The Man with the Iron Fists) star as an unlikely group of heroes protecting the galaxy from evil.

            Surprisingly, this is the only film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which I haven’t read their original comic books before seeing the film. I had no idea who they were until I heard about the film, and I did read some of the Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and Avengers comics prior to their film releases, so I came into this movie, not knowing completely what I was going to get, but I did get a clear idea of what the concept of the film is from the trailers and TV commercials I watched many times, so I’ll sum it up as best as I can.

            The film follows the adventures of ruthless outlaws running from the law, space adventurer with a spaceship and a high-tech flying suit, Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), green-skinned assassin, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), talking raccoon with heavy firepower, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Rocket’s tree humanoid partner in crime, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and don’t worry in case you forget who he is, because he reminds us constantly throughout the film, and an oversized warrior in search for vengeance, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) after his wife and daughter were killed.

            After fighting their way out of a space prison being run by, Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly-Step Brothers, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Wreck-It Ralph), corpsman of the Nova Corps military force on planet Xandar, they decide to join forces and find a powerful orb, which can grant its wielder unlimited power, much like the Tessaract from The Avengers and prevent it from falling into the hands of Xandar’s enemies, Thanos (voice and motion-capture by Josh Brolin-True Grit, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Men in Black 3), leader of the alien race known as Kree, who you may remember from the ending of The Avengers, and Ronan (Lee Pace-Soldier’s Girl, The Hobbit, Lincoln), a Kree radical who agrees to help Thanos find the orb in exchange for destroying his enemies and plans on using the orb’s power to become immortal and rule the universe.          

            Also starring Benicio del Toro (Traffic, Sin City, 21 Grams) as The Collector, who you may also remember from the post-credits scene at the end of Thor: The Dark World, Glenn Close (Air Force One, Mars Attacks!, 101 Dalmatians) as Nova Prime Irani Rael, leader of the Nova Corps, and several cameos, including one I’m sure you’re all going to expect, and another at the very end of the film that I’m sure none of you are going to see coming, but trust me on this, you will laugh to death once he shows up.

            Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is on the level of Avengers-style fun, though I don’t consider it better than The Avengers, no, we would need a DC Justice League movie in order to compete with that. But as is, it’s a fun popcorn flick with witty writing, gripping action, enjoyable characters, and all the things we’d come to expect from a Marvel movie.

            It became my favorite blockbuster of the summer, I’m not sure if there’s anything coming out soon to top it before the summer ends. The film is up with X-Men: Days of Future Past and Captain America: The Winter Soldier as one of the best Marvel films of the year as well, sorry Spidey, nothing personal.

            However I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but the film does seem to tackle a lot of well-known sci-fi films, which can be noticeable. A lot of the citizens of Xandar look like characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Thanos and Ronan’s army reminds me a lot of the Sith army from Star Wars.

            But aside from that, this is Marvel entertainment at its finest…aside from The Avengers, it’s an exciting and hilarious adventure through space and it will get you hyped up for next year’s release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, trust me, I’ll be there.