Review written by Christian Garcia
The next film is the 2014 sleeper hit, Guardians of the Galaxy.
I remember going into this film completely blind and not knowing what to expect. Most audiences had that same mentality. My girlfriend had the same mindset. It's easy to see why.
This was unlike any other Marvel film at that time. This was not Captain America or Iron Man. At that time, the Guardians of the Galaxy while fan favorite of comic book fans, were not known to the public so they did not know what to expect. Looking at the film with no context is a movie with the funny guy from Parks and Recreation, a giant tree guy, a green girl, WWE wrestler Batista, and a raccoon carrying a machine gun. That description alone would make one go wtf.
But that lead to me, and most viewers being pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed this film. It was funny, it had a lot of action and one-liners, and everyone left the theatres loving it. It went on to become a big hit at the box office that summer and had a lot of hype behind it. It is still one of the more popular Marvel films to this day.
Looking back on it 8 years later, with the hype dying down, does this film still hold up? Is it still as great as I remember it? Let’s take a look.
The Guardians
Star-Lord
Peter Quill is a former Ravager, who now flies solo and gets into wild shenanigans. He operates alone and always looks to score whether it is for big bucks or with a woman. His greatest possession is his cassette tape player with a mixtape his mother made for him. At the beginning of the film, he witnesses his mother succumb to cancer. She asked him to take her hand but unable to look at his mother that way refused and watched her die instead. Immediately after he runs outside only to be abducted by Yondu and the Ravager Clan. His choice to not take his mother’s hand is one that haunts him throughout the film. As a result, he also chooses to remain a loner. His desire to score causes him to get caught up in the wild chase for the Orb.
Gamora
Adopted daughter of Thanos and adopted sister of Nebula. After Thanos killed half of her people, he took her under his wing making her into one of the most feared and hated assassins in the Galaxy. However, she no longer wishes to follow his ways and plots to betray him and Ronan and take the Orb that they seek and keep it as far from them as possible. She serves as the moral compass of the group and is the more mature one. She pushes the hardest to get the Orb to the Nova Corps in her quest to atone for her actions while serving under Thanos.
Rocket Raccoon
A genetically enhanced creature who collects bounties and commits crimes alongside his partner and friend, Groot. As a result of the repeated experiments, he has a very explosive personality and tends to hide behind quick quips and smart comments. He is easily offended whenever he is called rodent or vermin. He is closest to Groot being the only member of the team that can understand him and while he can seem to be verbally abusive towards Groot, he does care for him. At moments, he shows he cares for Groot the most and is very quick to protect him. He is very intelligent and has very strong engineering skills that he shows off throughout the film and proves he is an asset to the team.
Drax
Known as the Destroyer, Drax is a rage-fueled former criminal seeking revenge on Ronan for the murders of his wife and daughter. His race of people, the Kylosian, are naive and underdeveloped making him unable to grasp concepts like metaphors. This makes for great comedy throughout the film. He is both the brawn and at times comedic relief. His rage and power make him a great asset to the team although his impulsive nature and inability to think before acting is his greatest weakness.
Groot
He is Groot.
Groot is a hyper-intelligent, tree-like organism whose speech is limited to the phrase, “I am Groot.” He is Rocket’s partner-in-crime having aided him on many bounties and criminal acts. He acts as the innocence and comedic relief of the film. He doesn’t act out of malice but out of kindness. He follows Rocket’s lead and does whatever he can to help him out. Despite him only saying 3 words, he can make those 3 words so funny in the right situation. My girlfriend quickly grew to love Groot and found him cute and innocent which led her to a sea of emotions later in the film.
The Guardians' Journey
The theme of Guardians of the Galaxy is of loners coming together to create a family. At the start of the film, the Guardians are loners onto themselves. Quill lost his mother, never knew his father, and was abducted into space. Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, having been taken in after he killed her family and wiped out half her planet. Not wanting to see Ronan destroy a planet and kill innocence, chooses to betray him and Thanos. Drax’s family was murdered by Ronan. Rocket was the result of numerous experiments and because of this tortured existence chooses to lash out at others rather than make friends, aside from Groot. They have different backgrounds, yet they share the same status as loners; those who actively choose to remain alone. The Guardians are like the Island of Misfit Toys, those who believe themselves to not be desirable, meet others who feel the same way, and come together to form a family.
Quill’s journey as a loner is the focus. His loss of family and having been raised by Yondu and the Ravagers causes him to become a loner. He desires simple pleasure rather than connection. He admits later in the film to having slept with a variety of women from different planets and even goes as far as forgetting one was aboard his ship when he steals the Orb from Morag. But once he is imprisoned on the Kyln with the others, he begins to change. The first sight of change is when he intervenes and convinces Drax to spare Gamora’s life. While one can argue that he did so to get in on a big payday, he felt empathy for her and wanted to save her.
It is on Knowhere where the Guardians begin to come together as a group. Quill and Gamora talk about their pasts. She tells him about her history as Thanos’ daughter, and he tells her about his mother and how she loved to share her favorite songs with him. He plays her a song on his cassette tape, and they share a dance and almost share a kiss before Gamora’s assassin instincts kick in and she wards him off. They then witness a fight between a drunk Rocket and Drax. Drax insulted Rocket’s appearance and causes Rocket to go on a rant about his tortured existence. This moment gives the audience an understanding of Rocket’s history and how it shaped him and his personality. Quill chastises the group about how they’re always ready to kill someone 5 seconds after meeting and that that is why none of them have any friends. This is an important moment for Quill where his loner status continues changing, and he starts to take on the leadership role within the group.
After the ensuing battle with Ronan and Nebula nearly leaves her for dead, Quill makes a choice that ends his loner status for good when he sacrifices himself to save Gamora. He calls Yondu to come and find him and willingly gets himself and Gamora captured to save them both. Quill could have chosen to leave Gamora and remain a loner but instead, he cast that aside to save her, letting her in and letting that connection in. Back on Knowhere, Groot revives Drax, and he convinces Rocket to go save Quill and Gamora, with Drax joining them. They attempt to save Quill and Gamora, who they don’t know have already saved themselves by concocting a plan with Yondu to retrieve the Orb.
It is Quill’s speech aboard Yondu’s ship where the Guardians finally come together. He describes themselves as losers who have lost stuff but have been given a chance by life to “give a shit” and not run away. Here he chooses to care about others even with the risk of death rather than run away and remain alone. Each of his friends chooses to fight and possibly die alongside him. They started out as misfits looking to make a quick buck but upon realizing the power that the Orb holds and the threat it brings, they grow from only caring for themselves to wanting to protect the innocent. They were innocent at one point but after enduring hardship after hardship they became more jaded, yet they never lost their innocence. That kept innocence gave them empathy and that empathy is what turned them from misfits into the Guardians of the Galaxy, sworn to protect others.
The Villain
Ronan the Accuser is a Kree warlord who is tasked with obtaining the Orb, later revealed to contain an Infinity Stone, for Thanos. He agreed to give Thanos the stone in exchange for his help in destroying Xandar. Thanos even lent Ronan his adopted daughters Gamora and Nebula to aid in his task.
However, once he has possession of the Infinity Stone, Ronan decides he does not need Thanos. He plans to unleash an all-out attack on Xandar and use the stone to destroy the planet.
The Film's Pros
The Cast
The strongest attribute in every Marvel film so far has been their casting choices. Especially for their main heroes. That reputation only continues with Guardians. The ensemble cast for this film is perfect with the right balance of good acting and good comedy.
This film led to the launch of Chris Pratt’s film career and his performance shows why. He brings the great comedic timing that made fans fall in love with him on Parks and Recreation, but he also shines when it comes to the dramatic moments. His speech to the group before the final battle is one of the emotional highlights of the film and cemented him as a leading man.
Zoe Saldana brings her great acting talents to the role of Gamora and carries the emotional moments as well. Her moment with Pratt was another emotional highlight.
Dave Bautista plays Drax with great comedic timing getting across as a rage-filled man with dry humor and delivery. His dry humor made for a handful of laughs.
But the performance that steals the show for me personally is Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. His voice acting is so good in this that I don’t see Bradley Cooper as a raccoon, I just see Rocket. The scene where drunk Rocket rants about not having been asked to be created is a great performance that makes you feel for him. And of course, Cooper also does great with the smart-ass comments and whit that he’s brought to other comedies.
The cast had great chemistry with each other and made for a team that kept audiences wanting to come back for more.
The Comedy and Music
While the opening scene is very dramatic, what the audience expects from a Marvel film, this film lets you know quickly afterward that this is a different kind of Marvel film. While previous Marvel films are more action and drama with some comedy sprinkled in there, this film is more of a comedy with action and drama sprinkled in. The opening scene with Pratt’s Star-Lord dancing to “Come and Get Your Love” tells the audience right away these are not your typical Marvel heroes. The film is chock full of funny moments. From Star-Lord trying to explain metaphors to Drax to Rocket asking Star-Lord to retrieve a man’s leg this film had me laughing a lot.
The other big highlight is the music. Quill’s mixtape is the soundtrack of the film and features a great blend of the 60s and 70s hits. The music serves as Quill’s last connection to the earth and his mother and is used to highlight important moments. Such as the use of “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” for Quill and Gamora’s scene as well as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough” for the final scene and of course a personal favorite of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 with a dancing Groot. The use of music has become a song signature of the Guardians of the Galaxy as we would see more of it in the sequel and even with their inclusion in other films.
The Film's Cons
Another weak villain
If my description above of Ronan seemed brief, that’s because aside from what I wrote there, there’s not much else that we learn about Ronan in the film. He’s another one-dimensional villain who wants to use the stone to destroy a planet. His goal is nothing we have not already seen before, and we are not even given his motivation besides just wanting to destroy Xandar.
Although they try to build him up as an intimidating force to be reckoned with, we don’t get to witness him do anything that intimidating. When he gets the stone, he becomes more of a threat but even then, the real threat is the stone as opposed to Ronan. He felt more like a whipping boy for Thanos and even how he is beaten in the end makes him come across as the same.
While watching, my girlfriend kept asking which one Ronan was showing he didn’t leave any impact on her. He serves his role fine as an antagonist of being an obstacle in the Guardians’ way, but he doesn’t make for an interesting villain.
Final Thoughts
Guardians of the Galaxy is an epic comedy with a great ensemble cast, and a wonderful soundtrack that stood amongst the popular Marvel films and found its own identity.
Eight years later, this film still holds up as a Marvel classic. It’s a fun time with a great mix of action, emotion, and comedy. It established a new group of Marvel heroes who would go on to explode in popularity. The Guardians of the Galaxy went from a cult-classic comic to a major Marvel franchise. I remember after seeing it for the first time, I got excited to see when the Guardians would meet up with the Avengers. It was a welcome surprise hit and one of the best examples of don’t judge a book by its cover. My girlfriend went in thinking it was a weird setup and “wanted to get through it” to get to Age of Ultron. But by the end of the film, she had been through a roller coaster of emotions and found herself enjoying the film a lot.
Give this film a look if you haven’t already.