Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Benecio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou, Josh Brolin, Sean Gunn, and Peter Serafinowicz, with cameos from Nathan Fillion, Seth Green, and Rob Zombie
Grade: Classic

I’ll take the Guardians of the Galaxy movies over the Star Wars sequels of the 2010s any day of the week.

Summary

On Earth in 1988, a young Peter Quill is sitting in a hospital lobby listening to his Walkman. His grandfather forces him to turn it off though, so he can come into the room to see his mother who is dying of cancer. She talks to him, but Peter is relatively quiet, only noting how his black eye is from fighting some kids that killed an innocent frog. The grandfather reminds Peter’s mother of her gift to him, so she gives the still-wrapped present to Peter. As the grandfather puts it in Peter’s backpack, she tells him to open it once she’s gone and that eventually his father will come get him. In the meantime, Peter’s grandfather will take care of him. Following this, she asks Peter to take her hand, but Peter doesn’t, shying away from her face because it’s hard for him to take in. Sadly, she passes away right there, and Peter is traumatized. As the family grieves around the hospital bed, Peter runs outside. When he does, a spaceship abducts him.

Twenty-six years later, we see a now grown Peter Quill (Pratt) show up on the abandoned planet of Morag to steal a mysterious Orb. Immediately after taking it out of its containment chamber, Kree ally and hunter Korath (Hounsou) shows up with a few guys and outs Peter as a Ravager, a famous group of smugglers. Though he denies it, Korath intends on taking him to talk to zealot Ronan the Accuser (Pace) because Peter shouldn’t even know of the Orb’s existence. Well, Peter is actually a known Ravager going by the name of Star-Lord. Based on Korath’s response though, it hasn’t caught on yet. Quill is able to fight them off, elude Korath, and avoid the others waiting to capture him. He escapes onto his ship and flies off, finding an alien woman from the night before still on his ship. Shortly after, the woman accidentally picks up a video call for Quill from Yondu Udonta (Rooker), a blue alien who leads the Ravagers and Quill. He’s the one who set up the deal to steal and sell the Orb. He showed up to Morag once Quill left, only to find it gone. Quill refuses to tell him where he’s going with it, so Yondu takes it as Quill stealing from him. A furious Yondu reminds Quill that he was the one who found and saved Quill from other alien folk wanting to eat him and took him in. Quill hangs up on him though, so Yondu puts a 40k bounty on him, still wanting him alive. This pisses off one of the guys from Yondu’s crew who angrily tells him they should’ve delivered Quill like they were hired to do, accusing Yondu of being soft. Yondu yells at him but insists he wants Quill back so he can kill him himself.

Currently though, they have to worry about who else is after the Orb.

On Kree Warship the Dark Aster, we get our first look at Ronan the Accuser. He’s a member of the Kree, but he’s looked at as a monster who follows the ancient laws of his people and punishes those who don’t. He kills an imprisoned Xandarian because of this and because years of wars between the two races, despite the peace treaty signed between their governments. Nebula (Gillan) approaches Ronan to tell him of Korath’s arrival. Korath talks about how Star-Lord has taken the Orb and plans on taking it to an intermediary known as “The Broker” (Christopher Fairbank). This is a problem because Ronan promised the mad titan Thanos (Brolin) he would retrieve the Orb for him. As a gift, Thanos would destroy the planet of Xandar for Ronan. Since time is of the essence, Ronan decides to send Nebula to Xandar to get the Orb, but Nebula’s sister Gamora (Saldaña) argues she should go instead since she knows Xandar better. There is serious dissension between the two lethal fighters and adopted daughters of Thanos (Gamora and Nebula), but an impatient Ronan steps in and allows Gamora to go instead since her argument was a bit stronger.

On Xandar, the capital of the Nova Empire, genetically-engineered bounty hunting raccoon Rocket (Cooper) and his idiot best friend, partner, and humanoid tree Groot (Diesel) find the bounty of Peter Quill and decide to hunt him now that he’s on Xandar. In the meantime, Quill meets with the Broker and delivers the Orb. However, after telling the Broker about how he almost died because he had to fight off a follower of Ronan, the Broker calls off the deal because Ronan wants his entire race eradicated and will hunt them down if he finds out the Broker was involved. After getting kicked out, Quill meets Gamora for the first time outside of the Broker’s place. Quill tries to flirt with her but following some light conversation, she attacks and steals the Orb. A chase and brawl ensue, and Rocket and Groot join in because they want Quill. Eventually, Rocket and Groot are able to subdue Quill and Gamora, but all four are captured by the Nova Corps and arrested.

The good news is Nova Corps member Rhomann Dey (Reilly) remembers that Quill goes by “Star-Prince”, which he says once they arrest Quill. No one has remembered the Star-Lord name yet, but the fact that the outlaw is getting some notoriety is a small win for him.

At Nova Headquarters, Irani Rael (Close), the leader of the Nova Corps (referred to as Nova Prime), has a video chat with the leader of the Kree to tell him Ronan is destroying Xandarian outposts throughout the galaxy and someone from the Kree should respond in some form or another. She asks for the Kree Empire to at least put out a statement condemning Ronan’s actions, but the guy refuses to admit any responsibility and hangs up. Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot are all transported to high-security prison, “The Kyln”. As they all enter the prison, Rocket isn’t too worried, noting he’s escaped from 22 of them. Once all four of them walk in line, they get to talking, and Rocket outs Gamora as being the “lackey of a genocidal maniac” like Ronan. This forces her to admit that her actual intention was to betray Ronan and sell the Orb to a third-party buyer. Quill quickly changes the subject though after being annoyed with Groot since all he actually says is “I am Groot”. Then, Quill sees a worker from the prison mess with his Walkman. He runs in there to argue but is tased. Following a montage of Quill being “acclimated” to prison (to the tune of Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling” no less), the four enter general population, and the entire prison starts yelling and throwing things at Gamora because of her known association with Ronan. Rocket even predicts she’ll last no longer than a day, especially because the guards don’t give a shit at what happens inside the prison. They’re just there to prevent them from escaping.

One inmate implies he’s thinking about raping Quill, so Groot stick his branch fingers directly into the guy’s nose and lets him drop. Next, Rocket lets the whole prison know that Quill is with him and Groot. As Gamora goes to her cell, one vengeful man watches. This is Drax the Destroyer (Bautista). That night, Gamora is captured by several inmates, so Quill goes to save her, with Rocket following reluctantly. As a knife is put to her throat, Drax shows up and stops the inmates from killing her because he wants to do it himself. This is because Ronan murdered his wife Ovette and his daughter Camaria. She knocks the knives out of Drax’s hands and the other guy but insists she’s not family with Ronan or Thanos and that she’s his only hope at stopping Ronan. This sets off Drax who chokes her and holds up his knife to her again, not caring about what she said.

In his defense, why should he trust her word?

Quill steps in to help Gamora. He tells Drax that since she’s betrayed Ronan, he will be coming for her and when he does, Drax can come in for the kill. Drax decides to listen and lets her go, taking the inmate’s knife with him because he likes it. Once he leaves, Quill tells Gamora he saved her because she knows where to sell the Orb. All they have to do is get out of prison, but Quill is leaving that plan up to Rocket because of his history. Though Rocket wants to send Quill to Yondu to collect the 40k bounty, everything changes when Gamora says her buyer was willing to give her four billion units for the Orb. Since this Orb is Gamora’s ticket to getting away from Thanos and Ronan, Gamora offers to lead them to the buyer directly. Then, she will split the profits between Quill, Rocket, and Groot. All they have to do is help her escape the prison. Back on the Dark Aster, “The Other” (Alexis Denisof) yells at Ronan via video chat and tells him Gamora has betrayed him. Ronan insists they only know she’s been captured and nothing else, but the Other tells him they have a source inside the Kyln that says otherwise, letting him know that this means his partnership with Thanos is at risk.

As we MCU fans know, Thanos is the last dude you want to piss off.

Now, Ronan is required to meet with Thanos over the matter. On Sanctuary, the domain of Thanos, Ronan blames Gamora for everything and kills the Other after his constant interrupting. This prompts Thanos to finally turn around in his throne, essentially telling Ronan he’s a fucking clown and how his political motivations are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. He even blames him for alienating his “favorite” daughter in Gamora, a point he says in front of Nebula who’s also in attendance on Sanctuary. Thanos still intends on honoring their agreement, but he will kill Ronan if he doesn’t come up with the Orb soon. Once Ronan and Nebula leave, we cut back to the Kyln to see Rocket coming up with an escape plan. They need to get into the watchtower. To do that, they need to get a security band from a guard because it lets them in and out of places. He also needs an inmate’s prosthetic leg and a Quarnyx battery that is on the back wall. He tells them the battery needs to be stolen last because it will alert the whole prison and set everything into high gear. As he says this however, Groot rips the battery out of the wall, and the plan is forced to go underway immediately. Gamora goes after the security band and Quill goes after the leg, with Rocket and Groot fighting off guards on the main floor.

As the guards attack, Drax joins the fight and hands Rocket a gun to go ballistic with. Following a full-on battle with the guards, Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax are able to get into the watchtower. Quill lets Drax join this reluctant team so he can come with them to go after Ronan, much to the annoyance of Gamora. This is where Rocket admits he didn’t need the leg, he just thought it would be funny. A pissed off Quill notes he had to transfer the inmate 30,000 units for it.

As the guards shoot at the watchtower, Rocket is able to change the controls of the prison to turn off the artificial gravity inside except in the watchtower. This stops the guards from blowing them up because they’re all floating around. Next, he takes control of the drones and uses them to attach to the watchtower to fly out of the prison and into a separate containment center. This allows the group to collect their things and get to Quill’s ship, the Milano. Quill tells them to go to the ship, and he’ll meet them there because his Walkman wasn’t in his container of things. Just in case they consider leaving without him (which they do), he keeps the Orb with him, which Gamora doesn’t find out until they get to the ship and wait for him. After beating down the guard that kept his Walkman, he rejoins the crew on the Milano. Now, it’s off to sell the Orb. What they don’t realize is that there’s a reason this thing is worth four billion units. It contains the Power Stone, an Infinity Stone that possesses the power to destroy all but the most powerful beings who wield it. Whoever gets it can change the fate of the galaxy. Hot on their tail is Ronan and Nebula, and they are determined.

My Thoughts:

In modern times, I’ve never seen a movie predicted to fail by so many become this big of a hit. In the defense of the media, Guardians of the Galaxy had everything working against it. You have a massive budget, an ensemble of some of the weirdest superheroes ever put to film, and you’re making an adaptation of one of Marvel’s least known properties. The MCU was taking a major risk with this one, especially because of how important these characters would become to the overarching “Infinity Saga” as a whole. If Guardians didn’t succeed, it would throw a monkey wrench into everything. Due to the hard work and creative mind of James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy not only exceeded industry expectations, but it can be argued that the film is one of the best superhero movies of all time.

I hope this isn’t a controversial statement. I’m not saying it’s “Top Five” or anything, but it’s definitely on the extended list.

It all starts with Chris Pratt. Before becoming the beloved Star-Lord, this goofball was really only known for his role as Andy Dwyer in the popular Parks and Recreation. How did they know Pratt could pull this off? This chubby comedic actor somehow transformed into a believable and ripped action hero before our very eyes, changing Pratt’s career overnight and mainstream audiences’ perception of him. Beforehand, he could’ve had solid roles in romantic comedies or sitcoms for the rest of his life and lived comfortably. However, due to how well he pulled off the role of Star-Lord here, he’s become an A-Lister and bankable leading man that can carry ANY franchise as the main star. To extend their careers by trying different roles for more opportunities, sometimes certain actors or actresses that have never done an action movie before (or serious drama) try to step out of their comfort zone to try it. Some manage to pull it off, but others don’t because it’s too hard for audiences to take an actor serious after years of comedy. Thankfully, Pratt fell in the former category. This is mostly because of how well the role plays to his strengths as a comedic actor at the same time, making the transition to “action star” easier. Right from the first few minutes on Morag, we’re all-in on Peter Quill. You’re not watching Chris Pratt in a sci-fi action comedy. In Guardians of the Galaxy, you are watching the origin of famous space outlaw Star-Lord.

Pratt completely sheds his old persona without losing the fun antics that got him there. That is hard to do.

The action and fighting looked so natural to Pratt to the point where you start to think Parks and Recreation might have been holding him back from his potential. I’m truly amazed at his turnaround. It may not seem like a big deal now because this film has been binge-watched by so many since 2014, but you have to consider this when looking at the success of it all and how much of a gamble this production was. It’s remarkable when you think about it. Do you ever think that Andy Dwyer (of all people) would be an action hero and have a fanbase as big as superheroes like Iron Man? I sure as hell didn’t, but it’s the work of Chris Pratt. The man was dedicated and made Peter Quill this ultra-cool badass with a charismatic flair that rivals some of the top stars of the film industry. Pratt channels his comedic charm to make Peter Quill one of the most likable characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and outlaws in general in the world of film. Star-Lord is like if you rolled Indiana Jones, Han Solo, Marty McFly, James T. Kirk, and Captain Jack Sparrow all into one. Then, you sprinkled some “frat boy” energy on top. This mixed concoction of movie heroes is how we got the characterization of Peter Quill, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

As much fun as he is and how he doesn’t take much of anything too seriously, Quill can fight and has no problem in doing so. It’s the only way to survive the chaos that is space. It’s all about finding your next score and making as much money as possible. It’s the life of a Ravager and Quill, though he does the right thing more often than not and trusts people more than his counterparts, has no problem in screwing someone over for personal gain. He is a natural leader though. Sure, he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel as an outlaw, channeling the “famous enough to be known but still considered to be a joke by the public” energy of Captain Jack Sparrow, he’s destined to be a part of something bigger (much like how Sparrow was).

Rocket, played hysterically by the scene-stealing voice over performance of Bradley Cooper, is an amped up version of Quill. He leads a similar life in terms of work, but he doesn’t trust a single soul other than Groot. He’s the type who’s standoffish to begin with. You have to really win him over for him to trust you. This is an internal conflict of Rocket, who’s admittedly never had any other friends before this reluctant group comes together. Up until when Quill comes to Xandar, it’s just been him and Groot stealing and collecting bounties. Truthfully, it’s hard for Rocket to trust anyone because it seems as if he doesn’t think the partnership will last. This is why he acts out and insults his teammates to hopefully keep a distance, a theme touched on even more in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Here, he’s willing to join the team because it may be the score of a lifetime. However, he didn’t realize he was also making friends that would last a lifetime. It’s almost as if he hates to admit it too, forcing him to become a hero when he doesn’t want to be in this carefully crafted scene. He’s absolutely hysterical too. His insults and constant complaining are exactly my type of humor. Almost anything he was annoyed with was funny. When he argues with Quill, it gets even better. The best part had to be when they planned on bombing Yondu’s ship as a threat, knowing Quill and Gamora were on it. Quill has to explain to him how that wouldn’t save them because they would die on the ship too if Rocket only gave Yondu a count of five to give them up. The intelligent Rocket just flips out in anger saying, “Well we didn’t have time to work out the minutia of the plan! This is what we get for acting altruistically”.

In addition, Rocket is very smart and technically savvy, but if you anger him, all bets are off on predicting how he will react, and it’s so funny to watch him lose it. He can be serious too. In one of the more heartbreaking moments of the movie, a drunk Rocket cracks and gives us insight into his private life and how he was created in a lab, torn apart, and put back together again numerous times. This just gives you a taste of the very private Rocket and only makes you want to learn more about him. Though his in-depth backstory isn’t truly covered until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 many years later, it doesn’t necessarily bother you because Peter Quill’s story is the focus until that film. With this first movie, we are given just enough from Rocket to introduce some of his personal issues. He even admits that the insults hurled towards him hurt just like they would anyone else, giving us an unexpected amount of depth in helping us understand what makes this raccoon criminal tick.

Accompanying the small but big personality in Rocket, is the large but soft-spoken (or doesn’t-say-much-at-all) Groot. Along with having to be the protector and backup of the shit-starting, ego-driven Rocket, Groot is also a dim-witted but loyal friend. He’s one hell of a weapon too. When combined with the mouth and gunplay of Rocket, this formidable duo could get their own spinoff and be just as entertaining to watch. The two may not seem like worthy members of a superhero team on paper, but they are vital to the team’s success and the success of this movie. The biggest question mark of Guardians of the Galaxy was how a talking raccoon and a giant tree that only says three words could somehow not be the stupidest component of this outrageous film. The thing is, the team of Rocket and Groot was handled so well, I couldn’t imagine this space adventure without them. They are the oddest combination of characters in ANY movie we’ve seen over the last decade or so, but it works magically. Even Quill says aloud that Groot only saying “I am Groot” over and over again would wear thin, acknowledging the fears of the audience. To avoid this problem, Groot’s words are carefully placed for comedic timing and said in certain ways to where it means something different in context, with Rocket being the only one who understands what he’s actually saying. Somehow, it works, and every time Groot pipes in, it’s pretty damn funny.

Only someone like James Gunn could make something this crazy, this successful.

On a minor note, I’m a little annoyed with the fact that Vin Diesel was able to con Marvel into giving him such a large contract to voice Groot when any other voice actor could’ve played the role at half the price. I’m not saying I know how much money Diesel was given for the role, but whatever it was, he was overpaid. If they wanted to use Diesel and pay him big money, they could’ve given him an actual physical role in the MCU.

Dave Bautista’s Drax is an unexpected delight as well. He starts off as your typical “I want revenge for the death of my family” character, but one added character trait makes him arguably the funniest character in the franchise: his race of people is literal about everything. They don’t understand metaphors, sarcasm, or any other basic social cue. His deadpan reactions to the joke, comments, or anything Quill said had me dying laughing throughout. His stunted, barbaric way of speaking compliments his misunderstanding of everything going on very well. What’s cool about Drax is that though he seems to be a bit of a joke in many situations, if you win his trust, you have a friend for life. He’ll go to war for you, no questions asked. Drax particularly shines in the scenes with the entirety of the group as they bounce off each other’s comments to consistently amusing results (like when Quill comes up with his “12% plan” before the climax), or when they’re all escaping in the watchtower. I loved it when these idiots would argue and Gamora, the only serious person on the team, has to roll her eyes and deal with it. Her interactions with Drax will have you on the floor laughing.

Gamora, played by recent sci-fi queen Zoe Saldaña, is interesting as well. She’s technically aligned with the villain in Ronan, but she’s only doing it to double cross him, unbeknownst to the rest of the galaxy. She can’t tell anyone other than the Guardians however because Ronan and/or Thanos would hunt her down relentlessly. It’s a very intriguing dynamic added to the story, especially with her sister Nebula also wanting her to die. Gamora plays the “straight man” character to the hijinks of the crew and the eventual and inevitable love interest of Quill predictably well, but this added backstory of hers only heightens the action and adds a lot of interest in Gamora’s wants and needs out of this group. Her involvement in the story may not be as entertaining as the others, but what she brings to the table narrative-wise supersedes the fun bits, giving us a complete story covering every area to make this an all-around great film. In addition, her chemistry with Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill was electric. The teasing of Gamora giving into Quill’s “pelvic sorcery” (her words, not mine) was delightful. He has a reputation, and she knows it. He can’t deny it even if he’s serious this time around. The attraction is clearly mutual but seeing her try to fight it because of the larger issue at hand is the right choice in many ways. First, it says a lot about who she is as a person, how much this means to her, and how badly she wants/needs to stop Ronan. Second, you want the audience to latch onto the potential of the relationship, so they can want it more and beg for it. If you give it to them too early, you miss out on a lot of fun opportunities and tension-filled scenes. Lastly, it makes Quill work a little harder. If he kicks everyone’s ass and gets the girl right off the bat, he’s too cool for his own good, and you risk turning off the audience to him. He needs to take some “L’s” for us to like him and see that he’s far from perfect.

Despite Quill saving Gamora on multiple occasions (with the excellent action sequence on the outskirts of Knowhere being a prime example, as well as Quill showing his flaws in the immediate aftermath) and seeing Quill go the extra mile once he realizes the importance of the mission, the strong-willed Gamora still fights every urge to fall for Quill. This shows us how driven she is, how important this mission is, how important the Power Stone is, and it gives Quill another thing to overcome. Gamora isn’t Quill’s ultimate goal, however. Romantic love is just a bonus. After all these years, Quill is still hung up on his mother and the fact that he doesn’t really have a family. He was essentially kidnapped by Yondu and brought into an unknown area of the universe where he had to start all over as a child. Now as an adult, Quill is a scrappy veteran of the galaxy, fighting admirably to make his own life as normal as possible. Sadly, the hole inside him is evident, as his mother’s death is something he never truly gets over because of the traumatizing manner in which it happens. We know it bothers him because of how he reacts with his Walkman being messed with in the scenes on Kyln but besides this, he rarely shows his internal scars. This is mostly because he has no one to share it with until he feels that connection with Gamora. We see it front and center when they share a moment on the balcony of the casino on planet Knowhere.

Gamora admits how horrible her childhood was and how Thanos killed her family in front of her, tortured her, and trained her to become a weapon. She decided to do something once Thanos agreed to destroy a planet for Ronan in exchange for the Orb. For the first time, Quill sees how vulnerable she is, and he bonds with her over the death and anguish they’ve both suffered. She’s a strong woman, but she’s gone through some shit that would tear any normal person apart. Something changes in Quill in this particular scene. He was already attracted to her to begin with, but you can see him feel that connection. Gamora isn’t a fling. You can tell she means more to him. This is why he feels okay talking about his mother passing to her once she shared her story with him and her subsequently asking about the importance of his Walkman. However, even with everything Gamora says, Quill isn’t ready yet, stumbling over his words when he talks about her because the subject is still too fresh in his memory. It’s a very good scene to show how the two become closer than everyone else, as well as how they’re able to bring this group together as a unit. People cope in different ways but talking things out can create a bond, a family even. This is the heart of Guardians of the Galaxy. Each person in this group has experienced loss of some kind, with Quill referring to them as “losers” to exemplify his point in a positive way. Quill lost his mother and human family, Gamora lost her family, Drax lost his family, and Rocket and Groot never had family or friends. They may have been brought together because of money, but they stay together because they all become the family and support system they need, whether any of them would like to admit it.

Guardians is also a great reminder as to why nostalgia can kick some major ass. While clearly being inspired by adventure and science fiction films from the 80s, the movie is also solely responsible for the resurgence of classic 60s and 70s songs in modern action comedies. This is mostly because of the carefully chosen songs included on Star-Lord’s Walkman that not only fit the emotion of the scene and the character’s personality, but they’re also flat-out bangers. You couldn’t introduce an unknown character like Star-Lord to an audience better than him dancing in some space cave to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love“. The placement of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in the closing scenes hit on every level too. As we see Quill’s teary-eyed stare ahead because of his mother’s final gift, the lyrics fit in like a glove as we see the Guardians gear up to follow their new leader in Quill, with Gamora silently smiling at him because she knows he’s doing better. They are family now. Quill can finally move on from his past trauma as he embarks on his next journey (and next phase in life) with his crew. When combined with this iconic song, the scene will give you goosebumps because of how well it worked emotionally and in a cinematic sense.

To really show us how different the people that encapsulate this universe are, we’re given a myriad of small roles to fill out the movie to show us how weird things can get like the galaxy’s largest pawn shop owner in the Collector, AKA space Liberace. You can tell Benecio del Toro was having a lot of fun with this small but pivotal role. Bonus points are in order for giving us cameos of Howard the Duck (Green) and Cosmo the Spacedog. Having this eclectic bunch of misfits all on the aptly named Knowhere was just poetic. Even the Guardians stood out there.

Ronan the Accuser was dangerously close to being the generic villain that wants to kill everyone and everything. As crazy as it sounds, we’ve been there and done that with superhero villains. His look and voice stand out, but his actions are similar to a lot of comic book movie villains. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. As it stands, I would say he’s better than Aldrich Killian from Iron Man 3 but around the same level as Hela from Thor: Ragnarok. In his defense, Ronan does get more credit in retrospective viewings because of how he has no problem fucking with Thanos, showing us in hindsight how much of a madman Ronan really was. Michael Rooker’s Yondu was great. With that redneck voice of his and the power to control that deadly arrow with his whistle and fin, I was surprised at how badass he was, despite Quill making him look like a fool more often than not. Then again, you could argue Yondu let him at times. To start off, I thought his character was going to be pretty inconsequential to the main story, but he gets better and better as the movie goes on and gets to be pretty likable by the end of it. What starts off as a third-tier role becomes a vital part of the franchise. By the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, you’re going to regret not giving him his flowers when he deserved it.

From the magnificent worlds travelled to, the colorful CGI landscapes that never bore, a lot of awesome character development mixed in with great humor, excitement from start to finish, and a chaotic Star Wars-like climax where everyone felt vital and involved in a major way, Guardians of the Galaxy never ceases to amaze on how complete of a production this was when everything seemed to be working against it. Everything was so carefully crafted out from the landscapes to the characters, to the very intricate plot. This was a very well-thought-out screenplay in more ways than one. It works immaculately as a standalone adventure, sets up the sequel with a few key lines and moments (Quill being told his father wasn’t an Earthling but something ancient, Yondu’s line about Quill’s dad being a jackass, etc.), and is a major springboard to set up the entire Infinity Saga that changed the course of the MCU forever. James Gunn and company did their homework, and it showed. Gunn already has an otherworldly imagination, but what truly shines is his love for these specific characters and this oddball comic book, giving us an unforgettable classic.

Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t your typical superhero movie, but I assure you it’s one of the most fun experiences you’ll ever have watching one.

Fun Fact: For the role of Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zachary Levi, Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Jim Sturgess, Michael Rosenbaum, John Gallagher Jr., and Jack Huston were all considered. Apparently, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton was James Gunn’s second choice behind Pratt for the role. Amanda Seyfried was offered the role of Gamora, but she turned it down because of how long it would take to apply the make-up, and her uncertainty about how well the movie would do commercially, saying she didn’t want to be a part of the first Marvel movie that bombed. I bet she feels stupid now.

Other actors considered for Drax were Jason Momoa, Old Spice’s Isaiah Mustafa, and Brian Patrick Wade.