Re-Visiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy

"Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)

When Marvel decided to stop selling it's characters to outside movie studios and begin making their own movies, starting with Iron Man seemed like a bold choice at the time. Outside of comic fans he wasn't as well known as say Spider-Man or the X-Men. That choice paid off and audiences responded to their other films and soon the Avengers were household names. With all this goodwill they had banked, Marvel decided to see how far that really went by making a movie about the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Despite what a lot of people may think, the Guardians aren't new exactly. The first team was from an alternate future in the 31st century. The modern incarnation of the team (Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Groot) in 2008. The team came together following Marvel's first "Annihilation" cosmic event.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Lee Pace, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. The screenplay was written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman and directed by James Gunn. The film was released in theaters on August 1, 2014.

The comic Marvel Universe is a huge place. It doesn't begin and end with New York City. It spans the entire globe and a number of galaxies. Up until this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has felt very insular. Sure we've been to Asgard, which was impressive, but the other nine realms that we've seen have been a bit of a let down. So, the first thing that I loved about "Guardians of the Galaxy" was that it immediately gave you that scope that has been missing. It's thrilling to watch the scenery shift from the Nova planet to the Kyln prison to Knowhere to Ronan the Accuser's ship, the Dark Aster.

Line up.

This is the first team movie that Marvel has made outside of the Avengers and they didn't have to go through the tedious task of introducing the different members because they all had their own individual films or had been introduced in other's films. That sort of thing can really rob a film of any momentum but "Guardians" side steps that really nicely. After Star-Lord's introduction, we meet the rest of the team in pretty short order, as Rocket, Groot and Gamora all attempt to steal the orb from Peter in the first like 20 minutes of the film. The next thing we know they are in prison together and the final member of the team, Drax the Destroyer is in place.

One of the downsides of setting a movie so far from the main action of the MCU so far is that you can wonder why it's important. Sure this is fun. It's a nice little whim, but why should I really care? Well, because the orb that everyone is after? It has the Power Infinity Stone in it. This leads to a history lesson about the Infinity Stones from Taneleer Tivan aka The Collector. These sort of information dumps can be a little tedious and cause your mind to wander but the visuals really keep you in it. This is where having this intergalactic setting that we aren't familiar with really works. It keeps you engaged and you learn about these gems that are going to have such a large impact on the MCU going forward.

Another thing "Guardians of the Galaxy" has going for it is it's use of music. Music in Marvel movies has kind of been just your usual big, symphonic score and that's it. "Guardians" has that for sure, but it also has the "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1." A compilation of '70's pop songs in a mix tape young Peter's mother gives him before she dies and Peter is picked up by Yondu and the Ravagers. The way these songs are used is genius. Up until this point, Peter listening to "Come and Get Your Love" and dancing was my all-time favorite scene in an MCU film. It sets the tone for the film so wonderfully in a way that only music can do. It's transcendent. It immediately gives Peter an emotional through line that is touched on throughout the film. 

The casting for "Guardians of the Galaxy" is impeccable, which shouldn't be a huge surprise at this point. Chris Pratt brings a buffed up, smarter Andy Dwyerness to Peter Quill/Star Lord. Dave Bautista is a nice surprise as Drax. He murders Drax's deadpan line readings. Bradley Cooper's voice is almost unrecognizable as Rocket and it's a testament to how badly people want to be in these movies that Vin Diesel voices a character that says three words. I was a little worried when they announced that Zoe Saldana was cast as Gamora. At that point, it felt to me like she was in every major sci-fi project. She was in "Avatar," she was Uhura in the "Star Trek" reboot. Now she was in Marvel. I didn't need to worry. She brings a lot of poise, nuance and danger to Gamora and her chemistry with Karen Gillan who plays Gamora's cybernetic sister, Nebula is wonderful. You can almost see the sparks flying when they are both on screen together. And come on, Glenn Close as Nova Prime? I wish she had a little more to do, but I'll never complain about Glenn Close in a movie.

The weak link here is... you guessed it... the villain. It's nice to see a good look at Josh Brolin's, Thanks, but he is not in the movie that much. The majority of the evilness falls on Lee Pace's, Ronan the Accuser. Ronan is just kind of blah. He's boring. His motivations are typical. He isn't memorable. It's the one low point in a pretty fantastic movie.

The movie also sets up a lot of great stuff to be explored in the sequel. Baby Groot, Peter's parentage, his relationship with Yondu. All good things.

Next up, the Avengers reunite and Tony creates Ultron. Yep, it's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

What do you all think of "Guardians of the Galaxy?" Do you love it? Had you heard of the Guardians before this movie? Is it your favorite? Overrated? Let me know in the comments.