Movie Review: "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)

Movie: "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Director: James Gunn
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 1 minute

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Peter Quill, aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt), has been hired to steal a strange orb. It turns out, he is not the only one looking for it. The villainous Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) also wants the orb. He sends an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to retrieve it, though she may have other plans. A group of Ravengers, lead by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), also wants the orb and have placed a bounty on Quill's head to get it. That bounty attracts a couple of bounty hunters, a raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and a tree named Groot (Vin Diesel). After a small conflict in the city, Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot are all arrested. It is in prison that they meet Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), who is hellbent on getting revenge against Ronan who murdered his family. These five put their differences aside to escape from prison and take the orb to a special buyer who will keep it safe, as they join forced and become an unlikely group of friends, even if, in the beginning, they all had their own selfish interests at heart. 

Vin Diesel, I know you're reading this blog. And to you, I want to openly and publicly apologize for criticizing you in the past.
Mainly here.
And here.
From your break dancing, to your heartwarming posts about Paul Walker, to your serenading of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me," lately, you have been one of my favorite people in the world. In fact, I think I love you.
Please forgive me.

This is legitimately one of the best movies we have seen all year. Takes notes, DC/Zack Snyder/Batfleck.. When it was over, we wanted to clap so hard. And we wanted to clap even harder for knowing what the after credits sequence was referencing. Pat yourself on the back if you didn't need Google to tell you what it was. #HumbleBrag

The Guardians are the anti-Avengers, and we know this has been said a lot of places, but it's absolutely true. It features a quirky, weird, funny, goofy band of misfits just trying to find their place in the galaxy, even if that place is found by stealing or breaking out of prison or sacrificing themselves for their friends. The characters are sympathetic at times and though they are driven by things like money and revenge, we still manage to find a way to connect with them. And we loved each and every minute of it. Not only is this movie extremely funny, but it is also filled with joy and warmth. We feel like the fun and silliness of this film manages to balance out the last few Marvel productions, which seemed to feature darker tones. On top of all this, "Guardians" still has a fantastic message and many kick ass action scenes.

Each of the main characters, while a seemingly eclectic mix of actors, really flourished in each of their roles, together and separately from one another. Chris Pratt has all the makings of a superstar and we have loved him for a while now. This is no exception as he plays Starlord, it's like he was born to play this part. And MAN did he get in shape for this role! Zoe Saldana manages to pull off a great performance as Gamora and we feel like she had the right combination of tough sass and vulnerability to give her character real depth. Batista was a perfect pick for Drax, as his stiff stature and dry delivery really work for this character. Despite the fact that Vin Diesel is limited to a 3 word phrase, he pulls off what we think is the best performance of his career. Bradley Cooper does a great voice-over job for Rocket Raccoon, his sarcastic attitude is one we have seen from him before. Though, if you didn't know this was Cooper, you might not recognize his voice as he uses an accent that makes him seem unrecognizable. Lee Pace does a bang-up job as Ronan the Accuser and gives the character a menacing presence. Supporting parts from Djimon Hounsou, Glenn Close (and her fabulous hairdo), Sean Gunn (brother to director James Gunn), Benicio Del Toro reprising his role as The Collector, Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, and Peter Serafinowicz round out an otherwise stellar cast.

In addition to the story and acting, there were many other things we loved and admired about this movie. The fact that the soundtrack was written into the film before it was made makes it that much more amazing! Each and every song feels like it belongs in its place and gives the movie cheers, jeers, and moments of heartfelt emotionality. This film boasts an impressive amount of both wonderfully done CGI and incredible makeup and effects work. Gamora's green face, Drax's body markings, Yondu's entire smurf head...they are just really well done practical effects. It's nice to see that James Gunn didn't shy away from using makeup and prosthetics as these things often gets dropped by the wayside in lieu of CGI. Groot and Rocket are spectacularly done CGI'ed characters. In addition, many of the spaceships, battle scenes, planets and space shots are phenomenal. Also, it's amazing how much work is put into creatures that only spend a second or two on screen.

This, to us, is what separates this movie from something like "Green Lantern." So much time and effort was obviously very meticulously taken to craft each shot and you can tell that the people involved in creating this movie truly cared about not just the story, but the characters as well. Filmmakers were able to take one of the lesser known comic book franchises and make audiences fall in love with it. We cannot wait for the second installment, and we hope everyone takes the time to see this movie!

PS: Vin Diesel, you're my favorite.

My Rating: 10/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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For our "Iron Man" review, click here.

For our "The Incredible Hulk" review, click here.

For our "Iron Man 2" review, click here.

For our "Thor" review, click here. 

For our "Captain America: The First Avenger" review, click here.

For our "The Avengers" review, click here.

For our "Iron Man 3" review, click here.

For our "Thor: The Dark World" review, click here.

For our "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" review, click here.