Another Marvel Contribution

I know. I'm really behind on this one. Normally, I see Marvel movies the weekend they come out or at most one or two weeks later. Guardians of the Galaxy has been out in theaters for a month now! And I can't believe it's actually taken me this long to finally get around to it. But in my defense, I've had a lot going on. I went to Thailand. I started work. Then by the time I wanted to watch it, almost everyone had already seen it, and while there's no shame in going to a movie by yourself in a foreign country where nobody knows you or will ever encounter you again, it felt kind of weird going to a movie by myself at home. But don't you fret, I found a movie buddy. And I got around to seeing it. So now here comes my very belated review.

I'm just going to preface this with the fact that some spoilers will slip. If you haven't seen the movie yet, spoilers are very easy to find on the Internet so I hope you either a) already know what's going to happen or b) have seen the movie so I don't feel bad. However, in the event that you fall under category c) have not seen the movie nor care to search up synopses on the Internet/live under a rock or in an Amish community (in which case I have no idea how you're reading my blog), let me save you the trouble of getting mad at me for spoiling things.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.geek.com/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-first-trailer-revealed-we-are-all-groot-1585219/

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy has large scale special effects, action, awesome characters, great music, sentimental moments, well timed humor, sassy dialogue, adorableness, and a few moments that will send chills down your spine. You will laugh. You will cry. You will sit on the edge of your seat. You will want to dance. You will feel connected to humanity. And you will not regret the absurdly high price you had to pay to go see this movie.

Now that I have given you my review, for all you category c people, STOP READING NOW. For everyone else, you can stop reading too if you like, but I want to outline some of the parts that I talked about above in a little more detail below. Read on if you wish to, but it's not like I'm Yondu and can make you do what I want by holding a yaka arrow to your throat or anything.

A few things I loved:

• Special Effects/Action: Every superhero movie has to have it, and there was no shortage. Some pretty amazing sequences that definitely put me at the edge of my seat. And I believe I muttered a few "That was  awesome!"'s along the way (Yondu's arrow scene, the Nova Corps pilots linking up, and Rocket's prison escape to name a few).
• Awesome characters: Speaking of awesomeness, the characters definitely brought it. Backed by some extremely talented acting, the whole cast delivered their punchlines perfectly, while still being human enough (well, as human as a raccoon, talking tree, and a couple of aliens can be) to draw emotion from you. Three words: Dancing Baby Groot.
• Great music: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 brought it. I've been listening to it on repeat at work for the past week and will continue to do so for a few weeks to follow. Can't wait to hear a bit more of Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (also see the section on well timed humor).

  

  Photo courtesy of: http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/07/11/starlord-s-awesome-mix-tape-vol-1-you-can-order-now-1702877?lt_source=external,manual#bNH2eN

• Sentimental moments: Peter and his mom. The Awesome Mix Vol 2. Gamora's back story. Drax's back story. Rocket mourning Groot's death. So much feels...
• Well timed humor: I don't even want to bother naming off all these instances. But one minute, you're sitting there, freaking out about what's going to happen next because the music is ominous and the bad guys are coming, but then a song from the Awesome Mix comes on, and bam! Instant humor. I don't even know how James Gunn manages to direct a movie that cuts the tension so well, but this man is obviously a genius. Best example: Peter dancing to distract Ronan (and Gamora's rejection of Peter's dance invitation). What a classy move.
• Sassy dialogue: Basically anything that comes out of Rocket's mouth. Or anything involving Peter introducing himself as Starlord. If you seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven't, why are you still reading this?!?
• Adorableness: There is just so much of this. Rocket being able to decipher Groot's many "I am Groot" remarks into actual dialogue. Drax blasting Nebula after she badmouths Gamora, and stating that no one talks to his friends like that. Gamora dancing to Peter's mom's Awesome Mix Vol. 2. John C. Reilly's character going home to his family. Dancing Baby Groot! (I know I used that one already) If I go on, I might as well just give you the plot of the whole movie.
• Chills down your spine: Peter's rescue of Gamora. Groot's final act to protect his friends and his little lights that he makes. "We are Groot." *sniff*

Photo courtesy of: http://www.empireonline.com/features/guardians-of-the-galaxy-trailer-breakdown/p19

See, there's a little bit of everything. What's not to love? Ok, I can think of one thing: the plot wasn't the most solid when it comes to Marvel movies. Perhaps that's because the Marvelverse is so broad, and I wasn't as familiar with the backstory of the Guardians. But then again, if Marvel really wants to make a successful franchise, they should take into account that not every one of its moviegoers is a comic book junkie. So really a firmer plot wouldn't have hurt. Or maybe a bit more explanation to Thanos and Ronan might have been helpful as well. 

Then again, there seems like a lot was left out of this movie. I'm most intrigued by Peter Quill's back story so I fully expect a franchise that will eventually delve into these missing details. Furthermore, will we see more of Cosmo or Howard the Duck? And does the introduction of this Infinity Stone mean an eventual merger with The Avengers (the Tesseract and Aether were both said to be Infinity Stones)? So many questions... only time will tell.

Photo courtesy of: http://flicksided.com/2014/08/13/future-guardians-thanos-just-hell-end-credits-scene/

In the meantime, I think we should just all enjoy the Kevin Bacon and Footloose references (I love it when non-humans don't understand references, like Thor in the Avengers or even Captain America because he's from the 1940s. Good continuity.), and rejoice in the fact that Emmett from the Lego Movie is going to be around to save the day! Oops...wrong Chris Pratt role. Anyway, I'll just leave you with this:

Photo courtesy of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GncYQHBJIw