If you haven’t made plans to go see Guardians of the Galaxy, you absolutely must. This is non-negotiable. It is imperative. It’s…it’s…
It’s just such a great movie.
I honestly did not know what to expect. I knew very little of the Guardians story going in (my only exposure was a brief story I got from Free Comic Book Day a few months back). I knew it was set in space and I knew it was supposed to be funny. That’s about it.
To put it simply, I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a movie theater in a very long time.
But first things first: the plot. Peter Quill (who calls himself “Star Lord”) is a human who was abducted by aliens back in the ’80s. Now grown up, Quill is a smart-mouthed rogue and he’s out to steal…well, an orb. We don’t really know what it is, not at first. But once he’s got his hands on it, he finds himself with a major problem. It’s not just that he’s double-crossed his mentor, Yondu. A maniac named Ronan wants the orb as well.
Soon Quill’s path crosses with those of Gamora, an assassin trained by Thanos (the big bad purple dude from the end credits of The Avengers), Rocket Raccoon and Groot, two bounty hunters, and Drax the Destroyer, who wants nothing more than to kill Ronan.
They’re a bunch of losers. They aren’t always that heroic. But they’re the last hope the galaxy has.
There’s a lot of science fiction spectacle on display here. Lots of spaceships, lots of colorful aliens, and a lot of heavy Marvel Cinematic Universe mythology (*ahem* infinity gems *ahem*). It would have been very easy for the story to get mired in a plot-heavy mess.
It didn’t, and the way it did that was by injecting humor into just about every pore of the movie, and it kept pumping until it was full to bursting.
A lot of that humor comes from Peter Quill, expertly portrayed by Chris Pratt. Pratt was the heart and soul of this movie, and it shone through every second. I can’t think of another intentionally funny science fiction movie like this one. I loved it.
And here’s the highest praise: my wife liked it too. She usually tolerates the Marvel movies when I bring them home on DVD. She laughed right along with me in the theater, especially once we realized that Sean Gunn (better known in our household as Kirk from Gilmore Girls) was playing an alien henchman. That provided some giggles for both of us.
Mavel’s Phase Two got off to a rocky start, what with the somewhat sloppy Iron Man 3 and the dreadfully forget-able Thor: The Dark World. It regained its footing with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With Guardians, the MCU is primed and ready for Avengers 2. Bring on Ultron!
But definitely bring back the Guardians. I can’t wait for more laughs from them.