We’ve spent so much time on earth focusing on The Avengers team that it's very refreshing to have a MCU movie set out in the vastness of space. Sure, the previous Thor movies had a setting that was not on earth but this time we would be entering a colorful sci-fi setting that involves visiting different planets and coming across cool looking spaceships. I’m of course talking about the Guardians of the Galaxy. This movie is based on a newer Marvel series that was adapted into such a fun movie directed by the almighty James Gunn.
Peter Quill has been abducted from his home on earth by ravagers when he was running away after his mother tragically passed away. 26 years pass and Peter or Star Lord (Chris Pratt) is an outlawed bounty hunter who steals a mysterious orb that contains a powerful secret. Apparently Star-Lord is not the only one looking for the orb as Gamora (Zoe Saldana), daughter of Thanos (Josh Brolin) has been sent to attain the orb and bring it to Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) who secretly has other plans for the orb. Gamora and Star-Lord fight for the orb and get intercepted by other outlaws including a talking racoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and a tree creature named Groot (Vin Diesel). Eventually they get caught by enforcers and sent to prison, but they escape with the help of Drax (Dave Bautista) and find out the secret about why the orb is so dangerous in the wrong hands. Now the team of five must put there differences aside and work together to stop Ronan and Thanos other daughter Nebula (Karen Gillan) from using the orb for evil purposes.
This story takes a much more comedic and spunky approach compared to the previous MCU movies. It has a classic sci-fi feel that is inspired by many other sci-fi movies but does enough with its plot and its worldbuilding to make it feel like a fresh new take on the formula. The plot is definitely a setup for the future MCU movies, but the way the movie is executed makes the movie so entertaining that it can still stand on its own as its own separate adventure. The space environment is as colorful as it is a nice change of pace from Marvel’s usual earth settings. There are many unique locations we get to visit in the course of the story and it's great to see the MCU attempt to bring us to locations we've never seen before. Also, it's funny, like really funny. A lot of the movie’s comedy comes from the members of the guardians bickering off one another. I would argue it's this movie has the most laughs out of all the MCU’s lineup and I personally think that Gunn’s personal comical touch on the film’s script definitely made all the difference.
The Characters are perfectly cast and each of them have loads of personality, especially the main ones in the Guardians of the Galaxy team. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and even Vin Diesel all are believable as the unlikely team of space and as mentioned before their interactions with one another are so much fun to watch whether they are working together or arguing. There are even other big names that have snuck their way into the movie including Glenn Close and John C Reily and their contributions are more than welcomed in making the world of the Guardians even more expansive.
The sci-fi futuristic space setting allows for so much creativity and luckily the MCU pulls it off by creating something that is very unique while also feeling inspired from other sci-fi properties and making it something of its own. Space is as beautiful as ever but the real stars of the show are the film’s spaceship designs and the costuming for every character including the background ones. The ships have very distinctive shapes and are fun when they are put into action. The costuming is possibly the best the MCU has given us and that is saying something given the fact that the Thor movies have some excellent costuming. I personally like how some of the characters have such an alien-like quality such as Gamora or Drax and even some of the background extras.
Even the music is the most memorable in all of the MCU and that is because the majority of it are integrated songs from the 70’s and 80’s. Unlike a lot of other movies where they insert random songs for the sake of advertisement. The songs in this movie are made to work alongside Peter Quill's character and his love for music from his time period which is more clever. When there are not songs playing in the background, the rest of the movie is scored with a traditional movie score by Tyler Bates that is both epic and a lot of fun.
Guardians of the Galaxy is such a fun ride and may just be one of the MCU’s most memorable outings thanks to its funny but action-packed story, lovable characters that are perfectly cast, impressive effects that scream sci-fi visualization and a great music score that balances cleverly inserted songs and epic orchestral tunes. I believe that the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics would have never been brought into a much larger limelight if it weren't for this movie. This solid movie from director James Gunn is in my opinion one of the MCU’s best and it is at least in my top ten favorites from the ongoing superhero franchise.
(Final Grade: A-)