Marvel's Space Opera that I never knew I wanted

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2015)

I remember back around the time Iron Man 3 was Marvel's newest film that we got new information about other upcoming films coming within the next couple years. I remember looking through the list and this is probably what was going through my head: "Thor: The Dark World, okay sounds good, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, neat I'll check that out when it comes out, Guardians of the Galaxy...wait, what?" Yes, at that time I was completely confused on what exactly that was. Because up to that point, we already had a good idea of who Iron Man was, who Thor was, who Captain America was and so on. But GOTG was something that seemed a bit more obscure and it sure was. I think Marvel made a really big risk because of that, but somehow it all actually worked out. The film became super successful in the box office and got great reviews, proving that any movie with Marvel's logo slapped on it will make lots of money. Now even though this film was largely successful, when I went to go see it at the movie theater I was actually a little disappointed. Maybe, I had my expectations too high or something but it wasn't exactly as good as I was hoping. But later on I saw it again when it was available to rent and my opinion skyrocketed! Here's my thoughts.
First off, the characters. The main group themselves, the Guardians, are a fun bunch. You have Star Lord (Chris Pratt) who's this old- school type of guy. He says some pretty witty things and I liked that he listened to a bunch of older songs throughout the movie which was really a good contributing factor to this film's lighthearted feeling. Then there's Groot (Vin Diesel), a lovable but strong tree figure, Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), an ill-tempered Raccoon who doesn't know he's a Raccoon, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), an anti-heroine with a dark past and Drax (Dave Bautista), a vengeful being who takes all metaphors literally (which leads to some very funny and quotable jokes). All of these characters are fun and they are pretty much the heart and soul of this film. I also really admired some of the locations these guardians traveled to, they were very well designed and they kind of gave me a "Star Wars" vibe. I don't mean that they copied Star Wars, I just think they took a lot inspiration from them. The story is cool, the humor is good, the soundtrack is fantastic, this film is just awesome! But it's still not perfect.
As for bad things, the villain was pretty underwhelming. Sure, he wasn't quite as forgettable as the villain in Thor: The Dark World, but he still was not very special. I felt like he could've done more interesting things instead of just standing around and pretending to be all menacing even though we really don't see him do much. Also, this isn't a criticism but I would like to give a warning to anyone who's interested in seeing GOTG. Even though this film is funny, it's not exactly just a giant laugh-a- minute fest from beginning to end. I think that was one of the reasons my first viewing didn't go so well was because people made this film sound like it was just a riot in terms of humor, so I was expecting to go into this film laughing my head off throughout the entire thing. However, even though it's not a complete beginning to end laugh fest, the funny parts are still very entertaining and they complete this film.
Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of Marvel's best films! I think this along with the original Iron Man, both Avengers films and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are all up there in being my favorite Marvel films. Now I look forward to anything the Guardians will be in now, including the sequel and maybe a potential crossover with the Avengers, possibly? If you like space sci-fi films, if you like superhero films, If you like Marvel films, then you really should see Guardians of the Galaxy pronto!