Great all round fun...one of the better MCU entries

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2020)

Guardians of the Galaxy took us somewhat of a sideways step within the MCU from what had come before but in doing so, did open up more plot points and give us a little more information on Thanos, the kree and perhaps more importantly, the all important infinity stones which are essentially the foundations of the universe and it's unfolding story. We will see much more of them in future films as they pretty much hold the key to most things.
James Gunn brings us a fantastic vision of the rag-tag bunch of mercenaries, criminals and other assorted beings from the comic book series. A prolific and good writer in the past but as a director he had not really done very much worth noting before this. We need'nt have feared though as this is definitely one of the better films set within the cinematic universe that Marvel has weaved.
We open to the late eighties, a young Peter is at the hospital listening to a cassette while his mother lies ill in a hospital bed. Dying she hands Peter a present but he is unable to cope with his grief as his mother passes. Distraught, Peter runs off into the fog of the night, only for lights to appear all around him.
Twenty-six years later Peter Quill (a perfectly cast Chris Pratt), now a mercenary outlaw, lands on an abandoned planet and starting his walkman, dances and sings through an old temple while looking for an important artifact. Unfortunately, he is not alone in looking for this object. From here the action never really lets up and takes you on a rollercoaster ride of excitement.
We are then slowly introduced to the rest of our main players. Mainly Rocket (voiced by Cooper), Groot (brilliantly done by Diesel given he has just three words of dialogue) and Gamora (Zaldana). Rocket and groot are great and provide the majority of the comedy. Tcene where they try to capture Quill along with Gamaro (who is also after Quill) is very well choregraphed and extremely funny. In trying to capture him, they unfortunately all end up in a prison facility (where Drax is also), so Quill, Gamora, Rocket Groot and Drax band together to escape and ultimately become the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The cast here is mostly excellent, even those with very little to do. Lee Pace (in a 180 from playing Thranduil in the Hobbit Trilogy) is excellent as Ronan the Accuser and Michael Rooker is just awesome as the crazy Yondu Udonta, the leader of a Ravager faction (who are equally as mad). Benicio del Toro returns as the Space Liberaci (or the collector as first seen in Thor: Dark world). GIllan is also excellent as Thanos' daughter Nebula and to my mind, it was a shame not see more of her character.
Which leads us to Rocket and Groot. Rocket is a mad raccoon and definitely has all the best one-liners. His character is awesome and is wonderfully brought to life both the special effect team and by Cooper's voice acting. Last but not least, Groot is just gorgeous and very scary at times, wonderfully funny and brilliantly voiced by vin diesel. I really don;t think the film would have been the same without him and he even has a genuinly tear jerking moment. I am Groot indeed. Very easy to see why everyone fell in love with him.
Guardians also gives us our first proper look at the Kree's (or second, if you pay attention to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and it will be interesting to see how they feature later on in the overarching story. Josh Brolin also makes his first appearance (uncredited) as Thanos as we also get to see a little of him and his possible agenda as he certainly is an interesting and powerful character within the universe.
Special effects here are absolutely sopt on and top-notch and really are believable with nothing looking odd or out of place. Likewise, the soundtrack is to die for (if you're a seventies or eighties kid at least anyway) and the film closes with a completely and utterly bizarre post credits scene. A good film to me should transport you within it so you forget you're actually watching a film. Guardians of the Galaxy does that so well that it's runtime seems over almost immediately after you hit play. Great film.
The Sage's Rating: 8/10