Groot to the last drop

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2014)

Finally, I get to see Guardians of the Galaxy while it's still in theaters, and I'm glad I did. It's the story of a ragtag band of five heroes fighting against evil in the universe. The fact that one of them is a raccoon and other is a tree is immaterial, as is the fact that each of them is a criminal of little repute. Point is, they're good guys taking on the evil Ronan, a being who seeks a legendary Infinity Stone, an ancient artifact that can grant the possessor devastating powers (and often death).
The Infinity Stone is held inside something called the Orb, about the size of a softball. The Stone itself is a gem on the same order as the Cosmic Cube seen in Captain America: The First Avenger. So, yes, the universe in which The Guardians exist is the same one in which Cap and the rest of the Avengers exist. Seeking the Orb is Ronan (Lee Pace), at the behest of the mighty Thanos (an uncredited Josh Brolin) so that Thanos will help eradicate the planet Xandor for him. In any event, it's a middling thief named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star Lord, who grabs the Orb himself in a cave on an abandoned planet. Ronan's thugs, led by Korath (Djimon Hounsou), attack Quill, but the latter manages to escape in his chrome spaceship.
Quill tries to sell the Orb to a broker, but when it's learned that Ronan is involved, the broker declines, which leads to Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a green-skinned assassin, attacking Peter in order to retrieve the Orb, under the orders of Thanos, her adopted father. Ah, but at the same time, two bounty hunters - a riotous raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and a sentient tree named Groot (Vin Diesel) spot Quill, who by this time is a very, very wanted man. They, too, join the mêlée, but all four of them wind up captured and sent to a high-security prison called Kyln, which seems like a combination of "killing" and "kiln," and which in any event looks like a bad place to be. And, if you're Gamora, it is, because she's Thanos' daughter, and much of the criminals in Kyln have had their planets, homes, and families destroyed by Thanos. It is also at Kyln that our quartet meets up with the fifth member of their tribe: Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), who has a personal vendetta against Ronan. Drax is huge, sort of blue, and is deeply sensitive - although he has no idea how metaphors work.
Not only is the action fast paced, the dialog - perfectly delivered by a top-notch cast - is terrific and hilarious. Sure, a prevailing theme is the old chestnut about people from diverse backgrounds coming together to fight a common enemy, but think of this as a higher-tech Star Wars, except with fewer robots. There are cultural references to the 80s (when Quill was abducted, as a young boy, from Earth), too. The chemistry among all of the leads is spot on; with each taking turns at saving the lives of the others. Even the plant-like Groot, who's often described as the muscle of the operations, shows plenty of savvy and a willingness to sacrifice himself to save others. There may be a lesson there somewhere.
Along with Pratt, Saldana, Bautista, and the voices of Diesel and Cooper, the supporting cast features Benicio del Toro as a collector of rare objects, Hounsou, Michael Rooker as a fellow scoundrel to Peter Quill, John C. Reilly as a Xandorian official, and Glenn Close as Nova Prime (ruler of Xandor).
In the end, good things happen. It's a comic-book movie, for goodness sake, so that's not a spoiler. But it's not really the end. Guardians of the Galaxy is a huge success as a standalone movie, and it leads into not only its own sequel but also that of The Avengers. If you look closely, you can spot some remnants of other Marvel Comics, items that may (or may not) indicate who or what will be involved in future cinematic stories from the studio.
Guardians of the Galaxy is certainly fit to be in the same, ahem, universe inhabited by other blockbuster superhero films, like The Avengers, Thor, and Iron Man. It's visceral entertainment.