Guardians of the Galaxy was a blast and my favorite movie of the year so far

Rating: 10/10 (25 September 2014)

Earlier this year I saw the Captain America sequel and remarked that so far it was my favorite of the films released since The Avengers. However, I also remarked that Guardians of the Galaxy was coming out and it looked like it might be pretty good so it had a chance to be the best. Turns out, it is the best so far! I saw it a week after its release, usually I would have written a review by now, but been busy with a new house and all and I have limited access to the internet. Suffice to say, the numbers are pretty much making me think that others think this is the best one too as the only one that it probably will not outdo is the third installment of Iron Man as far as box office. This movie features a team of offbeat heroes that come together to utilize each others strengths and hide the weaknesses and is a very funny movie with good action as well. It has everything one looks for in a comic movie and I do believe one of the reasons it is a bit better is the fact we are all a bit less familiar with these particular heroes than say those on the X-men or say the Avengers.
The story has a young boy visiting his mother one last time in the hospital. The woman dies and the boy runs out of the hospital and cries in the middle of a field where he is abducted by aliens. Years later this young boy is now a young man who calls himself Star Lord. He is after a strange artifact on a planet that appears in ruins. He is confronted and then escapes others after the strange artifact. Star Lord soon finds a bounty on him as the aliens who abducted him and are basically space pirates called Grievers want the artifact as well. Also, after this artifact is one of the most powerful villains in the galaxy, Thanos and he sends his daughter after it as well. Well Star Lord soon finds Thanos' daughter and a raccoon named Rocky and his partner, a tree alien named Groot are after them and after a scramble to get the artifact and get away, they all find themselves locked up in a prison where they meet another alien named Drax, that wishes Thanos' daughter dead. However, they soon will learn to work together and learn what the precious artifact is and how deadly it potentially is in the hands of someone dastardly or anyone for that matter!
The film is really good, as I've said, and I believe it has to do with the characters. They are all very unique and they all have their quirks. From the womanizing Star Lord, the can't get a metaphor Drax, to the daughter of the evil Thanos, to the mechanical Rocky with a wicked sense of humor to Groot who can only say, "I am Groot", this group is very humorous to watch. I do believe it helps that not many people are familiar with this team, as all the members got to shine. Unlike say a film like X-men where there are so many casual fans so a character like Wolverine is always seemingly showcased and the team leader Cyclops gets portrayed as a wimp when anyone who reads the comics can attest he once fought all the X-men, including Wolverine to a standstill. That is the problem with having so many cartoons, people with limited knowledge draw conclusions and the movie studios cater to them. Like Spider-man. Anyone who has read the comics knows the villains that have been his biggest tormentors are Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Venom is all the casual fan wants to see, even though he was only a big time villain for like a five year stretch. Here, though, no one stands out as there is no Wolverine or to a lesser degree Iron Man and I think that is what helped this movie. People thought the fact this was a lesser known comic would hurt, but in actuality it may have helped it.
So, this film is my favorite of the Marvel films released since The Avengers. In fact, it is almost on par with that film. I only give that one an edge because I do so love seeing the Hulk do his thing. Though I have heard rumors that the next Guardians film may do the planet Hulk storyline, which would be awesome. This film itself was awesome as it did have a lot of funny characters and good action. Also, Thanos looks great as it almost seems they took him straight off the pages of the comics. My only complaint about the film, which it is only a minor quibble, is that they never showed Thanos really do all that much. I would like to see him do something truly destructive so that the moviegoers not familiar with his power know what is in store when he is the primary villain in a Marvel movie. I was hoping he would be in Avengers 2, but they went with Ultron instead. Hopefully, we shall see him in the third, or heck let him take a more active role in the second film of this franchise, because I like where they are going with it!