Guardians of the Galaxy

J-Bang Reviews present Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. (1 minute before film begins) Ah man, this is gonna be hilarious. I can't wait for it to start. (2 minutes later after film begins) ...Damn. What the hell?! Did this movie take opening scene lessions from Pixar's "Up." I'm sad now. I won't spoil anything but all in all, Marvel Studios manages to surprise me yet again with another great film. To be honest, once I saw the first trailer for this film, I thought it would be Marvel's version of a comedy film, and did not expect this movie to be great. Especially when you factor in that a movie was being made about a comic book team no one really knows about, it lowers your expectations. The nice thing about this film is that, YES, IT STILL IS A COMEDY, but also packs in terrific Sci-Fi action sequences and does a great job in developing characters we are suppose to care about. Everyone in this film is special in their own way. Groot, is adorable and magical in terms of his facial expressions and physical mannerisms. Gamora is a bad-ass whose personality can be appreciated by both feminists and guys. Drax the Destroyer is a beast that will please all blood-thirsty muscle-men. Star-Lord is the enthusiastic adventurer that represents the little kid in all of us that wanted to explore the stars. And Rocket...Well, Rocket is Rocket :) He's a cocky ass-kicker who looks like a racoon. Think of him as the "Han Solo" of this film. I make the "Star Wars" reference because this movie is more like a Intergalatic Space Adventure than it is a Marvel Superhero film. Sure, there's the heroes vs. villian dynamic but it's more based on responsibility. The heroes start out as criminals. Incarcerated for their own selfish reasons. One of them finds something, unknowing of it's power, that everyone wants. Once the heroes find out that what they have in their possession is an Infinity Stone (research it), they figure out that it is too dangerous to just give away or sell. Especially, while finding out the person who wants it the most is the villian, Ronan the Accusser. Instead of giving in to their greed, the heroes decide it's their responsibility to keep the dangerous Infinity Stone away from Ronan, by any means necessary. It's a fun journey to watch, and is terrific in scope. Ronan the Accuser is a big step-up from Malekith the Accursed (the villian from "Thor: the Dark World"). Ronan the Accuser isn't exactly the most memorable of villians from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he was a believable and intimidating threat. And considering that this was the Guardian of the Galaxy's first film, it was a smart move to focus more on developing reasons for us to care for our heroes rather than remind how serious of a danger our main villian is. As wonderful as this film is, I will say that in terms of the "Avengers timeline," it was completely unnecessary. We all know that the next film is the highly anticipated "Avengers: Age of Ultron," and if you saw "Captain America: the Winter Soldier" from beginning to end, then you're set to see the next Avengers movie. In all honesty, you do not have to see "Guardians of the Galaxy" right away. If anything...if you really wanted to... you could wait for it to come out on DVD. But seeing it right now, helps motivate Marvel Studios to explore more comic books figures to make movies out of such as Doctor Strange, Black Panther and other Superheroes that deserve a movie. Since we are pretty much done with Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy would have been more meaningful if it came out after "Avengers: Age of Ultron," during Phase 3. Since Marvel has made fans aware that the final villian for the Avengers is Thanos, this movie gives us a taste of what we could expect in the Avengers 3, and believe me, it's scary. We get a glimpse at the destruction one Infinity Stone can cause and how godly Josh Brolin's voice is when used to voice Thanos, the Mad Titan, who is quote, "the most powerful man in the universe" endquote. Think about those two things. The Avengers facing the MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE UNIVERSE, who happens to be aided with not one, but SIX INFINITY STONES?! That insane combination makes the third movie a must-watch before it even begins production. That's why I think this movie should have been in Phase 3 rather than Phase 2. Because it kind of belittle's the true threat Ultron really is for the Avengers in the second film. But we will just have to wait and see, don't we Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige?!! Anyway, Guardians of the Galaxy gets a 4.2 out of 5.