I was planning to make a post this Friday, right after watching it, but I got busy. But after a long pause, I’m back.
Some months ago, the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy came out, and it was pretty well-received. I personally loved it, because of the song as well as it showed enough to hook you in but neglected to show key things that would’ve ruined the movie otherwise if it had.
There was hype, and also skepticism: after all, the Guardians of the Galaxy were nowhere near as popular or as well-known as the Avengers, or the X-Men. Many thought Marvel was running out of ideas, or that it would flop or, at best, underperform.
But this wasn’t the case, and in fact, it got all the hype it deserved, for the movie is awesome, it’s great. A total blast.
In case you haven’t seen the movie or the previews, the movie is about a team of what could be considered galactic outlaws, who have to work together to stop an evil plot from Thanos and his subordinate, Ronan, from obtaining one of the Infinity Stones (first established in the movie Thor: The Dark World), the Orb, which could give infinite power (no pun intended) to those who wield it.
While it is indeed a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, I honestly thought it was much more unique than its predecessors. Although there are cameos and references to the rest of the universe, the movie feels as its own thing: it could’ve been released as a completely separate thing, and yet it would’ve been mostly the same. And it’s one of the many achievements this movie does, as even non-Marvel fans could like it, as its other strengths make it really accessible as well as attractive for people who aren’t really into these/this movies/franchise.
The movie is greatly structured, the pacing feeling perfect, the character interactions being fun and interesting, and great visuals and music. The soundtrack is a great mix of both “epic” instrumental/symphonic style inherently present in the Marvel movies, and it also has many, many oldies that will appeal to many crowds.
The designs are also fantastic, and in particular, I loved the Ravager ship designs: they were colorful, elaborate, detailed and didn’t follow the new, Hollywood doctrine of “gritty” and “dark”. They were interesting, looked familiar and yet at the same time alien, akin to a ship that you’d see in one of the old Star Wars movies. Which brings me to another point: this movie feels really Star Wars. In fact, I’d dare say it feels more Star Wars than many Star Wars products. It has a perfect balance of serious and fun, and never forgets its a sci-fi-fantasy adventure movie that doesn’t need to be pretentious or introduce otherwise-alien (no pun intended) elements that can make it seem at times a completely different movie. The action is also very well done, special-effects heavy, but well structured that doesn’t bore you, like the recent-Transformers: Age of Extinction.
Overall, this movie is great, an amazing ride, and I’m sure it will calm the fears in the fandom about Marvel Studios’ quality “dropping” or that the franchise would start “falling down”, or whatever. Even if you’re not a fan of these movies, I highly recommend Guardians of the Galaxy.
Oh, and Zoe Zoldana was hot.
And stay for the after-credits scene. You won’t regret it.
Servant of Priss' Ramblings 