(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun popcorn action flick with some hilarious one liners and actually had some emotional feeling as well, it started off a little shaky but once the movie starts going, it is a great ride till the end. Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

I have to admit, I wasn’t too big on this movie once it was announced that they were making a film on this Marvel story. I’m a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but mainly because they use heroes that I’m a big fan of like Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America. However, I was confused why they picked Guardians of the Galaxy, cuz in my opinion it is a comic series that wasn’t really well known. I mean, I knew about Rocket Raccoon, but I thought his character was too cartoony and childish. With that said, it made me do research on these space heroes, and I thought Marvel is taking a big risk, but in Feige I trust. The more they started talking about this movie and their casting announcements, the more anticipation I got, and thank goodness the movie killed. It was another pleasant surprise for me. I will start with the so so, to what I liked. 

The so so, pretty much my only small gripe in this movie is that it did start a little shaky. It seemed like they want to make the origin story and brush it aside to get the main part of the movie going. I wasn’t sure what approach they were going, the action side, the cartoony side, the drama side, or the comical side in this movie. Once they all go to prison, that is when the story if the movie really got started. It showed me that they were going for all the approaches and director James Gunn made it work. The name of the planets were funny to me, especially the planet Knowhere sounded funny to me. There wasn’t too much time to develop Korath, played by Djimon Hounsou, but died a terrible death. I’m a little disappointed in the brief appearance of The Collector, played by Benecio Del Toro. I’m not sure if he is a good guy or a bad guy in this universe, and was left unknown in that regard. At least you see a cameo of Howard the Duck, voiced by Seth Green, with him. Shows that Marvel is giving the chance to go with a lot of characters in their universe. Even as weird as Howard the Duck.

What I liked, the CGI looked almost real and authentic, and it is like Gunn paid attention to every single detail to really make a good movie. I appreciated the time and effort they put to make this a good all around movie for everybody. The character development was on point in this movie, and that is not easy in a movie with so many characters. Let’s start with the Guardians of the Galaxy, a group if misfits that were accidentally formed to save the universe. Sounds strange but it worked, and each hero had a certain characteristic which really makes them a team. Starting with Chris Pratt as Star Lord, pretty much a human who was adopted by the Ravagers, a group of space pirates, that abducted him from Earth. He was raised by these space pirates, but Star Lord still has his own agenda. He has a love/hate relationship with the guy that raised him, Yondu Udonta, played by Michael Rooker, cuz Yondu cares about making money, but Star Lord wants to be more independent and make his own money which Yondu feels very betrayed after all he has done for him. Star Lord just wants to be alone and bang every alien in the galaxy. After all he been through with his new friends, he realizes what is the right thing to do, and it’s more about the money. So he became the defacto leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He may not be perfect, but the rest of his team gives me encouragement. One thing about Yondu is that he has no fear with a very cool arrow that is controlled by his whistling. In the end, he has deep respect for Star Lord and understands what is best for the world, but has a rep to keep with the rest of the Ravegers. The next person part of the Guardians of the Galaxy is Gamora, played by the beautiful Zoe Saldana. She does have some personal vendetta with Thanos, voiced by Josh Brolin and had an intimidating presence in his brief scene, whom he adopted Gamora when she was young after destroying her family. At first, she was in it to impress Ronan, played by Lee Pace, and be on his side. (More on him later.) Gamora is definitely lethal like a sexy femme fatale who deals with no BS. It wasn’t until Star Lord saved her life that she might develop an interest with Star Lord. There is some chemistry in the making between them. The next hero in line is Drax, played by Dave Bautista. Bautista definitely looked brolic as this character as another alien that is out for revenge against Ronan, and will stop at nothing to get his revenge. Cuz of that he makes very wreckless decisions that almost cost the team of heroes. He is definitely stuck up thinking he is the best at everything, but became humbled after he lost the first fight with Ronan, and instead decide to not fight for himself, but to save the world. He is definitely a relentless warrior, and that’s what I liked about him. The next hero is definitely an interesting character, and that is Rocket Raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper. Cooper was perfect in voicing Rocket. A BA animal with an attitude, and loves big guns. He does have anger issues, and can you blame him, cuz he was experimented on to turn to an animal. Now he becomes from a bounty hunter to a hero. Rocket is hilarious and part of most comic relief in this movie. Every scene with Rocket was not boring, instead he was a breathe of comedic fresh air. Lastly, it is Rocket’s protector, Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel. A big tree warrior that is strong, but what is bigger was his heart. He can fight people with one swipe of his arm branch, but he provided the character with most emotion and heart. Even though all he says is, “I’m am Groot,” you sense his emotion each time he said it. He and Rocket had great chemistry together, and all he wants is peace and love with everybody, even though Rocket is the complete opposite. The most powerful moment with Groot is when he is willing to sacrifice himself to save his team. He brought the vulnerability in Rocket when it was believed he was dead. I personally enjoyed Groot and his caring and loving approach with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Also that scene of Groot as a twig dancing to some music was hilarious and a joy to watch. As for the main villain, Ronan, a Kree alien species that listens to Thanos, but only to betray him with the infinity stone he was suppose to give him, and uses it to try to control the universe. Pace definitely made Ronan ruthless and making his presence sincerely felt as a force to be reckon with. He knows that the Nova Corps, a galaxy army to protect the galaxy as well, which is in the planet Xander which Ronan want to destroy with the Infinity Stone. He almost achieved it, but thanks to Star Lord’s dancing to destruct him, he got blown away by a big space gun, and the Guardians of the Galaxy were able to come together to keep the Infinity Stone in containment. The other side villain was Nebula, played by Karen Gillan, is also an adopted daughter of Thanos that decided to join Ronan in taking him down. She was a good rival with Gamora since they were both trained by the same person. It is just a matter of who is smarter with these two girls, and she seemed like a servant for Ronan, but ruthless as well. Even though Gamora has the upper hand, you know she will be back better than ever. You get a brief glimpse of the Nova Corp in this movie, and even though they are a glimpse, you can see how powerful they are and why Ronan wants to destroy them. You don’t see much of Rhomann Dey and Nova Prime Leader Irani Rael, played by John C. Reilly and Glen Close. You will probably see them more in the sequel, but for this movie, you know they are important. Stan Lee’s cameo was hilarious as well as a ladies man. One thing I loved in this movie is the play list of Star Lord’s tape deck. Not only do I like the 70’s and 80’s vibe with his mix tape which brings the classics again to these young people’s ears, but the sentimental value for Star Lord that reminds him of his mother who died at the beginning of the movie when he was a kid was just another powerful emotion in this movie. What makes this movie different from the rest of the Marvel movies is that they don’t leave unanswered loopholes, and it was a complete movie for everyone to enjoy.

Overall, this movie proves that the Marvel Cinematic Universe know what they are doing, and it brings excitement for the new characters they plan to bring out (like Ant-Man next year). This movie was entertaining, and have me some new characters to love (like Groot). Now we wait for Avengers: Age of Ultron, which I believe will be an epic movie to look forward. Love Marvel and the movies they bring out!!! Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars.