This is an official spoiler warning for Guardians of the Galaxy, so if you haven't seen it yet then please don't read this.
So if you're still reading you have probably already seen the intergalactic awesomeness and fun which is Guardians of the Galaxy. I really enjoyed the film and gave it a B+ in my original review, but I wanted to explain some more things I liked in the film which could come across as spoilers.
The film opens with young Star Lord on Earth and the first scene is pretty emotional. The poor boy is sat there listening to his "awesome mix volume 1" music in a hospital with his mother lying on her death bed. The mother dies, little Star Lord pretty much breaks down, runs outside and is captured by Yondu on a spaceship. I said that Star Lord had the most depth as a character already and the movie illustrates that through it's soundtrack, which is basically just 1980's classics. This is the music his mother gave to him, and Star Lord listens to it as it is the last attachment he has to his mother and Earth for that matter. I loved the soundtrack by the way. The score was sufficient but the 1980s hits were all fantastic.
We then cut to Star Lord as an older man and he is set to retrieve something. While he's doing this, he's listening to his music, dancing and booting small rat-like alien creatures. It was about at this point I realised the tone they were going for, and boy did it pay off throughout the rest of the film. Star Lord is then captured by Korath (one of Ronan's servants) and I thought that they would arrest him for taking the orb. It didn't pan out like that; it turns out Star Lord is a badass, and he escapes!
He tries selling this orb to someone but as soon as he mentions Ronan's name the buyer basically says "f*ck that sh*t" and kicks him out. Then he meets Gamora and shortly after that Rocket Racoon and Groot. What I loved was how the group didn't actually get along together at first. They only form the team when they all find kindred spirit in eachother as they're all basically outcasts. The group then ends up getting arrested and more awesome 80s music plays and more comedy ensues.
In the prison we see at the start that the four, and now Drax, all have different motivations concerning the orb that Star Lord found. Gamora wants it to be rid of Ronan and Thanos, Drax wants it to exert revenge on Ronan for killing his wife and daughter and Rocket/Groot want it for... money! They escape the prison in a really funny and entertaining action sequence which has one of my favourite parts of the film in it. It was that part where Drax chucks Rocket the gun and he's spinning around shooting things on Groot's shoulders.
Meanwhile we go to Ronan and we find out that he has been tasked to retrieve this orb for Thanos (it's an infinity gem, so obviously Thanos would want it) so he can blow up Xandar. I think Ronan want's the planet blown up because he has kind of dated beliefs and he just doesn't like this peace treaty which they signed. He's a pretty weak villain in my opinion, but we get to see Thanos at last and it did not disappoint.
The Guardians then go to a place called Knowhere which is like a hideout for Outlaws and it also happens to be a huge head of a Celestial being. There we meet The Collector again and he basically explains that the orb is in fact an infinity gem, 1 of 6 objects of immense power. We then get a neat demonstration of that when one of his servants blows up his entire collection.
We skip ahead now and Ronan requires the orb and says screw you Thanos, I'm going to blow up Xandar and then I'm coming for you. The Guardians basically decide that they're not going to let billions of people die at the hands of Ronan and they board the ship. They come across Ronan's servant Nebula (Gamora's sister) before Drax blows her up with bazooka. One of the funniest moments in a comic book movie I swear. Although that is soon topped when Groot in that one scene basically pummels those guys to death before turning around and letting out a cheeky smile! I said it before and I will say it again, this movie was so freaking funny!
The movie was also touching at times. It got me the most when Groot shielded the Guardians and basically sacrificed himself for them. "We are Groot". Man I nearly cried over a CGI tree. What is my life coming too!
Ronan's ship crashes and we come to that bit in all superhero films where we have the final showdown. However, this time the main villain is distracted by the hero challenging him to a dance off. Would anyone else other than Star Lord risk the fate of the galaxy over a dance off? No they wouldn't, and that is why Star Lord is as cool as anything!
Ronan is basically defeated and the orb is then locked away by the Nova corps. Groot doesn't die in the end as Rocket recovers a twig and places it in plant pot so he can grow again. The Guardians have their record cleaned and go off on another intergalactic space adventure.
The post credits scene also made me laugh. It was literally just Howard the Duck talking to The Collector amongst the ruins of his destroyed collection. Could it happen? Nah probably not...
Guardians of the Galaxy is a fantastic entrant into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and really excelled with it's surprising bursts of emotion, it's witty humour and it's characters. I'm so glad we're getting a sequel and I can't wait for the day The Guardians and The Avengers team up to battle Thanos. And I hope Drax is the one that kills him!
Thanks for reading,
Matt
