Guardians of the Galaxy [Movie Review]

These movies are like some delicious addictive confection.

Every year, a new Marvel movie. 

No complaints here.

Meet the Guardians of the Galaxy...

I am Groot.

I try to go into each Marvel movie with no expectations. How can I do this?

I never read American comic books. Well, no mainstream ones. (Barry Ween, Blue Monday)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Ain't no thing like me, except me!

I struggled with this rating.
Do I give it a four star rating, or a four and half? I went with the upper value because of how much I laughed. The movie was loaded with humor. More than any previous Marvel movie, more than several of the combined.

I've ridden in a Milano 75. It does not look like this.

Well back to what I was saying beforehand. I knew nothing about Guardians of the Galaxy before this movie, aside from the previews and the little snippet at the end of Thor The Dark World. That is pretty much how I go into all comic book movies. I know a bit more about X-men thanks to the old Saturday morning cartoons... and recently I wanted all of the Justice League cartoon to get acquainted with that super-hero universe.

So yeah, no preconceptions about the movie.

Did it ever deliver. The pacing was amazingly good, it only hiccuped ever so slightly at the end. The soundtrack was great. Classic tunes all the way through.  It was great!

That's not a PLAN!

The story is more character centered than I was expecting. It almost came off as a science-fiction Dungeons and Dragons adventure. A group of unique individuals is thrown together first in pursuit of freedom, then money, and then finally for a noble quest. It's how a lot of DnD games seem to go... well, except that the noble quest is often supplanted by money... but anyways.

Ohh, yeah.

All bad-asses need some sort of giant iron throne thing...

Each character is interesting and moves the story along via their own internal motivations, no matter what they are. I did  not immediately warm to Peter Quill, aka Starlord. I'm not even sure why... now Rocket and Groot. Loved them right away. Excellent characters. Not unexpected, as any time a movie is going to involve a talking raccoon and a tree-man they are going to have to be characterful. Gamora was interesting (and that costume at the end was made of pure wow), but took me some time to warm to her as well. Drax was excellent from the get go. A purely literal fighter? "NOTHING goes over my head!... My reflexes are too fast, I would catch it." 

I feel like I need to watch the movie a second time simply because I missed a few lines. I missed those lines thanks to peels of laughter. I'm also willing to bet there are a few nuggets of interest that lay hidden, or that I missed the first time around.

I had a heck of a lot of fun in this movie.
The lines were excellent, the humor was top notch, and the story was pretty good. There is a lot that goes on, but you never really get bogged down or lost or confused. The fights never drag on and on... there are many but most are short. This movie moves along on the sheer force of character.

I really like this movie. I really like the whole Marvel universe. I can't wait for the next one.

There is one disclaimer. There is a frightening scene at the end. The after credits scene is terrifying.
Spoiler: Howard the Duck appears. This is a terrifying thing.

So this is what happens after you stop traveling with a Time Lord?