Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
The first film adaptation of Guardians Of The Galaxy was initially perceived by some to be a risky endeavour – being the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be a real science fiction movie, set almost entirely outside of Earth. The MCU had certainly taken in other planets in the past – most notably in the Thor films – but Guardians Of The Galaxy was to be, on a fundamental level, untethered from the usual Earth-bound framing of Marvel movies. That shift in context came at exactly the right time, in exactly the right way, though – breathing new life into a then six-year-old franchise, with eye-popping action and good dose of attitude.
Like its source material, it centres on Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) – who later becomes known as Star-Lord. As a young boy, he endures the loss of his beloved mother to illness, and is then abducted by space pirates known as Ravagers – led by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker). Years later, as a grown man on the planet Morag, Quill finds and steals a mysterious orb, and unwittingly sets in motion a series of events that leads him to form the Guardians Of The Galaxy. The team is ultimately comprised of an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a convict named Drax (Dave Bautista), and a pair of bounty hunters named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Rocket is a genetically modified raccoon, while Groot is a humanoid tree with extremely limited vocabulary.
The group is united by the orb that Quill has stolen. Gamora is the adoptive, but rebellious daughter of the evil Thanos, who’s determined to possess the orb for its awesome power. Rocket and Groot are drawn into the situation because Ravager Yondu Udonta issues a bounty for Quill, as a result of him stealing the orb. Drax becomes involved because he tries to kill Gamora as revenge for the loss of family, who were murdered by Ronan – Thanos’ enforcer. Begrudgingly working together, the group uncover the truth about the orb and the motivations of those seeking to possess it – and fight to ensure it stays out of the wrong hands.
Guardians Of The Galaxy was a giant hit at the box office, generating $773 million worldwide against an estimated production budget of $170 million. But, to attribute that success to Marvel brand recognition and loyalty is to do a great disservice to what’s objectively a near-perfect film. It’s important to note that Guardians Of The Galaxy is largely a standalone movie, with only the presence of the mysterious Thanos, and detail of the Infinity Stones tying it to the ongoing MCU. There’s no real mention of any of the already established MCU characters, so this film truly does succeed on its own merits.
That being said, it’s certainly not ground-breaking in terms of its construction. The movie uses the triple plot devices of a pop soundtrack, a MacGuffin (the orb), and a group of heroes with complex family histories, to build an epic chase story that just happens to take place among the stars. In the hands of lesser filmmakers, this could have been too formulaic – but writer-director James Gunn, earlier screenwriter Nicole Perlman, and the production team as a whole managed to craft a set of characters that grab the audience by the heart, and refuse to let go. As we’ve seen, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is built on well-crafted characters, and as such, Guardians Of The Galaxy remains among the best of these franchise entries.
