Guardians of the Galaxy

At first, I didn't intend on seeing this movie.  I had never even heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy before, and adventures in space were never my kind of movie.  However, because it was Marvel and Marvel hasn't yet disappointed me, I decided to give it a chance.  Oh boy, I am so glad I did!  In terms of other Marvel movies, I don't think it's my absolute favorite (it is going to be quite a feat to butt the Avengers out of first place for me).  However, it is at the very least on par in terms of action, humor, and awesome characters.

Let me start off with Peter Quill, the main character of the story.  My sum up: he is the Tony Stark of the Guardians.  Personality-wise the two are practically the same.  There's even a point where Quill acts really, really heroic… and then he ruins the moment by being cocky.  Thankfully Quill is given depth in ways that I won't spoil for you, and his story hit me in the chest several times in the movie.  Next is Gamora, who is a noble, strong, and all-around epic warrior.  With the severely low numbers of Marvel women, I enjoyed seeing her fighting skills and her strength of character, despite all the suffering she has endured under her adopted father Thanos.

Then there's Rocket, by far the one with the best lines.  He's funny, he's brilliant, and he's so skilled with his giant guns that he can blast EVERYTHING to smithereens.  Next is Drax, whom I personally don't find to be that memorable of a character, although he still was the cause of several good laughs during the movie.  This guy is really, really literal.  Finally, we have Groot.  FAVORITE. CHARACTER.  Groot is adorable and powerful and wonderful and selfless.  Dad, you should be proud of me for choosing a tree as my favorite character rather than the best-looking guy of the group…

… Speaking of which, I need to address this really quickly before I give my concluding thoughts: does Chris Pratt (who plays Star-Lord) look ridiculously like Derek Theler (who plays a character on a show that I watch but no one else does)?  Or is it just me?

Chris Pratt

Derek Theler

Whelp, either way...

My admiration of good-looking men aside, Guardians of the Galaxy is funny, entertaining, dramatic, and heartfelt.  It is worth seeing, especially if you are into the Marvel movies already.  The best part is that it is a continuation of the infinity stones plot line that we've seen in other Marvel movies (Avengers & Thor 2), yet it still works as a stand-alone film.  So go see it.  You'll have fun, I promise.