Back on the old site, I wrote a few articles following a rewatch of the Marvel Cinamatic Universe. Here are those articles again.

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy

Director: James Gunn

Writer(s): James Gunn and Nichole Pearlman

Characters created by : Steve Englehart, Steve Gan (Star-Lord), Jim Starlin (Gamora, Drax, Thanos), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers (Groot, Ronan), Bill Mantlo, Keith Giffen (Rocket), and Marv Wolfman (Nova Corps).

US Release Date: August 1, 2014

Budget: $232,300,000

Worldwide Box-office: $773,300,000

Returning characters: The Collector, the Other, Thanos

Summary: Following his mother’s death, a young Peter Quill is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers, led by Yondu Udonta. Twenty-six years later on the planet Morag, Quill steals an orb, after which Korath, a subordinate to the fanatical Kree, Ronan, intercepts him. Quill escapes with the orb, but Yondu issues a bounty for his capture, while Ronan sends Gamora after the orb.

When Quill attempts to sell the orb on Xandar, Gamora ambushes him and steals it. A fight ensues, drawing in a pair of bounty hunters: Rocket, and Groot. The Nova Corps arrives and captures the four, detaining them in the Kyln.

While there, a powerful inmate, Drax, attempts to kill Gamora due to her association with Ronan, who killed his family. Quill convinces Drax that Gamora can lure Ronan to him. Gamora reveals that she has betrayed Ronan, and has a buyer for the orb, she, Quill, Rocket, Groot, and Drax work together to escape from the Kyln.

The Guardians flee to Knowhere, a remote criminal outpost in space built in the giant severed head of a Celestial. A drunken Drax summons Ronan while the rest of the group meet Gamora’s contact, the collector Taneleer Tivan. Tivan opens the orb, revealing an Infinity Stone. Suddenly, Tivan’s tormented assistant grabs the Stone, triggering an explosion that engulfs Tivan’s archive.

Ronan arrives and defeats Drax, while the others flee by ship, pursued by Nebula. Nebula destroys Gamora’s ship, leaving her floating in space, and Ronan’s forces capture the orb. Quill contacts Yondu before following Gamora into space, giving her his helmet to survive; Yondu arrives and retrieves the pair. Rocket, Drax, and Groot threaten to attack Yondu’s ship to rescue them, but Quill negotiates a truce by convincing Yondu that they can recover the orb. The Guardians agree that facing Ronan means certain death, but that they cannot let him use the Infinity Stone to destroy the galaxy.

On Ronan’s flagship, The Dark Aster, Ronan embeds the Stone in his warhammer, taking its power for himself. He contacts Thanos, threatening to kill him after the destruction of Xandar; hateful of her adoptive father, Nebula allies with Ronan. Near Xandar, the Ravagers, the Nova Corps, and the Guardians confront and breach the Dark Aster. Ronan uses his empowered warhammer to destroy the Nova Corps fleet. On the Dark Aster, after Gamora defeats Nebula (who escapes), she unlocks Ronan’s chambers, but the group find themselves outmatched by his power until Rocket crashes the Milano through the Dark Aster.

The damaged Dark Aster crash-lands on Xandar, with Groot sacrificing himself to shield the group. Ronan emerges from the wreck and prepares to destroy Xandar, but Quill distracts him by dancing, allowing Drax and Rocket to destroy Ronan’s warhammer. Quill grabs the freed Stone, and with Gamora, Drax, and Rocket sharing its burden, they use it to destroy Ronan.

In the aftermath, Quill tricks Yondo and gives the real Stone to the Nova Corps. As the Ravagers leave Xandar, Yondu remarks that it turned out well that they did not deliver Quill to his father per their contract. The Guardians of the Galaxy, have their criminal records expunged, and Quill learns that he is only half-human, his father being part of an ancient, unknown species. Quill finally opens the last present he received from his mother: a cassette tape filled with her favorite songs. The Guardians leave in the rebuilt Milano along with a sapling cut from Groot.

MCU Continuity Nods: When the Guardians are negotiating with the Collector and the holograms of the infinity stone’s sisters are shown, both the Aether and the Tesseract can be seen. The character of The Other, seen in The Avengers returns.

Easter Eggs: Along with Adam Warlock’s cocoon and Howard the Duck in his holding cell, you can see Ant-Man’s helmet on the table and Cosmos, a telepathic dog from the early soviet space missions and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, has a cameo during the Collector’s scenes on Knowhere. Also seen: a Chitauri and a Dark Elf.

Stan Lee Cameo : a politician on Xandar

Infinity Stone: The Orb also known as the Power Gem

Post/mid Credits Scene: Dancing baby Groot. The Collector sits among his ruined collection with Cosmo and Howard the Duck

My Take: First of all, the soundtrack is wonderful. The movie is colorful, funny, and just the right amount of weird. The fight between the four on Xandar is fun and the prison escape is a great sequence. Drax speaking without metaphor is brilliant and hysterical. The film embraces the absurdity of the premise and runs with it. Some have said that Lee Pace was wasted in the film. I disagree, as I feel this is one of the best cast films in the MCU.

Next: Avengers: Age of Ultron