We’ve already reviewed Guardians of the Galaxy. In short: we loved it. But in a market swamped with big budget actioneers and superheroes, what about this movie is making us geek out so much? Well, it’s the little reasons (and the great script, characters, action, effects…) that we’re going to look at today.
Yeah, there’s spoilers. We’re not going to explain the whole plot but if you want to go in clean then TURN BACK NOW.
10. Don’t Duck Out Before the End Credits
We’re not going to reveal it here, but make sure you stick around for the obligatory post-credits bonus. Unlike previous Marvel Cinematic Universe epilogues this doesn’t drop a hint as to the next movie. It…well, you’ll see.
9. Groot’s Smile
After one of the most brutal beat downs in the movie, where Groot unleashes his impressive strength on a corridor of goons, impaling them on branches and slamming them into the walls and ceiling. Then he turns around to Drax and Star-Lord with a big “I did good?” grin on his face. Audience goes from disbelief to chuckling.
8. Buatista’s Surprising Comic Timing
So they put a wrestler in an action movie, nothing new here. And they cast him as the bulking tough guy, shocker. Credit to the man – he’s the only comic character who looks stronger in the movie than the comic. What’s a happy surprise is how many of the movie’s funniest lines he delivers. Drax’s people take everything literally. Completely, 100% literally. Nothing goes over his head. His reflexes are too fast.
7. Cosmo!
My favorite member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics! Cosmo, the Russian telepathic space dog, does make a cameo as part of The Collectors…collection. He’s the mutt in an astronaut suit if you can’t tell. It’s just a shame that he don’t hear his heavy accent or see him telekinetically throw people around.
6. Star-Lord and Gamora
If there’s one thing in the trailers that didn’t work for me it’s the set up romance between Star-Lord and Gamora. The latter is a tough as hell assassin who goes in for a bed ‘em and ditch ‘em approach to relationships…even traumatising Tony Stark after a tumble in the hay and a forced romance sub-plot has sunk more than a couple of blockbusters. But Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana did such a great job selling the bond between the two lost souls that it worked out.
5. Rocket’s an Emotional Drunk
Poor little raccoon. We don’t get into the details but Rocket’s past involved being the subject of extensive experiments to turn him from a raccoon into the walking, talking, psychotic technical genius we know and love. He puts on a rough and tough act – and certainly shouldn’t be messed with – but after a couple of drinks his feelings of lose and anger come pouring out in a surprisingly genuine moment. Also a giant gun.
4. Nebula vs Gamora
Here’s a relationship we coule spend more time on in the sequel. Hopefully we’ll see more scenes of them together in the future but for now we have an awesome one-on-one fight. We know that Nebula is a bad-ass but it isn’t until her knock-down, drag out fight with Gamora that we see the extent on her cybernetic enhancements. Easily one of the action highlights of an awesome movie. Who would have thought Amy Pond would make such an awesome villain?
3. Thanos
I had assumed that the biggest bad of the Avengers universe would be teased out in the final scene, but he makes a full fledged appearance in the movie. Gravelly voiced Josh Brolin gives big purple his vocal chords and we learn a bit more about the most dangerous person in creation and what his end game is. He’s the Emperor to Ronan’s Darth Vadar and we can’t wait to see the big smack-down.
2. Star-Lord’s Gift
The emotional core of Star-Lord’s character is the tragic backstory involving his mother (and his father, but we’ll learn about that later). One of the saddest moments of the movie is seeing the still-wrapped gift she gave him before she passed away decades earlier. When he does eventually open it up…it’s perfect.
1. Groot’s Dance Moves
You knew it was coming. Don’t try and convince anyone that you weren’t sitting in the cinema with a big goofy grin on your mug during this scene.
Go Groot, go!
