071_One_Movie_Punch_Guardians_Of_The_Galaxy_2014

It’s Marvel Monday and... wait, what’s that? They did what?! Marvel moved up the timeline for “Avengers: Infinity War” to April 27th?! Well, yeah, I’m excited, who isn’t, but this whole Road to Infinity War thing is a bit screwed, now isn’t it? All right then, we’ll double up. Tune in tomorrow for “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, but for now...

Today’s movie is “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014), James Gunn’s amazing introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a film that truly defied all expectations. Written in collaboration with Nicole Perlman, the film introduces the most unlikely band of misfits that come together to, naturally, save the galaxy.

The film follows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), also known as Star-Lord, who is abducted at a young age right after losing his mother by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), and made into a member of the Ravagers, a mercenary space army. Fast forward twenty or so years, and we find Star-Lord in possession of one of the Infinity Stones, which is being sought by Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) to conquer the galaxy. In a series of unlikely events, eventually Star-Lord runs into the rest of the team to fight off Ronan’s destructive ends.

The cast is insane. Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Thanos’ daughter and traitor to Ronan. Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, whose family was murdered by Ronan. Vin Diesel as Groot, the walking tree thing. And especially Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon, the foulest mouth in the galaxy. Everything comes together with great costumes, gorgeous colors in the spacescapes, and insane special effects, including a ginormous space battle.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” hits all the right notes in the script, somehow smashing together a cohesive adventure journey, prison escape, an expanded role for The Collector (Benicio del Toro), and Howard the freaking Duck. Two hours feels like much less than that, and repeated viewings, for me, haven’t diminished anything. It is an excellent first act for this team, and the sequel certainly didn’t disappoint, but we’ll get there.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) absolutely stunned me when I saw it in the theater. It seemed like a risky way to introduce the space side of Marvel, but from Peter Quill’s abduction to the team’s formation and epic journey around the galaxy, you begin to realize it was the absolute best way to do it. And $773 million at the international box office shows it could pay off as well.

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% (CERTIFIED)

Metacritic: 76

One Movie Punch: 9.2/10

Podcast: onemoviepunch.libsyn.com/episode-071-guardians-of-the-galaxy-2014

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) is rated PG-13 and is available wherever you enjoy movies.

Episode 071 - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

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Episode 250 - The City of the Dead (1960)

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Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.

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