Celebrating 10 Years of being Hooked on a Feeling…

It’s nearly impossible to believe that it’s been close to ten years since then indie director, James Gunn, brought together a multicolored band of space outlaws that included a talking tree and a spicy raccoon. That rude and crude grouping of anti-heroes would steal our hearts and become a huge Marvel franchise. Today, I take a look back at the Guardians of the Galaxy.

GOTG, a ‘space opera’ based on a lesser-known Marvel comic (at least at the time) features a gun-toting raccoon, a sentient tree whose only words are “I Am Groot” and a mixed bag of aliens of varying hues. Oh, and I almost forgot, a ton of joking, bellyaching, and bantering energy that would mark Guardians as the edgiest band of space raiders to grace cinemas ever. Stepping back to 2014, finds us six years into the MCU, but what makes GOTG so strikingly different is in the film Marvel gives us a chance to get a breath of fresh air after all those years of movies that felt like pieces of a massive, interconnected, never ending puzzle.

Think about this, Guardians of the Galaxy requires little to zero knowledge of the MCU at large; while Thanos and his lust fueled Infinity Stones are part of the story, anyone could watch the movie without knowing why he and those stones matter outside this one film. Maybe Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is even more surprising as it continues the stand alone, self contained role, established by the predecessor. From Star-Lord to Baby Groot (cue the ah’s), all the first film’s characters return and still remain outside the world of the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the totality of the MCU.

Going a step further, out of all the films in the Marvel catalog, the first two GOTG films are the best they released, precisely because of the stand alone nature. I’ll even go a step further and say, GOTG, Vol.2 seems like it doesn’t even exist within the MCU. Because Peter Quill (young Star-Lord) was abducted from Earth in the 1980s, he’s not connected to a young Tony Stark, Bruce Banner or Scott Pym, and he has zero awareness of the Avengers or the general onslaught of superheroes on Earth. That blithe ignorance was pleasing in the first movie, but if you think about it, it’s downright shocking to say that about the second film. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, the talking raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and the sentient tree (Vin Diesel) would go on to appear in the next summer’s Infinity War and all innocence would be lost, but watching these two films through the original lens is still something of joy.

It could be said that Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 uses a recognizable template from another famous trilogy, that of The Empire Strikes Back. After an initial battle with their previous employers, the band of outlaw heroes separate. Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax go with a mysterious man named Ego (portrayed by Kurt Russell) who just happens to be Star-Lord’s long-lost dad and kind of an immortal planet. (Never seen the movie, trust me it will make sense). Meanwhile Rocket, Groot, and Nebula (Gamora’s furious sister), who was acquired as payment for the job that opens the movie, stay behind in attempt to fix their ship before the Ravagers, led by Yondu, return to make that difficult. Of course, GOTG Vol. 2 isn’t the first sequel to tread the ground paved by Empire, but it is the first to get the lesson of enriching the characters in the process.

No matter how big the action got in those first two films, it always seemed to connect specifically to the characters. In all the other Marvel movies, as good as they are, characters can end up feeling like pawns in a larger game that desires to get them to a specific point to set up for the next gigantic Marvel movie. This is not the case for GOTG, Vols 1&2. The characters are treated as characters and the theme of the films is family, and this bond of family is earned through blood, sweat and tears. This should be credited to Gunn’s affection for his characters and how it manifests into a satisfying series of character arcs that comprise the whole.

So as August 1st approaches (GOTG’s tenth anniversary), I celebrate the franchise that is rightly adored by millions for the way it stands out from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

My Verdicts on the Trilogy and the GOTG: Holiday Special

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – Colorfully, tongue-in-cheek and lots of fun especially for those who have a fondness for 80s science fiction. A Cute Film Addictive Rating 8.7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017) – Fresh and as much fun as the original, once again the Guardians are triumphant. A Cute Film Addictive Rating 8.3/10

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) – Simply the Guardians having fun and delivering some of Gunn’s best lines yet, even the biggest Grinches, will find their hearts grow soft as they watch Drax beat the living crap out of a man dressed as a robot. Merry Freakin’ Christmas. A Cute Film Addictive Rating 7.6/10

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) – Tearjerking and heartwarming in equal measure, Volume 3 keeps its characters in focus despite all the chaos swirling around them. A Cute Film Addictive Rating 8.6/10

As I close, just a reminder to enjoy your film watching time! After all, that’s a big reason movies exist.