Nerd in Another City

Before you continue… there are spoilers in this post. So only read if you’ve already seen the movie or care not to be spoiled. You have been fairly warned!!

Seriously… I talk about stuff. And if you’re looking for a critical opinion about this film… you’ve come to the wrong place. This post is saturated with happy thoughts about it!!

To start off… I LOVED EVERY MINUTE. This was Marvel’s version of Star Wars (though have no fear, Star Wars will always win.) But an unlikely band of heroes joining forces to save the galaxy.One is a cocky ladies man, one is a furry friend and hey, there’s also a kick ass female involved. Sound familiar?? Please don’t take that to be anything but me singing this movie’s praises!! Because if you at all can bring  a hint of Star Wars into your film, by all means do it! It will only make you stronger.

The proverbial Han Solo Roguish good looks, a talent for theft and a cocky attitude. Chris Pratt brought everything that you could want in a leading action hero like Peter Quill. A relative unknown, unless you are an avid fan of Parks and Rec like moi, Pratt was able to come into the role with a breath of fresh air. The Guardians are no Avengers. And this works in their favor. They don’t have the moral responsibilities the Avengers have and are able to bend the rules to save the world. And Starlord as their leader, embodies what the Guardians stand for. They leave enough mystery about him for future films, who is his father? And what is he exactly?

The furry friend

Rocket Raccoon, the unlikely but completely lovable character voiced by Bradley Cooper, almost stole the show. When he tears up about losing his pal, Groot, my heart strings were pulled! He is sarcastic and rough around the edges in all the right ways. But has a gooey caramel center where his heart should be and you immediately want to know more about him. Definitely a favorite.

The token girl

I go back and forth about Zoe Saldana. Loved her in Pirates of the Caribbean, but she’s not my favorite as Uhura. But in Gamora she has found her stride. She is equal parts total bad ass and anti hero on an altruistic mission (in the end.) She respects honor and sees none in Starlord at the beginning, making her the only one in the bunch with moral high ground. You can always sense when a love story is a brewing, but James Gunn keeps it at bay and doesn’t make it a focus of their relationship. And it made it wonderful to watch!

The surprise 

Drax was so surprisingly funny to me. His literal interpretations of everything was completely hilarious. “Nothing goes over my head, because I would catch it!” Amazing!! You don’t see his humor coming, but when it does it is a delight. Drax joins the Guardians with a single purpose, to kill Ronan and eventually Thanos. Now this interpretation of Drax is a drastic difference from the comic book version. In the comic he is created to kill Thanos and in the movie, Ronan easily bests him. As a fan of the Marvel Universe, but not a comic book aficionado, this didn’t bother me in the least and to be honest, I had to be filled in about it by a nerd friend. So some might not enjoy the difference, but I think with one member of the group outweighing the strengths of the other, it creates no need for him to band together with them. So this works well on screen.

The adorable sidekick

I mean… what can be said about Groot. I think people are saying this is Vin Diesel’s best role because he only has 4 words in the whole movie. But the way he uses inflection to convey what he’s saying, you almost don’t even need Rocket’s Groot to English dictionary. Almost, because seeing the two best friends communicate and interact is probably my favorite part of the movie. Groot is the R2D2 to Rocket’s C3PO. And it is simply wonderful!! And Groot as a sproutling at the end of the film is so adorable I could barely handle it. I want that as a GIF to share in moments of happiness.

The starring supporting case

The rest of the cast included a who’s who of stars and nerd royalty that did not get nearly enough screen time. Marvel builds their worlds so completely that you want more and more and more. I definitely would watch an entire movie about Nebula and Gamora’s sisterhood. Dr Who’s Karen Gillan could definitely stand on her own two feet in the Marvel universe.

Not to mention John C. Reilly’s Corpsman Dey. How about a romantic comedy with him and his bright pink wife? And don’t get me started on Djimon Hounsou, that was way too little screen time for the talented Hounsou! Lee Pace was dark and evil and predictably bad, but he does it so well, you don’t even care that he’s evil for evil’s sake.

And Thanos!! I can’t wait to see where the Marvel Universe takes him and how he will come into contact with our beloved Avengers in the future. One thing I didn’t know about Thanos was that he is literally courting death (another fact I had to be filled in on.) Clearly this movie wasn’t the place to delve into that story line, but how interesting. I’d watch a whole movie about Thanos becoming Thanos and with Josh Brolin behind the face? It’d be pretty epic.

Out of all the supporting cast I think Glenn Close was the biggest star with the most useless part. She is too wonderful to be relegated to Nova. Glenn Close should be a super baddie in a future Marvel film. That was perhaps the only not glowing and wonderful thing and even so she did well with what she was given (as always!)

Benecio Del Toro’s Collector was creepy and you get the sense that there is so much more to him than we were given. And I hope that’s not the last we’ve seen of him.

Nerd Royalty

There were a few other familiar faces that you who love TV might recognize.

Nathan Fillion – blink and you might miss it, but Fillion makes his debut in the Marvel universe as Monstrous Inmate. (I actually blinked and completely missed it.) But he’s there. If you call yourself a nerd at all you will no doubt know him from the beloved cult classic, Firefly/ Serenity universe. If you go for more mainstream then Castle may be your poison. Either way, he definitely belongs in the Marvel Universe, one way or another.

Alexis Denisof – known for his roles on Buffy, Angel and How I Met Your Mother, Denisof plays a minor role (another blink and you’ll miss it) but he comes in as The Other, a character that also shows up in Avengers.

Michael Rooker – if you don’t watch The Walking Dead, you won’t know this man and that would be a shame. Because he is an excellent actor. While on TWD he plays a complete A-hole, here he has some redeeming qualities. And when he uses that whistle arrow thingey… how freakin cool!

Brendan Fehr – Ok, those of you who weren’t 18 in 2001 may not be as excited to see this face, but when I was a young teenager I loved a show on,what back then was known as, the WB called Roswell. And Fehr played one of the leads, Michael. But again, that one may just be exciting for me!

Sean Gunn – He may not be nerd royalty but he’ll always hold a special place in my heart as Kurt from Gilmore Girls. And as the resisdent nerd on the show, I think that garners him major nerd cred!! He plays henchman to Michael Rooker’s Yondo in Guardians and is delightful as he ever was!!

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy is an excellent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And with a release date already set for Guardians 2 (July 28, 2017) we are already guaranteed more rollicking Guardians fun in our future. As for me I’m gonna go see it again today, mainly cause Stan Lee told me too and whatever he says goes, am I right, nerds? We do not let the Generalissimo down!!

PS, stay for the credits!! If at this point you aren’t staying for the credits you may not be a nerd. In fact you may not be human. Check your Intel Pentium Processor, you big robot. Cause the tag scene is awesome and unmissable and you have now been warned!!!