From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—The Guardians of the Galaxy.
Guardians of the Galaxy synopsis: To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.
Guardians of the Galaxy with it’s soon to be Marvel superstar Peter Quill aka Chris Pratt without a doubt breaks the Marvel mode. Based on a lesser known series, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which first appeared in comic books in Marvel Super-Heroes, Issue #18 (Jan. 1969), is an action-packed, epic space adventure that expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos.
While the movie starts off with a heart wrenching opening scene, the very next scene drops you into another world and introduces Peter Quill, a brash adventurer in probably one the more entertaining action scenes, all played to a 80’s soundtrack.
Peter unwittingly finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.
This movie brings together the wackiest group of Super Heroes, you will ever see on screen. Of course, I’m kidding when I call them Super Heroes. Seriously, Peter is a bounty hunter, Rocket Racoon is a sarcastic, genetically altered talking racoon with a chip on his shoulder because of being experimented on, Groot, Rocket Racoon’s bodyguard, is a tree humonoid with limited communication skills and Gamorra, is an orphan raised by the mysterious Thanos to become the world’s deadliest assassin and finally Drax, a tattooed scary killer out to avenge his murdered wife and child. Somehow this band of misfits and outlaws all end up banding together in prison. Yes, prison.
Girls everywhere will love Zoe Saldana as Gamora as the bad ass strong leading lady but who is also flawed. Saldana brings a lot of texture to the role who doesn’t care that people like her which makes her the perfect assassin. On the other hand, she is an orphan who grows to realize that her path may not be the best one.
Bradley Cooper voices Rocket Racoon. This is a character that makes his appearance making snarky comments about the Zanderian crowd he is observing. It’s hilarious! You won’t even know it’s Bradley Cooper. I am not sure if Rocket Racoon would be described as the heart of the movie but for all his sarcastic and snarky comments you realize that he is truly alone except for his “friend” Groot. It’s a typical guy friendship, no words need to be said to know they are loyal to each other.
Then there is Groot voiced by Vin Diesel. And I use the words “voiced” loosely since Groot basically says the same three words all through out the move. Saying three words throughout the movie, it seems unlikely by the end he will end up making the most memorable quote of the movie (sorry no spoilers here). If you don’t shed a tear or get choked up, then you don’t have a heart.
And then there is Peter Quill aka Star Lord, played by the funny, emotional, swash buckling star played by Chris Pratt. As Pratt mentioned in his interview, Director James Gunn did not see him in the role and auditioned a slew of actors for the lead role. Now that I have seen the movie, I can’t even imagine anyone in the role. Pratt’s comic timing is flawless and his action hero stunts are action hero best. And I don’t want to spoil the movie but classic 80’s music plays an important role that will leaving you laughing and singing along.
The special effects are phenomenal. The creative team at Marvel has created these amazing worlds which are otherworldly and acted like a third character in the film. I love that each character brings something different to of the movie and are not one note characters.
Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, with John C. Reilly, Glenn Close as Nova Prime Rael and Benicio Del Toro as The Collector.
If you are looking for a hilariously, funny action picture featuring a multi – dimensional and bad ass characters, then head to this summer’s big summer hit.
THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TRAILER
Interviews with the Stars.
Chris Pratt Interview on getting in shape for the movie. Zoe Saldana talks about being a role model for young women.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY opens TODAY August 1st!
Website and Mobile site: marvel.com/guardians
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Disclosure: NYC Single Mom was provided a trip to the Los Angeles for a Disney, Marvel, DreamWorks ABC Family hosted press event. Opinions are 100% my own. #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyEvent
