Guardians of the Galaxy-Why Read This? Go See It. Now. But Read This Later.

Why do you need to see this?  First off...a raccoon with a machine gun...

I go all the way back to 1985 with this guy...

Then, you have these guys...

 

 

 

 

 

The originals from 1969, who get representation in the new film...

 

 

 

 

What is the point of all this, besides me playing around with the graphics stuff on this blog engine and getting some well needed practice?  The point of this is, dear reader, is Marvel Studios has done it again.  They have taken a concept that comic fans and other "knowledgable" sorts swear that "it can't be done/too obscure/too weird/too different/too big a risk", took all that defeatist sentiment and dunked it into a nearby toilet and flushed it.  Again.

 

 

Here is the thing...a great story is a great story.  And America, the world, LOVES well told superhero tales, adventure stories and spacegoing sagas.  We know this.  The well known ones with "Star..." in their titles weren't always well known.  They had to start somewhere.  Marvel Studios has managed to do what it has done through a combo of things.  Sure, canny marketing, yes.  But before that, they have picked great concepts, matched them with the kind of talent that "gets them" and can write them with distinct voices, yet have them speak to mainstream audiences...and trust them to do the work.

 

 

We get what we get, and so far, they have defied both critics and "fans".  To the benefit of us all.

 

 

And now, it is the chance of a renegade team of space adventurers who not only have a chance to show a wide audience what their comic fans have known all along, but open a window onto the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe, which really is a world unto it's own.

 

 

Big, cosmic adventure, yet through a group of alien characters who give us a human side to it all.  We go on a voyage.  And it matters to us.  We feel it.  We experience it with Peter Quill (Starlord), Rocket Racoon, Groot, Gamorra and Drax. 

 

 

Grand adventure.  Cosmic wonder.  And lots of laughs and fun.  Guardians of the Galaxy has it all.

 

 

Of course, if you followed instructions, you know this already.

 

 

I could give you a rundown of the story, which opens up with a kid listening to 10cc (I'm Not In Love) and getting abducted by aliens, after which things get weird.  But...what would be the point?  Just go see it.

 

 

Oh, biggest surprise?  Glenn Close as Nova Prime.  I liked her, a lot.  Grand space adventure, Marvel style.  With much bigger implications for the coming Marvel cinematic U.  Still here?  GO SEE IT.

 

 

Tell 'em Stoney sent you.