Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - 10 Year Anniversary Review

RATING: 8/10

HARD to believe its been 10 years since the general public were first introduced to Marvel's space heroes: the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, after three mainline films and multiple team-ups, this once obscure group of bounty hunters have become, arguably, the most popular comic book franchise in the world today; a feat very few Marvel fans could have predicted. But despite the franchise's undisputed success, has the film's quality been upheld over the past decade? The answer: absolutely.

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a brash intergalactic bounty hunter from Earth, finds himself in far more trouble than he could have bargained for after stealing a mysterious orb, causing him to have multiple bounties placed on his head; one such target being the notorious Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). As a result, Quill puts together a team of criminals with similarly-dark pasts: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and Groot (Vin Diesel), in order to save the galaxy from Ronan's devastation - and get compensated in the process.

If there was one way to describe just why Guardians of the Galaxy was such an integral success in the subsequent rise of the MCU, it would be "personality". Director and co-writer, James Gunn, (Slither, The Suicide Squad) is just one of those filmmakers who can infuse any amount of joy into the most serious and irreverent of storylines due to his profound comedic timing, unapologetic know-how when it comes to tackling any subject matter, and excellent taste in music, making the former indie director a perfect choice for what was, at the time, Marvel's least well-known property.

In many respects, Guardians of the Galaxy was falsely-advertised as being apart of the Marvel cinematic universe, tonally and stylistically being quite different from many of the previous entries in the MCU such as 2011's war-time action flick, Captain America: The First Avenger, or even 2012's wildly-popular The Avengers. This all comes back to the actions of James Gunn and his jocular direction style; the way Gunn manages to bring all these actors into a universe such as the MCU is a testament to Gunn's knowledge as both a fan and film-maker. Chris Pratt carries much of the film as the self-proclaimed "Star-Lord", showcasing his natural comedic charm and new-found charisma as a leading Hollywood-frontman. This isn't to say the rest of the Guardians don't hold their own - Saldana channels her inner-Avatar in a standout performance for the leading-lady, being able to hold her own as a badass bounty hunter while also showing off an emotional side to her performance alongside her on-screen sister and rival, Nebula (Karen Gillan). Dave Bautista, while one-note as the muscle of the Guardians, does exactly what is asked of the former pro-wrestler in what is a perfectly-adequate performance. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel also do great as Rocket and Groot, respectively, being able to bring life to their CGI-characters - especially considering this was their major box-office debut voice-acting roles.

After 10 years since its release, Guardians of the Galaxy still manages to be the cinematic success it was a decade ago. What ends up carrying this irreverent space odyssey is its little things. Rudimentary inclusions such as the upbeat 80s soundtrack end up conveying a much more poignant, emotional story of a group of losers left with no other option but to work together in order to achieve their own selfish goals, resulting in them having to save the entire galaxy. It is just one of those films you can rewatch over and over again thanks to its loveable cast of characters and scintillating script that will have you hooked on a feeling for years to come.