The Oscar Project Reviews
The next film up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Guardians of the Galaxy, the first in what will ultimately be a trilogy of films focusing on these characters. It takes us away from the action we've been following on Earth and Asgard over the last nine films, and takes place almost entirely away from Earth. The film starts with a "flashback" to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) dealing with the death of his mother in 1988. This is the only scene that takes place on Earth, before he is abducted by an alien entity outside the hospital, leading to a jump of 26 years where we find Quill, now wanting to be called Star-Lord, on a remote planet attempting to steal a mysterious orb. Quill returns to the planet Xandar, capital of the Nova Empire, only to be attacked by the green-skinned assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who has been tasked with bringing the orb to her master Ronan (Lee Pace) as well as Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) intent on collecting on a bounty that had been placed on Quill's head. The entire foursome is arrested and sent to The Kyln, a prison planet where they meet the fifth member of their group, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista). After breaking out of the prison, the group visits a mysterious entity called The Collector (Benicio del Toro) and discover that the orb contains The Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones. When Gamora is stranded in space, Quill sends a distress call to Yondu (Michael Rooker), the ravager leader who raised him, to get help finding the orb after it falls into the Ronan's hands. Quill and the ravagers join forces with the Xandarians to stop Ronan before he can use the Power Stone to take over the galaxy. Family is a central thread in this film, from the death of Quill's mother at the beginning, to the vengance of Drax against Ronan for the murder of his family. The Guardians themselves cobble together a dysfunctional family of their own, all being outcasts from their own groups. They begin to depend on each other and must come together in the ultimate show of unity to defeat their foes at the end of the film. Continuing the trend of many other MCU films, Guardians of the Galaxy received a nomination for Best Visual Effects from the Motion Picture Academy as well as a nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. If you've seen the film, you know this is the first time in the MCU we've seen an assortment of alien creatures with different colored skin, shapes, and plenty of strange hair to go along. It is no surprise that it received a nomination in both categories. In Best Visual Effects, it lost to Interstellar (along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and lost to The Grand Budapest Hotel in the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category. I would categorize this film as critical to the MCU as it introduces the core cast of Guardians and helps set up Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 a few years down the road. 8 out of 10 Previous: Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Next: Avengers: Age of Ultron Get Ready for Endgame
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