Loving a movie more than certain family members means watching it multiple times. Andthe more a movie is watched, the more cracks start to show here and there. Maybe over the years, a line hits a little differently, or a once-beloved scene makes you cringe. It’s just part of the passage of time, and no movie is immune from it. Not evenGuardians of the Galaxy.
The first outing for the Guardians ispractically perfect in every way. It’s inventive, funny, heartfelt, and it’s also more than ten years old. So, after multiple volumes and the occasional Christmas special, we take a look back to seewhat aboutGuardians of the Galaxyhasn’t aged like fine space wine.
Guardians of the Galaxy
A group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.
10A Lackluster Villain
Ronan the Accuser does not leave an impression.
Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) may be the powerful, nearly impossible-to-beat foe the Guardians must defeat, buthe doesn’t leave much of an impression. Ronan occasionally shows up, growls a little, and then goes away, with his scenes feeling more obligatory than exciting. There’s great promise to what he’s capable of with his vicious introduction, but then he seems to matter less as the movie goes on.
Ronan exists because the movie needs conflict, but the firstGuardians of the Galaxymovie makes a decision to focus on how the team forms and how they learn to work together.
Pace is a fantastic actor, and he’s proven that with stellar performances in shows likePushing DaisiesandHalt and Catch Fire, but he’s underutilized as Ronan. Ronan exists because the movie needs conflict, but the firstGuardians of the Galaxymovie makes a decision to focus on how the team forms and how they learn to work together. With a film that is burdened with so many interesting characters to explore,someone was going to have to take a back seat, and unfortunately, in this case, it was the first villain they faced.
9The Collector
This Elder of the Universe is a slave owner.
After the Guardians have left the prison, their next step will be to sell the mysterious orb to Gamora’s (Zoe Saldaña) prospective buyer, The Collector (Benicio Del Toro). When audiences get their first glimpse of the eccentric collector, he is chastising his servant Carina (Ophelia Lovibond), who is scrubbing one of his many cases. The Collector threatens that if she doesn’t do a better job cleaning, Carina will end up like the last servant. Inside another case is a Krylorian hooked up to painful-looking cables.
The Collector threatens that if she doesn’t do a better job cleaning, Carina will end up like the last servant.
The intent of this exchange is to show how evil The Collector is and the dangerous situation the Guardians are potentially stepping into. The implication of their relationship is not of a mean boss and a beleaguered co-worker;it’s of a servant who is completely subjugated to a person in power who controls them. Her last words before grabbing the Infinity Stone are, “I will no longer be your slave,” and she doesn’t look to be speaking metaphorically.
8Groot’s a Stone Cold Killer
This lovable alien will kill you with a smile on his face.
During the final assault on Ronan’s ship, Peter (Chris Pratt),Drax (Dave Bautista), and Groot (Vin Diesel) fight their way through a legion of his soldiers. Not settling for taking them out one at a time,Groot shoots his tendrils through the bodies of multiple attackers,impaling them all in one swift motion. Now, impaling someone doesn’t necessarily mean they’re dead, so to be sure, Groot lifts them all and repeatedly smashes them against a wall until satisfied.
The scene is once again a prime example of how directorJames Gunn can intertwine humorinto every aspect of the plot while also making the action serve as a character moment.Groot tends to appear as a gentle giant for most of the film, so it’s a reminder of how powerful he can be when he puts his plant mind to it. It’s also probably a sceneDisneywants everyone to forget when they’re selling Baby Groot dolls. Cute babies make money, killers not as much.
7Peter’s Problematic Behavior
Star-Lord’s womanizing is played for laughs.
Peter is a lot of great things, but a loving partner, at least in the firstGuardians of the Galaxy, is not one of them. At the very beginning of the film, he makes a daring escape from Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and his men, jumping onto his ship and nearly destroying it in the process. When the ship is stabilized, and all is well, an alien woman, Bereet (Melia Kreiling), who has clearly been thrown around in the living quarters, climbs up to Peter. After he fails to remember her name, he comes clean and tells her he forgot she was there.
The scene is played for laughs, showing how much of a jerk Peter is.
The scene is played for laughs, showing how much of a jerk Peter is. It’s also a quick piece of character work to show who Peter is at the start of the film and demonstrate his path to heroism by the climax. However,the idea Peter could be so casually dismissive of someone he was presumably intimate withis going to be off-putting to a portion of the audience.
6Rocket’s Prison Break Request
Peter stealing a prosthetic leg is useless.
The Kyln prison breakout scene is one of themost thrilling scenesin the entirety ofGuardians of the Galaxy. Not only is it a great sequence showcasing each of our heroes’ particular skill sets, but it’s also the first time the group works as a team— even when they’re strangers to one another, they flawlessly complement one another to achieve a goal. As each Guardian plays their part to free themselves from the Kyln, Peter is sent on a joke task by Rocket (Bradley Cooper) to retrieve an inmate’s prosthetic leg.
Everyone else in the team expresses annoyance at Rocket’s behavior, so it’s understood even in the fiction that his actions are juvenile.
Rocket never needed Peter to get a prosthetic leg, so when Peter tosses the leg on the security console, Rocket is, despite the surrounding chaos, thoroughly amused. Everyone else in the team expresses annoyance at Rocket’s behavior, so it’s understood even in the fiction that his actions are juvenile. However, when Rocket laughs and asks, “What did he look like hopping around,” the line is likely not to sit well with people who have similar disabilities.
5The Great Works of Jackson Pollock
Peter’s brag isn’t the flex he thinks it is.
After the prison breakout, the Guardians have a brief moment of peace on Peter’s ship before Gamora tells Peter his ship is filthy. As she leaves the room, Peter proudly tells Rocket if there was a black light,the interior wouldlook like a Jackson Pollock painting, to which even Rocket looks disturbed. Now how does Rocket know who Jackson Pollock is? It’s a mystery, but maybe it was something he learned when being experimented on. The point is–the joke has a very specific reference it’s making, and it’s the rare instance in a Marvel movie when that subject is broached.
The joke lands for adults, as it should with its intended audience, but as a film under the Disney umbrella, it’s possibly too adult. The Marvel films aren’t necessarily designed exclusively for children, but there is an understanding that children buy toys (adults buy collector’s items – very different) and toys are a big part of Marvel’s revenue. Sothe joke is very funny except to any parents who are asked what a room that looks like a Jackson Pollock means by their six-year-oldbefore they sigh and buy ice cream as a way to change the subject.
4The Kree Attacks on Xandar
The movie moves too quickly past massive casualties.
There is a massive amount of damage that occurs during Ronan’s assault on Xandar in the finale. As a dogfight between Ronan’s forces and the Nova Corp and Ravagers happens overhead, the debris of the destroyed ships crashes into the ground below.Civilians are fleeing to escape the wreckage, but there’s no time to make a safe exitfor everyone as large fiery pieces of metal land like comets all throughout the crowded city.
…A little more weariness from the Nova Corp characters would have signified they lost many friends in the battle…
So, along with the civilian casualties, which must be high, there’s the matter of the numerous Nova Corp who die in an effort to slow Ronan’s ship from landing. Although the audience sees signs of the destruction,there’s not a proper moment taken to address the loss of life.Granted, there are things happening off-camera, and no need to drag out the ending, but a little more weariness from the Nova Corp characters would have signified they lost many friends in the battle instead of moving past it so easily.
3Femininity Seen As an Insult
Toxic masculinity is tossed around for laughs.
ThroughoutGuardians of the Galaxy, characters don’t hold back their negative feelings for one another. They don’t trust one another, they try to kill one another, so insults flying is part of the demonstration these strangers are starting off their relationship in a contentious manner.Mixed into those insults are a few instances of calling a character a woman as an insult.
…Peter is more concerned about his perceived masculinity— which, in fairness, fits the character.
After the prison breakout, the Guardians are still incredibly hostile to one another. During a heated exchange, Gamora storms into Drax’s face to call him a princess. In a later scene, Rocket refers to Peter’s bag as a purse, and in response, Peter becomes immediately defensive, calling it a satchel. They’ve literally just survived a large explosion, and Peter is more concerned about his perceived masculinity— which, in fairness, fits the character. These are small instances, but overallthere is an encouraged effort to trend away from the implication that being a woman of any form is demeaning.
2Peter Makes an Early Move on Gamora
One of the best MCU romances got off on the wrong foot.
During a quiet moment on Knowhere, Gamora catches Peter off to himself listening to his Walkman. He attempts to explain his culture to her, including theheroic exploits of Kevin BaconinFootloose, but she needs further convincing. Peter puts the headphones on for her to listen, and while she enjoys the music, he tries to go in for a kiss.She politely tells him he’s not interested by holding a knife to his throat.
Up to this point, Gamora hadn’t thrown out any signals that she was interested in more than a temporary business partnership. If anything, she’s been cold to any signs of a relationship that would even pass for platonic, so it’s bold for him to go in so quickly.Their relationship will be a huge componentof the Guardians' dynamic in the future, but not here and not this early.
1The Dance-Off With Ronan
It may have saved the universe, but now it looks foolish.
During a last stand against Ronan, all looks to be over for the Guardians. They gave it their all, and they put up a good fight, but Ronan is more powerful than them. Right before Ronan is about to make his killing blow, Peter distracts him with the invitation to a dance-off. For the first time in the film,Ronan looks legitimately shocked as the person who has put up the most resistance to him is now dancing in the face of death. However, Peter reveals this was all in an effort to distract the Kree conqueror before Rocket fires the shot that will save the day.
Right before Ronan is about to make his killing blow, Peter distracts him with the invitation to a dance-off.
The dance-off has always been and always will be divisive with fans, who feel it possibly undercuts the severity of the situation. Those who love it will point to how it bookends the movie with the dance scene in the beginning and how Peter is able to think on his feet. Detractors will say it’s absurd that Ronan, who is a vicious killer, would be distracted by such a ridiculous display.
