*WARNING: Spoilers!*

Guardians of the Galaxy blasted open the month of August with an exceptional space adventure filled with a perfect blend of comedy, drama, and action.

The comic book team, Guardians of the Galaxy was originally introduced in Marvel Super Heroes 18. Since the team’s creation back in 1969, the evolution of the squad has changed drastically to the movie version that was released on August 1st. The Guardians of the Galaxy are one of those teams that could easily be labeled with an “unlikely” tag. The combine a group of characters that don’t seem to fit together, but in the end find a way to make everything work out for the greater good.

Peter Quill, also known as Starlord (Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation) is a scavenger of the universe. He makes his money by traveling to ancient, abandoned civilizations and selling his finds to the high and mighty of the planet, Xandar. While pilfering an abandoned planet, he acquires a magical orb with magnificent powers that are capable of destroying entire civilizations. Not long after his find, Quill finds himself being chased by the cronies of a super villain called Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace).

Ronan is a Kree and desires to destroy the planet of Xandar. He realizes that he can do this with the power of the infinity stone that is encased in the magical orb. Therefore, he sends Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillis) to assist in the capture of Quill and the infinity stone. Quill also has a bounty on his head and two bounty hunters, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) attempt to capture him. Rocket is an anamorphic raccoon that is a weapons technology expert, while Groot is a massive tree that can smash things and simply say, “I am Groot.” This all leads to a really fun chase scene throughout Xandar until the four characters are arrested by the Nova Corp (protectors of Xandar) and placed in prison.

Once in prison, Quill realizes that his only chance of escape is via the assistance of Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and another criminal called Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista). Previously, Ronan killed the family of Drax and Drax’s sole purpose for living is to avenge the death of his wife and daughter.

Rocket devises a plan that requires all five prisoners to work together in order to escape and this is how the new Guardians of the Galaxy are born. Once the team escapes, they realize the intentions of Ronan the Accuser and they must overcome their differences in attempt to stop him from ravaging the planet of Xandar.

The gold stars of this movie go out to the casting genius and directing by James Gunn. He perfectly assembled a cast that was fit to play a group of rag-tag super heroes with the intentions of saving the galaxy. Whether it was Pratt providing his humorous flair or Bautista smashing his foes with his massive frame, Gunn’s casting for the Guardian’s team was flawless. Another attention grabber in this film that must be noted is Michael Rooker as Yondu, who is a space ravenger much like Quill and plays a major role in the Guardian’s success against Ronan. Rooker’s character portrayal of Yondu was very similar to his performance as Merle on The Walking Dead which made him a great selection for the part.

The special effects department at Marvel were also hard at work during this film because most of the film takes place off of Earth. They were tasked with the creation of other planets and galaxies that were not present in previous Marvel movies. Each battle scene was spectacularly stunning and if possible this movie should be seen in the IMAX 3D Experience.

For Marvel fans, Guardians of the Galaxy is a stepping stone to what will eventually be the final acts of the current Marvel saga. The true fans can clearly grasp that Marvel is progressing slowly towards one of their major comic book story arcs called The Infinity Gauntlet. The mad Titan, Thanos, is the most powerful being in all the world and he desires control of the universe by taking control of the six infinity stones. Currently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, four of these stones have been uncovered and that possibly means that the Avengers 3 will give way to the Infinity Gauntlet story.

The uniqueness of this movie is quite wonderful in the way that it brings a 1980s sci-fi feel that will hopefully welcome more movies of its kind. The costumes, music, and character styles ring out a 30 year lull that has been missing from the cinemas. It will be interesting to see how Marvel approaches the inevitable blend of Guardians of the Galaxy’s iconic 80s feel with the 21st century design of the Avengers.

Regardless of Marvel’s direction, Guardians of the Galaxy is a must see for any fan of the Marvel movies and anyone that is looking to break into the comic book movie scene. There is no references to any of the previous movies and provides a perfect jumping on point for anyone remotely interested in comic book movies.

Bag and Bored proudly gives Guardians of the Galaxy a BAG IT!

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Galen is a Graphic Designer in Wake Forest, NC. He is the husband of a wonderful Oklahoma girl and dad of a future Marvel Comics fan. He enjoys comic-related anything, the Boston Red Sox and sharpening his axe for the zombie apocalypse.