Guardians of the Galaxy shines as diamond in the rough of summer blockbusters

Patrick Commers, Arts Critic|September 4, 2014

Fair Use Image: Marvel Studios

With a clever script and surprising visuals, Guardians of the Galaxy is the surprise carryover blockbuster from summer.

With Labor Day behind us it is time to usher in the Oscar bait movies and leave the lackluster blockbusters in the summer. The summer season has turned into an age of big budget movies coming out every single weekend and it leaves many people seeing one of the movies each week then tossing it to the wayside for the next.

Many of these movies have hundreds of millions of dollars shoveled into them. Yet, this year’s overall box office returns are down 25 percent from last year. Many experts say that this is an off year for many movie franchises, but with movies such as The Avengers: Age of Ultron, a Jurassic Park reboot, and the next age of Star Wars all slated to come out in the coming year, it can be said that this is just a bump in the road for Hollywood.

The overall winner of this summer would have to be Guardians of the Galaxy.  One of Marvel’s many franchises, this one could have easily been a major flop at the box office with really no one having prior knowledge of the comic book series. Instead, the movie has found major success, with a sequel already slated; it is safe to say that this was one of the best movies of the summer.

It is okay to be nervous going to this movie –I was at first; with no real notable big stars and a group of heroes no one has heard of, Guardians of the Galaxy has become a surprise mega hit.

One of the multiple things that the movie does right is its generous helping of humor. Walking into this movie, it appears to just be about explosions and guns — TMNT or Transformers might be showing in the next theater, you might see a lot more of that in those movies — but the plot spices a well written movie with witty humor. Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord) is no stranger to humor. Being more of a television star from his time on the comedy Parks and Recreation, as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Pratt has now become a movie star. With quotable sarcastic lines from the whole gang, this movie will definitely be memorable.

Should you see it?  Yes, unless you don’t like funny movies or amazing visuals.