Guardians of the Galaxy

Next summer brings The Avengers back to the big screen. In the meantime, Marvel would like to inform you about other stars in the Cinematic Universe. They are the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they are most welcome to make our acquaintance.

In 1988, young Peter Quill loses his mother to cancer. He's abducted by aliens a few minutes later. These aliens are the Ravagers, a band of space pirates. Years later, Quill (Chris Pratt) is the legendary Ravager Star-Lord. He's so legendary that no one either knows or care who he is.

Star-Lord steals an Orb which contains an Infinity Stone, one of six super MacGuffins (two of which were introduced in prior Marvel movies). Star-Lord takes it for himself and gets a bounty on his head from the Ravagers. Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a cyborg Raccoon and his sidekick, Groot (Vin Diesel), a humanoid tree with seemingly limited vocabulary, want the bounty. The assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) sets out to get the stone

Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket and Groot all get thrown in prison together. They meet their fifth member, the vengeful warrior Drax (Dave Bautista) and escape. These not-so heroic heroes have to keep the stone from evil hands. The deranged judge Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and the Supreme Evil Overlord Thanos most certainly qualify as evil hands.

After a summer of seriousness, director and co-writer James Gunn makes it fun. The main characters are likable rogues, much more laid back than uptight superheroes. Drax steals the show with his complete inability to comprehend metaphors. Groot and Rocket are highlights of motion capture effects and character acting. Star-Lord proves himself a capable leader in spite of his rebellious streak. And Gamora often struggles to deal with their eccentricities.

There's a colorful display of creatures big and small and even pink and blue. Much of the Alien life was created through practical makeup effects. All of these creations are works of art. The worlds they inhabit are amazing creations of practical and CGI set building. It serves to create a wonderfully large universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy moves along quickly in its two-hour run-time. The film's relaxed tone makes it easy to sit through. Those with little knowledge of these characters beforehand will certainly know them after it's done. And chances are, they'll eagerly await more.

Its end-credit scene doesn't set up any future Marvel movie. Actually, one can already expect more of Thanos and the Infinity Stones once the movie's done. Instead, the scene brings back Marvel's fowlest character from cinematic oblivion. And no, "fowlest" is not a typo; that's a clue as to who he is.