Doomsday Countdown #10

No Relevance but still a great watch!

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Doomsday Countdown on this insufferably hot day here in the UK!

Whilst we are in the midst of a heatwave, I thought what better way to enjoy the sun than sitting inside and watching a Marvel movie that has nothing to do with an upcoming Marvel movie and then yap online about said Marvel movie! For those of you who are new here, welcome to the weekly series where I talk about every MCU film in the lead-up to Avengers Doomsday, going over whether or not it’s worth rewatching for Doomsday and if it has any relevance to the film, this includes characters, plot or themes present in the film!

On today’s instalment, I’ll be going over the film that really pushed Marvel into different tones, genres and storytelling, one that is synonymous with the MCU’s brand identity as a whole and made everyone care so deeply about a tree and a talking raccoon!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Is the Movie any good?

Yes. Yes. Yes! 1000000% yes!

Guardians of the Galaxy is a masterstroke of comedy, drama, stakes and heart all rolled into one insane ride that somehow works on pretty much every level. It’s an incredibly tall order to take a C-tier team from the comics, put them on a global stage, introduce each one of them and still somehow make us love and care about them both as a unit and as people themselves. James Gunn really blew everyone away with this film, bringing his unique style of humour and telling an emotionally impactful story about a ragtag group of misfits. He also expertly uses classic music from the 70s/80s to ground his characters in reality, making them relatable and driven but also allowing the music to tie into the emotional beats of the film.

Leading the film, was relative new leading man, Chris Pratt. In the leadup to the film, he was an odd choice to cast as Peter Quill, like really? The fat guy from Parks and Rec? He proved every single doubter wrong and embodied what is his career-defining role, his unique blend of charm and quick witt blended beautifully with Gunn’s vision of an emotionally stunted orphan who was in dire need of a family. He’s funny, he’s charming, he’s got great chemistry with every single one of the cast, he just knocks it out of the park! The same could be said with Zoe Saldana as Gamora, she brings a fierce and damaged energy to every scene, playing Gamora with a stoic regret for her past and someone who acts as the moral compass for the rest of the Guardians. Dve Bautista roars onto the scene as well with Drax, acting primarily as the team’s comic relief and providing lots of funny moments and entertaining action scenes, though his story relevance could have been expanded on a bit more.

The heart of the film is undoubtedly Rocket, with Bradley Cooper delivering a passionate and dedicated vocal performance that perfectly captures Rocket’s inner damage and antagonistic nature. Every single scene Rocket is in, he steals the show. The amount of depth and naunce that Rocket is given by Cooper and Gunn is nothing short of incredible, and is only the start of Marvel giving CGI performances real heart and soul. If Rocket is the heart of the film, then Groot is the soul of it. It would have been so easy for Groot’s whole “I Am Groot” shtick to get old but it’s used perfectly and as a way for the characters to really interact with each other. His sacrifice at the end of the film really hits me in the feels, because you can’t help but not only care for Groot but also care for the relationship between him and Rocket.

Villain wise, Lee Pace plays Ronan. A Kree warlord who does dirty work for Thanos. This is arguably the weakest aspect of the film, as Pace does do his best and properly chews the scenery but the script just doesn’t really give Ronan much depth beyond a tyrant. He acts as a good foil for the Guardians but he’s not much more than that. Speaking of Thanos, this film marks a real turning point for MCU as it takes the first major steps to establishing the Infinity Stones and setting our heroes on a path to facing Thanos. In that respect, this is a hugely important turning point for the MCU and especially the Infinity Saga.

Doomsday Connections?

Yeah, sorry this section is gonna be really pointless here. Not only is there no real plot or thematic relevance to Doomsday, it’s looking increasingly likely that the Guardians themselves aren’t even in Doomsday. Since the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, we have said goodbye to a lot of this core team but others have been left in a sort of limbo within the franchise, as Gunn has jumped ship to DC but the characters haven’t been given a clear direction to go in.

There really isn’t anything to talk about here in relation to Doomsday, but if you are watching for the Infinity Saga as well, then you’ll get a lot more out of it!

Rewatch Value

Required Viewing for Doomsday?

No. Not at all. As I mentioned previously, the Guardians (as we know right now, as of writing this) are not in Doomsday at all. So this film isn’t really relevant in the grand scheme of things.

Recommended Viewing for Doomsday?

Again, no. You don’t have to know anything about these characters to really understand Doomsday however, it does open the doors to the wider cosmic side of the MCU outside of Asgard so it may make the whole “Multiverse” angle a lot more digestible.

I’d say just watch this movie regardless, purely because it’s a great movie! One of the best that Marvel has put out, and one that is extremely important for the events of Infinity War and Endgame, both of which are extremely relevant to Doomsday!

That’s it for this week’s instalment of the Doomsday Countdown! I hope you enjoyed and as always, I’ll see you next week as we look into an underrated movie, one that I feel could have a lot of thematic and character related relevance to Doomsday and Doom as a character, this film being Avengers: Age of Ultron!

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Leave a comment down below on what you think of Guardians of the Galaxy! I’d love to hear your thoughts!