Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

I’m not going to say a whole lot about this film — either you’ve seen it by this point or you will in the near future.  When it comes to super-hero movies or big budget films, other than X2, I’ve been of the persuasion that once is enough.  I see them in the theaters and maybe catch a bit of them on FX a few years down the road, but I don’t make an attempt to rewatch them.  However, Marvel has really outdone themselves this year, with the excellent Captain America:  The Winter Soldier, and now with James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

This is an insanely fun movie about a disparaging group of inter-galactic mercenaries who find themselves becoming a quasi-family and saving the known universe.  We have a talking  raccoon, Rocket (Bradly Cooper).  The Kree chick and daughter of Thanos, Gomora (Zoe Saldana) .  The self-styled outlaw, Star Lord (Chris Pratt).   The fearsome and literal, killer Drax (Dave Bluetista).  And most importantly the living tree, Groot (Vin Diesel).   The fun of this film is watching these contrasting personalities come to a sort of alliance with each other.  If it reminds you a bit of Firefly, you’re pretty much on the right track.   The fun of the film is watching the motley crew butt heads and unleash hell on themselves, and the universe.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

 

Thor comes back to kick some dark elf butt in his second solo film! Fresh off the heels of The Avengers, the film opens up with us seeing Thor on the battlefield quelling a small rebellion with a single thrust of his mighty hammer while his evil brother Loki is being locked up in an Asgardian booty house.  Meanwhile, a dark elf who lost a battle to Thor’s grandfather comes back to finish what he started by plunging the world into darkness.  Dire circumstances force Thor and Loki into trusting each other to battle a common enemy.