How Did Guardians Of The Galaxy Blow Past All Expectations?

PHASE TWO

Miracles

"Ah, what the hell, I don't got that long a lifespan anyway."

Unlike all the other entries in this Make Mine Marvel series, I've already reviewed Guardians of The Galaxy on this website, so I decided to change things up a bit for this particular essay and take an in-depth look at how Guardians of The Galaxy became such a huge hit last summer. Prior to last August, nobody knew what a Groot was, how Gamora and Nebula were related or that raccoon's had a compulsion for metallic limbs, but by God, they do know.

Breaking numerous box office records last August with it's long run at the American box office, Guardians of The Galaxy made more money than any X-Men movie domestically and also surpassed the grosses of half of the Spider-Man features as well as two of the three Iron Man films. Looking at that kind of success, one has to wonder how these Guardians were able to zoom to the top of the Marvel A-list. The answer is quite simple actually; the movie provided a fun time and something moviegoers didn't see everyday.

Looking over the summers of 2014 and 2013, there was a note of pessimism in summer blockbusters. Sometimes that lead to thoughtful high quality adventures like Godzilla and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, but it also led to a number of features that put being "dark" and "gritty" over actual storytelling. Over these two summers, the Autobots acted more violent than the Decepticons, Superman killed a guy and the crew of U.S.S. Enterprise were consumed by rage and vengeance. Something more light-hearted like Pacific Rim was the very definition of an anomaly.

And then here comes Guardians of The Galaxy, sauntering in with its unusual visuals and an emphasis placed on humor. James Gunn and Nicole Perlmans screenplay gives these characters numerous one-liners, but they also give very heightened characters like a talking tree depth. Just look at how Rocket Raccoon is depicted in the story; he's a tortured soul who distances himself from the world and others. Seeing him connect with his fellow Guardians is nothing short of triumphant to watch, and showcases how making characters that viewers can invest in is important in any kind of film.

This kind of character development may seem simple, but it's staggering how many movies forget to have this kind of personality put into its characters. Guardians doesn't just do this sort of character centered writing for one of member of its group, it gives all its members interesting themes and quandaries to grapple with. The way each individual scenario plays out, not to mention how each of these characters bounce off each other, is a primary reason why the film works so well.

Another notable reason for why Guardians of The Galaxy likely worked so well for audiences was its optimistic nature, which depicted a story lovable scoundrels coming together to help people. Star-Lord and his comrades don't just flip a switch and becomes good guys, they still retain notable aspects of their roguish personalities, but they also realize that looking out solely for oneself may not be the best way to live. The more upbeat arc for these characters is matched by a bright color scheme that makes the world of Guardians so damn inviting from a visual perspective.

Putting good storytelling first, as well as creating a well executed optimistic atmosphere, were likely some of the elements that helped Guardians of The Galaxy become so incredibly popular, and it's nice to see moviegoing audiences respond to these sort of elements that been prevalent in the world of cinema since it was created over a century ago.  I'm sure those making the very first movies could never have imagined a gun toting talking raccoon, but then again, maybe that was a central character in a movie Eadweard Muybridge never got around to making.