MCU: All 6 Marvel Phase 2 movies ranked from worst to best

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is a movie that mixes iconic songs, great action sequences, and hysterical jokes. It didn’t matter if nobody knew who the group of misfits were, Marvel managed to make each and every one of them charming and lovable. That’s an amazing feat considering the group has a talking tree and a literal raccoon as members. Thanks to James Gunn’s direction, it was inevitable for audiences to be in for a great ride.

Guardians of the Galaxy is as fun as MCU movies get. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s for the better. There are plenty of laughs throughout the course of the film, and many characters (like Drax) are portrayed as unintentionally funny. Additionally, the cinematography was absolutely stunning. The movie explores a great number of creative locations that were shot beautifully, allowing Guardians of the Galaxy to stand out from other Marvel projects.

The way characters interacted with each other was also amazing. The group is formed against the will of almost every member, and it’s fun to see how they stress each other out throughout most of the film. However, by the third act, they truly feel like a family that looks out for the well-being of everyone in it. The love-hate relationship between Peter and Rocket was fun to watch, and Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldaña also had strong chemistry as Peter and Gamora.

Guardians of the Galaxy was not only a good film, but it was a pleasant surprise. It established the MCU as a franchise that can make almost any character work on the big screen, and it was met with both critical and commercial success. While the Guardians would go on and appear in many more projects, their first appearance is still one of the MCU’s greatest movies to this very date.