7 underrated Marvel movies that deserve more recognition

Guardians of the Galaxy

• Release Date: Aug. 1, 2014
• Director: James Gunn
• Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and more

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Guardians of the Galaxy is a top 10 Marvel movie based on audience and critical approval rating. To me, it's easily top 5 and it might even be top 3. Guardians of the Galaxy is so good!

Guardians of the Galaxy, of course, tells the origin story of the Guardians of the Galaxy. We see Peter Quill/Star-Lord meet and feud with Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax. The fearsome foursome teams up to stop Ronan from securing the Orb, which contains the Power Stone, for Thanos.

I admit I was not super familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy before watching the first movie in theaters, but I quickly became obsessed. Every part of this movie works from the performances, the visuals, the story, and of course, the epic soundtrack. It just has a different vibe than all of the other Marvel movies that came before it, and I think it opened the door to a unique blend of comedy, drama, and sentimentality that helped the MCU build up to Avengers: Endgame.

Seeing Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters was one of the top Marvel movie audience experiences for me. It's in the conversation with Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Ragnarok, and maybe, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The crowd loved those five movies more than any other I watched in theaters. I fully understand if others had different experiences, but those were the most fun times I had during any of the MCU movies.