On Thursday, July 17, my roommate sent me a link to a contest hosted by the A.V. Club. It was essentially a raffle, in which people had to e-mail one of the editors with their name, and they drew the names by… some sort of method. Anyway, long story short: I won two tickets to a pre-screening of Guardians of the Galaxy, the newest Marvel movie (opening August 1st) starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as Groot.

I arrived at the theater two hours before check in time and was told to stand in line. I waited as the queue formed behind me (two people came even earlier than I did, so I wasn't even the first one). We chatted in line about comics and what some awesome potential movies would be (Planet Hulk, anyone?). At 6:30, we were told that there were now THREE new lines to form, depending on where you got your tickets. We moved to those new lines and found out that all seats were reserved, so there was no need to wait in line two hours early…

At 7:00, the movie started. It was in 3D, which I generally avoid because I wear glasses and it makes everything a little blurrier, but the movie was free, so whatever. The movie opens with Peter Quill as a little kid and tells how he eventually makes it to space. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, so that's all the info you get. I will say that the first trailer, the one EVERYONE has seen by now, is fairly inaccurate. Many of the scenes in the trailer are not in the film, or they are different enough to not spoil the movie, so all of you naysayers who say all movies give away the good parts in the trailer don't have that excuse not to see it, now.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

As far as the movie itself: The cinematography and special effects are gorgeous. James Gunn brings life to these fairly obscure characters like nobody else could. The movie is filled with humor, provided mostly by Groot, who seems like a pretty inept character (all he can say is “I am Groot”) until you actually see what he brings to the table. Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer seems awkward, until you find out that his whole race takes everything literally.

Rocket is one of the most charming characters of any of Marvel's movies, and you find out quickly that he's actually the brains of the outfit. Gamora is the brawn, her small frame actually hiding the fact that she is a very strong and skilled fighter. And then there's the only human of the bunch, Peter Quill, the face of the Guardians. He makes references that his alien friends don't get and is a clever fighter, able to best even the best fighters he encounters through sheer tactical thinking.

I could confirm or deny rumors about the movie here, and I could tell you all about Ronan the Accuser and how this movie fits in with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I'm not going to. I think this movie ranks among the greatest of the MCU, shadowed only by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in my opinion. If you are even slightly curious about this movie, go see it. It's worth every minute of your life that it takes away. Unfortunately, the one thing I can't comment on is the after credits scene, which will only be available when the movie is released on August 1st. I guess this means I'll be seeing it again!

Update: I realized today that I forgot to mention one of the best things about the movie: The soundtrack! Each song is brilliantly placed for the situation it's in. One difference between this and many other movies is the music is actually incorporated into what's happening, not just playing on top of it. In fact, “Hooked on a Feeling,” which was a huge part of the trailer, has a very cool moment within the film. It's even cooler in retrospect, as the soundtrack has its own story within the movie.