Guardians of the Galaxy: Why I Cried During the Climax

Yeah, I cried. I'm man enough to admit it. Now when I say cried, I don't mean blubbering all over the place. But on the other hand, it was definitely more than just tearing up. One and possibly several legitimate tears ran down my face. What did these tears represent? Pure, unadulterated joy.

Please allow me to explain. Unfortunately, you'll have to brave the SPOILERS…

So, this past weekend I finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy. I went to see the first show of the day and as a result I had to pay the extra few bucks to see it in IMAX 3D, which I actually do recommend. Sure, I resented it at first, not having a choice in the matter given that the theatre didn't have a regular showing at that time of day, but once I was watching it the 3D proved to be well done and the format rather immersive. This is all rather beside the point though.

What I'm trying to say is around the time Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, was being held in place by the combined force of the Nova Corp and his Sakaaran henchmen were engaged in a pitched aerial battle with the Ravagers and Rocket Raccoon while Drax, Star-Lord, Gamora, and Groot were infiltrating the ship and dispatching Korath the Pursuer; it finally hit me just what I was seeing on screen. I was seeing the validation of my years of reading Marvel comics and it was magical.

More than any other Marvel film up to this point, this film made the statement to me that all those goofy characters and concepts that form the genre mish-mash that is the Marvel Universe could hold up on screen and, given enough time, there is no telling what the viewing audience might get to see in the future.

Sure, The Avengers threw a thunder god, a man in a suit of techno-armor, a big green monster, and a super soldier together with a spy organization, but Guardians of the Galaxy dived straight into the deep end of the Marvel Universe without the name recognition of The Avengers' leading characters or individual movies setting them up. Not only was this an almost perfectly-made film, it was an almost perfectly-made film highlighting a team of characters that was at best B or C-list up until the hype for this movie really got rolling. It also just threw so much of the Marvel Universe at the viewer that it was hard not to get swept up in the fanboy overload.

So many little moments and touches went into building my reaction. For instance, if you had asked me a few years ago, I would never have expected to see a fully-realized Kirby-style Celestial depicted on the big screen. Yet during the scene with Taneleer Tivan, one was shown in an expository hologram of sorts in addition to the desiccated Celestial head in which that scene took place.

After seeing Galactus reduced to a storm cloud in Fox's execrable Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, presumably because his Kirby-created design was too "out there," I never would have thought that I would get to witness an honest-to-god Celestial and for it to actually work.

I think the moment that really brought it home for me though was a line from Ronan the Accuser. I'm a big fan of the Fantastic Four so I was really looking forward to seeing Ronan realized on screen even if the FF couldn't be there. In my book, he was captured perfectly. Still, the line that really cemented him and the authenticity and adherence of this movie to the source material was simply when he said, "Xandar, you stand accused! Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now." They actually had the confidence to allow Ronan to say his trademark "you stand accused" in an appropriately grandiose fashion! Another studio or filmmaker might have felt that the line had so much potential to feel overblown and corny that the might have toned it down a bit. But no, Ronan was actually allowed to say the thing I hadn't even remembered that he should say until I heard it and when I did it was like my heart skipped a beat.

It was at roughly that moment that I realized just how many elements of the Marvel Universe were at play here. I was actually witnessing Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, being held in place by the combined force of the Nova Corp and his Sakaaran henchmen engaged in a pitched aerial battle with the Ravagers and Rocket Raccoon while Drax, Star-Lord, Gamora, and Groot infiltrated the ship and dispatched Korath the Pursuer. Not only that but I was on the edge of my seat watching one of the most thoroughly engrossing climaxes I'd ever seen in a film. It was just about at that point that I felt a tear(s) run down my cheek.

Really this whole movie works beautifully. It has humor, heart, action, thrills, and just about everything a person could want in a film. Sure, it's a credit to Marvel and director James Gunn that they included all of the characters, elements, and in-jokes but to do it in a movie so wonderfully realized just blew me away. I was seeing an integral part of my childhood (and adulthood if we're being honest) on the screen being shared and enjoyed not just by the admittedly niche comics-reading public but by a sizable portion of the general moviegoing public. There was something meaningful to me sitting there in the theatre and realizing that the wider public was embracing something that has been so meaningful to me and embracing it in a form that felt so authentic to the source material. That was the source of the deep emotional punch to the gut on top of those delivered by the film itself that moved me to misty-eyed distraction.

To take a brief detour, I recall that some complaints about Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were that it never really felt particularly Marvel-ish or even comic book-y in its execution. I gave up on the show about halfway through the season and to me it certainly never felt like it was embracing its comic book roots in a way that Guardians has. For me, it just felt like a less inventive, less enjoyable version of Fringe where its asinine comic relief characters didn't even have the excuse of being a crazy old man for saying some of the frankly unprofessional and lame-brained things coming out of their mouths. Based on the success of Guardians and what I've been hearing about the upcoming season two, I really hope that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has the cojones to be a little bit more "out there."

Getting back to my point though, Guardians of the Galaxy is probably my new favorite film and certainly my favorite Marvel movie up to this point. It will always hold a special place in my heart. I'm not sure what the equivalent experience for DC fan might be. Maybe seeing the New Gods and Darkseid fully realized in a fun, rollicking adventure that features Adam Strange and the Thanagarians and knocks the box office and film-going crowd on its head? At any rate, I'm sincerely grateful to have had this experience and hope that subscribers to other fandoms can at some point have the same in their own way.

Looking forward to Marvel's upcoming slate of releases, Guardians makes me excited for more of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the ways in which it might expand. Having seen space opera, super hero action, adapted Norse mythology, and an espionage thriller, perhaps I'm most excited for the promised Doctor Strange movie with its untrodden realms of magic and mysticism. Now more than ever, you can Make Mine Marvel and I'll be waiting with baited breath for their next theatrical tour de force. At this point though, I'll be reserving any and all tears for the day when Squirrel Girl gets her own feature.