GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
A little good, a little bad, and some of both — for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is very entertaining, with excellent special effects, exciting action, memorable characters, and plenty of clean humor drawn from character and music. Its strongest messages commend selflessness, teamwork, sacrifice, helping others, becoming more moral, and rejecting revenge.
The cost is substantial. The storytelling is weaker than the film’s best moments, with a slow middle and an ending containing multiple climaxes. More importantly, the gritty characters use coarse language and do not always live morally. The movie also includes intense action violence, sexual allusions, and some pagan immorality.
You can enjoy the film’s redemptive ideas without calling it family-friendly. For discerning adults, it is worth seeing; for children and young teens, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESPeter Quill was taken from Earth as a child and raised by alien thieves and misfits. Now a clever thief himself, he gains possession of a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, an evil alien who wants to destroy the galaxy.
Peter’s attempt to sell the orb brings him together with Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax—five criminal misfits who must decide whether to run for their own survival or stand together to protect billions of lives.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly entertaining movie, even though its storytelling has clear weaknesses. The diverse characters are interesting and fun, the special effects are excellent, and the film offers many exciting moments. James Gunn also brings substantial humor through character and music, most of it clean rather than vulgar.
The middle act sometimes borders on boring, and the ending has two or three climaxes. Some viewers may find there are too many characters to follow. The sets and costumes can be campy, and the science-fiction world lacks the believability and normality mastered by films such as STAR WARS and STAR TREK.
The Worldview
The film believes that criminals can discover meaning by becoming heroes. It exalts selflessness, teamwork, sacrifice, helping others, standing against mass murder, and becoming the kind of person a beloved parent would admire. It also presents friendship changing into brotherhood and rejects revenge as destructive.
The movie’s Christian symbolism is unusually strong for a superhero story. Its central hero has a mysterious background involving a powerful otherworldly father and a beloved mother, and his story includes sacrifice, redemption, and a kind of resurrection. The film also contains references to heaven and angels, including the song “Spirit in the Sky,” which overtly mentions Jesus in connection with the afterlife.
But this moral vision is marred by pagan immorality in the lifestyles of lawless characters. The film’s redemptive message is real, yet it is packaged in a world that does not consistently honor biblical morality.
The story’s longing for selfless love and sacrificial rescue points toward the biblical call to “look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong Christian, redemptive worldview with strong moral elements with messages extolling selflessness, teamwork, sacrifice, becoming a better person, helping others, standing up to a would-be mass murderer to protect innocent people and the whole galaxy, and an anti-vengeance theme, also including two redemptive references to heaven and angels, the song “Spirit in the Sky” (the 1970s anthem that overtly mentions Jesus in connection with the afterlife), and hero mirrors Jesus in some aspects, including his mysterious birth by a special father from far away, his connection to his beloved mother, sacrifice, he unites a small group of followers to take a stand against evil to save others, and a kind of resurrection, BUT marred by some clear pagan immorality in the lifestyles of the lawless characters that’s somewhat gratuitous and a little too much; 20 obscenities (plus character almost says the “f” word), four profanities, protagonist uses his middle finger, a few scatological references, and some sexual jokes; strong action violence, though much of it is campy or over-stylized, lots of fist fights, shooting of science fiction guns and tasers, character nearly drowns, a woman dies of cancer, numerous explosions with multiple deaths, though most are faceless aliens that are somewhat robotic, a powerful energy rips apart a young woman who seeks its power; the protagonist is a womanizer at the beginning, a woman walks out of his room in his spaceship once, and he discusses his promiscuity, plus there’s also some sexual/romantic tension between him and a female alien humanoid, but nothing happens; the evil bluish villain is seen naked from the rear end, some upper male nudity; alcohol use and drunkenness; no smoking or drug use; and, revenge but somewhat rebuked, some gambling, stealing, and some rude behavior.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The five characters must choose between saving themselves and protecting billions of lives. What does Scripture teach about putting others before yourself?
Philippians 2:3–4 · John 15:13Drax’s desire for revenge nearly destroys the group. What is the difference between justice and personal vengeance?
Romans 12:19 · Proverbs 20:22Several characters must become better people rather than remain defined by their pasts. How does the gospel describe the possibility of a new life?
2 Corinthians 5:17 · Ephesians 4:22–24The movie connects sacrifice and resurrection with its hero. How does Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection differ from the film’s symbolism?
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 · Romans 5:8The Final Word
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is highly entertaining and carries strong redemptive ideas about selflessness, sacrifice, teamwork, and rejecting revenge. But its gritty characters, coarse language, intense violence, sexual allusions, and pagan immorality make it unsuitable for children and young teens. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For a family-friendly alternative, see.
