Questions about Guardians of the Galaxy
These are not really questions about Guardians of the Galaxy, they're questions about McGuffins. For a McGuffin to make dramatic sense it either has be long lost or jealously guarded, and then jealously sought after. Guardians goes for 'long lost' and has the hero sent to retrieve it from an 'abandoned planet'. It's that phrasing, really, that's giving me a problem. Why would a civilisation which has custody of one of the most powerful superweapons in the galaxy leave it behind when they abandoned their planet? It's apparently not even a dead planet, it looks barren, but it is shown to have both rain and a breathable atmosphere. What happened? Did the planet get neutron bombed? Was there a plague? They never say. Even if it was a plague maybe some healthy person on the way out, doing the abandoning, would say "you know, we should take that infinity stone, since it can wipe out all life on a planet." Or you know, if you're going to show it having been left behind on a planet stripped of all life you maybe have a really really satisfying dramatic illustration of the power of the McGuffin in question if you show clearly that it was the thing responsible for killing everything. Just a suggestion, with hindsight. Maybe don't leave it locked up safely in a cupboard. You know, dramatically speaking. Which is where he found it.
Seems to me that if a McGuffin is worth anything where you find it during the first act probably has the most dramatic significance at that point in the story.
Seems to me that if a McGuffin is worth anything where you find it during the first act probably has the most dramatic significance at that point in the story.