An Entertaining, Well-Developed Sci-Fi Action Comedy

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2014)

Since it was my birthday recently and I had collected 4 pairs of Harkins movie passes, I decided to go see Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians is the story of Peter Quill (played by Chris Pratt), a good-hearted rogue who has spent most of his life as a 'junker' - finding and selling items throughout the galaxy. His life takes a sudden turn when he happens upon an immensely powerful object sought by Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), an egocentric maniac with a chip on his shoulder. As Ronan seeks to use this object to conquer the galaxy, a rag-tag group of criminals and misfits - led by Peter Quill - band together to fight their common enemy.
Guardians stars a cast as eclectic as the roles they are playing. We certainly have a few recognizable names with Chris Pratt as Peter Quill (a.k.a. Star Lord), Zoe Saldana playing the green-skinned assassin Gamora, and even Glenn Close as the leader of one of the many planets visited during the film. In some superb supporting roles, we have Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper voicing the trigger-happy Rocket Raccoon and none other than Vin Diesel providing exciting dialogue ("I am Groot" - repeated throughout the movie) for the sentient tree Groot.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this film given it is such a departure from previous Marvel movies. While there are definitely humorous elements throughout previous Marvel films (such as Iron Man, The Avengers, etc.), I wouldn't qualify them as Action Comedies. Guardians, on the other hand, could almost be considered a superbly entertaining (while occasionally irreverent) comedy that happens to be stuffed full of action. Don't get me wrong, if you want to see lots of explosions, fist fights, starships and shootouts, you'll be pleased with this film, but there is also plenty of clever humor and character development.
I tip my hat to James Gunn and team who managed to not take themselves too seriously (I mean, honestly, we're dealing with a talking raccoon and a sentient tree), but still produce a film with believable, lovable characters. There are definitely serious moments but, rather than feel out of place, they help to balance the film out in a way that feels natural and necessary.
It's hard to say what the highlight of the film is for me but, if I have to choose, I'll say Chris Pratt as Star Lord. His comedic, normal guy approach to the character makes him exceptionally relatable and plays to his strengths as both an actor and a person. The running joke about how he wants to be called 'Star Lord' is a great example of how the filmmakers aren't afraid to poke fun at their own character. Rather than critique the movie for being "unrealistic" or "too silly," we were laughing along with them and left the theater quoting jokes and checking IMDb for the sequel's release date.
If you're looking for an entertaining, well-developed sci-fi action comedy, then check out Guardians of the Galaxy. I highly recommend it!