Very Pleasantly Surprised

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2014)

These days I'm just about sick of computer animation and special effects. It seems each new movie is just trying to out-do the last with more CGI, louder effects and packing the movie with more & more action. Guardians of the Galaxy had all the ingredients to be another blockbuster Marvel movie yet somehow sidestepped (most) of those pitfalls. I have to be honest, I had never heard of the comic book and actually never even saw a trailer before seeing this. There was a TON of action and there were the clichés that make me want to throw-up (tough guy girls, bad guys that are just cartoonishly bad, unstoppable & unknown powers being volleyed between the good guys and the bad guys),but here's what made this movie great: The plot was unpredictable, it was original and creative - except the main guy being kind of Rocket Man/Ironman-ish, the cast of heroes were unlike anything I've seen (especially from Marvel movies). Lastly, just when you think CGI has reached its peak, somehow some studio comes along and is still able to wow you with the visuals! This movie was visually stunning! PS Groot was easily my favorite character and probably won me over for the entire film. Stories need more characters like him who are slow, thoughtful, wise & loving even while being the most of the team.