Modern Day Star Wars

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2019)

Guardians of The Galaxy, while not the best film released by Marvel Studios, is probably one of the most fun Marvel movie to date. This is probably the second most enjoyable of these movies to me below Thor. This film was a surprise and I'm glad that this seems to be catching on. This is Marvel's most risky project by far. Not only was this subject matter virtually unknown to the public eye before this but it is also not really a superhero film which Marvel has been associated with up until now. This is basically a Sci-Fi adventure flick set in the Marvel Universe.
However, while this film may seem like just a side story unrelated to events in the other movies so far, it is actually necessary in that it further elaborates on certain elements introduced in the other movies in this universe like Thanos and it serves to expand the Marvel Universe and make it more of an actual universe. You also have The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) who cameoed in Thor TDW make a cameo here as well. In that aspect this was a great subject matter to adapt while a risky one and it seems to have paid off.
Guardians of The Galaxy is the Star Wars of the current generation. It is a basic science fiction/fantasy adventure story which is sometimes all you need. Lately we've become so wrapped-up in complicated and dark stories that it is nice to have a simple and fun movie that everyone can enjoy if it is done right. That's one of the reasons why movies like Star Wars, Titanic, and The Avengers were so successful and why this one will most likely be a success. Beyond that, this film is very similar to Star Wars in many aspects. You have a group of unlikely heroes going up against a galactic tyrant.
The main characters are all great. All of them are memorable, fun, funny, and badass in their own way. I think everyone in the cast does a fine job. There is no one of the main characters I inherently disliked. The side cast was alright though we really do not spend time with them. This is mainly all about the Guardians which is fine.
If there is a weak point in the cast and the movie itself it would be the villain. Ronan is really a nothing villain. He looks cool but that is all. He has no character or motivation other than to destroy the cosmos just because he is the bad guy. The way our heroes defeat him in the end is lame as well. This is why Thor is better for me. They are both fun movies but Thor had a better villain in Loki which made the film more enjoyable. Here it's just a cookie-cutter villain plot just like in Thor TDW. However, it didn't bother me quite as much there because this film was more fun. Thor was fun as well, but you had lame humor and some of the characters I did not care for this time around. Here the characters are all likable and the humor is more hit than miss so it isn't as much of an issue.
The effects are great. Some people say it is like the Star Wars prequels in that regard but here you actually has characters you care about so it isn't a big deal. The soundtrack is also well put together. There are a lot of songs from the seventies played throughout the film. Sometimes it seemed like Zack Snyder was directing this. The songs were good, well integrated, and added to the tone and atmosphere that the film was building.
Overall, Guardians of The Galaxy is a must see movie if you are a fan of the MCU so far or if you are just a fan of good Sci-Fi adventure stories like Star Wars or Star Trek. It definitely is modern day Star Wars. It seems like this will be a hit. It is nice to see previously unknown material (that's good) get the recognition it deserves. I'd like to see where they go from here with this material.