A modern space operatic to rival the best!

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2014)

So here we are, Marvel's riskiest project? Or was it? In my honest opinion "Iron Man" will forever be their riskiest taking their own money and creating a film based on a character that wasn't their most successful in comic form. However, Guardians is a close second in the risky business category, I'm a pretty big Marvel fan myself (self proclaimed) and I had never heard of the Guardians until the time it was announced their was a film being made, since then I began to read up a bit and my excitement exploded.
While being said to be a part of the MCU Phase 2, you would also be able to watch this film as a stand alone and enjoy it just as much. The film doesn't get itself stuck into the intermingling movie crossovers like the rest of the MCU has done, actually unlike 95% of the MCU taking place on earth, after minutes into Guardians we are thrown deep, deep into space to not return to earth. The Avengers had hours and hours of pre story to the characters when the film was being made, Gunn had to create back stories and bring a team together in one film, an incredible feat which he seemed to do with ease while it took the MCU 5 films at roughly 10 hours, Gunn done that within 2.
The cast does and absolutely (inter)stellar job, yes I said interstellar, I used that pun deal with it ha. The entire cast is on their A games though, Pratt as Quill is one of the best castings in any MCU film since the franchise started his charismatic, funny, relate-able in a way portrayal of Peter Quill was incredible. Zoe Saldana as Gamora may seem like a bit more of a simple task, however her femme fatale badassery is second to none in recent years, however it is the rest of the Guardians who truly shine. Bradley Cooper absolutely steals the show as Rocket, his quick witted retorts and emotional completely really bring more than the gag of "oh a talking Racoon" to the screen and really create a character you care about. Dave Bautista really comes into his own, his performance is far superior to his previous straight-to-DVD displays, he really made Drax his own as for Vin Diesel as Groot there is not much you can really do with "I am Groot" however he still gives the characters a charm of his own.
The film is easily Marvel's most beautifully stunning film, I can imagine George Lucas watching it thinking "if I made Star Wars today, I would win ALL the awards". I truly think, Gunn has changed the game completely when it comes to comedic based Comic adaptations, the tone of the film jumps between truly emotional to laugh your socks off to science fiction insanity, truly making Gunn a blockbuster director to keep an eye on. The soundtrack is another success by Gunn, it is by far the best I have ever personally heard blending incredibly with the gritty and beautiful cinematography.
Overall, the film was an incredibly fun watch filled with laughter, action, good acting and a solid story to boot. Which in the comic world you rarely get the whole collection, usually get a two out of four, however Gunn delivers potentially the best comic film of all time, some will argue the best. For me it's easily up there with the best, Chris Pratt gets to put his comical side on show and he delivers a great performance. You will laugh your ass off throughout while enjoy the beautiful visuals and great character development from the start, has a very Star Wars feel about it. Okay, I'll say, it is the modern Star Wars, it's more than just a comic film it's a space operatic, and Gunn should be insanely proud. I would LOVE him to board all the main Marvel based films that use space and give the Russo Brothers the earthly based films, this would result in the greatest film franchise ever in my opinion.