What happens when you... (some spoilers added--sorry)

Rating: 10/10 (7 March 2015)

...take a green alien girl--like, where have we seen that before?--a homicidal tree, a smart-aleck raccoon, a pro wrestler who looks like he lifts mountains before breakfast, and a cheeky hero cut in the same insouciant mold as a funnier Indy Jones? You get Guardians of the Galaxy, that's what, and Hollywood is far better for it. The story concerns a mysterious orb that holds the secret of life and death, five characters who all have their own goals in mind as they set out to retrieve it, a truly nasty villain (excellently played by Lee Pace)who wants to use it to destroy worlds, and a gang of thugs (led by an equally superbly limned Michael Rooker) who want the orb for their own purposes. The lead five have to band together in order to stop the villain and the chase is on. Needless to say, there are laughs and tears and lots of physicality, and it all works.
Major pluses are the acting. Chris Pratt as 'Starlord' (Peter Quill) captures the devil-may-care attitude of an old-time adventurer, Zoe Saldana is fine as Gamora, an enhanced alien who betrays her master in order to help save the universe, Dave Bautista as Drax--and he sounds a lot like Wes Studi (from Mystery Men) in some scenes--who takes everything literally, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel as Rocket the Raccoon and Groot the walking tree, respectively. Lee Pace is appropriately rotten to the core, and although he's buried under a ton of makeup, the look of horror on his face as he's consumed by the orb's energy is perfect. Karen Gillam as the robotic Nebula is fine, and Benicio del Toro turns in a patented, eccentric and slightly creepy turn as The Collector.
The direction by James Gunn is solid, cutting away to show the action far and near when necessary, and the script (by Gunn and Nicole Perlman) has loads of endlessly quotable lines to recommend it.
The music is also perfect, not just the 1970's songs used, but also the theme music. Brilliantly employed at the climax, the lovely moment when the lights slow down for a fraction of a second as Peter controls the power and turns it on his adversary sent a shiver up my spine.
Now, there are a couple of deus ex machina moments given out at the end, but really, that's carping. What this movie is, is really a throwback to the old Errol Flynn swashbuckling movies from the late '30's and early '40's with modern sensibilities and a nifty set of CGI effects. Well worth watching time and again, and yes, I'm up for the sequel.