Firefly meets Star Wars with Indiana Jones added in

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2014)

'Guardians of the Galaxy,' or 'Weird Avengers' as I heard a kid in my theater describe it, is Marvel's first big adventure into the weird, (but it won't be the last if the end credits scene pays off). Now this movie could've been a hilariously awful flop, i.e. 'After Earth', but where other recent Star Wars wannabes, i.e. 'John Carter', have failed, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is a fresh new adventure series that takes the best elements of Star Wars, Firefly, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and surprisingly even Howard the Duck. Now, it's no 'Avengers' and it's certainly weird as heck, but under all that weirdness is a charm. A charm missing in recent flops, i.e. John Carter or After Earth. It's that charm that helps me forgive some of the 'Phantom Menace'-esque dialogue about peace treaties and other stuff I couldn't care less about. Much of that charm is provided by Chris Pratt as Jason Quill, or Star- Lord. Jason Quill is to 'GotG' what Tony Stark is to 'Iron Man.' Star-Lord could've been a completely boring piece of wood, i.e. Thor, but he takes all the charm of Chris Pratt and adds in that Iron Man sass. But the real stars of this film are Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Oh. My. God. These two may be the best Marvel movie characters ever. I would watch an entire trilogy of just them. Rocket is almost like Joe Pesci in 'Goodfellas' and Groot is just one big puppy dog (who violently murders people). They are the Han and Chewie of this movie, only that they are a talking raccoon and a weird tree. Everyone else was just fine. Bautista has gotten flack for being a 'bad actor,' but he's perfectly fine and has several of the movie's funniest scenes. Zoe Saldana is okay, but she's really just playing Zoe Saldana. The villain, Ronan, has been getting flack for being weak, but Marvel movies never have great villains, apart from Loki. He works in the movie and I at least remember his name unlike whoever the villain was in Thor 2. Overall, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is a really fun mix of sci-fi and adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously, which is much needed in these dark days of 'Man of Steel.' Rating: Best Movie