Incredibly enjoyable even to those who never heard of them!

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2014)

Like many others, I was very surprised by how good this movie was. I would consider myself a fervent comic book fan, but this series has eluded me until the announcement of the movie came out. That's when I looked up a little on them, but not enough consider myself a fan of this series. This movie was watched with an open mind, but some assumptions of this being another Ghost Rider.
I can't say how much I was glad to be wrong about a film. The movie has plenty of action, sad touchy moments and tons of humor the Guardians franchise is known for. I don't recall any slow moments in the movie. Some themes in this are kind of cliché, like the whole "anti-hero that only cares about himself suddenly finds a heart to care about others and saves the day." This is be expected to some extent as it is a comic book movie, though it's not to terribly in-your-face as some others are.
One of the most impressive aspect about this movie was its CGI. The different worlds explored are absolutely visually stunning. The acting and character development was much better than expected. Many of the actors seem to fit their roles quite well.
The movie opens kind of mopey, with Peter Quill as a child visiting his mother in her final moments. The movie quickly picks up after this with Peter as what seems to be a treasure-hunter type mercenary delving into a temple, easily avoiding traps and creatures Indiana Jones style while rocking out to the beats of the 80s. This piece of treasure unknowingly starts him on action filled adventure that will change the course of history for several planets.
After a bounty gets placed on his head, Peter and all his would-be captures are captured and placed in prison. There's a scene where Rocket gives the group a list of items he'll need to help everyone escape. He gives Quill the task of obtaining a prosthetic leg from one of the inmates. As they all gathered in mid-breakout, Peter asks him what part the leg will play, only to receive the answer "none, I just thought it'd be funny to see you try to get that guys leg." This part had my rolling!
The ending was a little predictable, but still enjoyable none the less. Despite some of the generic concepts, cliché characters and predictable moments, this is one of the few films that I would love to go back to watch a second or third time. The action is almost non-stop, the humor has the audience cracking up several times, and the special effects would even give Michael Bay a hard-on. To sum it best, the film is just that enjoyable!