A Fresh Fun Filled Entertaining Ride

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2014)

A rag-tag group of has-beens ban together to stop a ruthless villain who wants nothing to do but destroy cities killing millions.
Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge gamble of Marvel, branching away from a well known formula to introduce a completely new universe, with odd creatures such as a talking raccoon, with no big A list stars and based on a property that very little people knew about. Guardians of the Galaxy was without a doubt a huge gamble and fortunately for them, it paid off in spades. Just when the Marvel films started to feel a tad stale and routine, here comes along a fresh fun filled film that is an entertaining ride from start to finish.
I had a lot of fun with this film and it's been awhile since we've had fun at the movies. Dark, depressing, brooding films seem to make out summer blockbuster schedule, heck even the last two Marvel outputs were pretty dark (Captain America and Thor) but Guardians breathes new life into the summer blockbuster and more importantly the Marvel universe.
The cast seems to really gel well together, even Dave Bautista, a wrestler with little acting experience, seems natural here getting some of the biggest laughs. Both Groot and Rocket Raccoon are computer marvels that have both heart and laughs. Of course finally Star Lord himself does his Han Solo with the right charm and wit. Gunn's films always blend comedy into whatever genre he seems to be diving into: Horror (Slither) Superhero (Super) and now Sci/fi-Action with Guardians. Gamora is the one character who never plays anything for laughs, her character is too serious to let the jokes fly, but she is a deadly assassin.
Gunn uses a beautiful colour palette here reminiscent of Blade Runner and The Fifth Element. A welcome sight to these eyes. Guardians loves to bath in the colour it introduces to us. It loves its characters, action, self awareness and most of all, music. The music in Guardians plays into the story as well. You'll sometimes fight the urge to dance in your seat.
I can't recommend this film enough. It's sheer fun that is non-stop entertainment. Chris Pratt is about to burst onto the scene and I look forward to more Guardians to come.