A Good Time But Overrated

Rating: 7/10 (12 August 2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy was an entertaining and funny entry into Marvel's Phase 2 of its cinematic universe. It contained some pretty awesome set pieces and some incredible animation, but suffers from a decent villain, jokes that missed, and a predictable plot.
Following the story primarily of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) a.k.a "StarLord," you are introduced into a whole new region of Marvel's world. After stumbling upon an orb, multiple different factions set out after StarLord to retrieve it. Along the way, he encounters four other fugitives that include Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel). These five characters encompass what is the titular Guardians of the Galaxy. Opposing them is the agent of Thanos, Ronan (Lee Pace) who needs the orb for his master plan.
Story-wise, the movie does everything you expect it to do (as with other Marvel movies.) By the halfway point, I could guess the rest of the movie and was mostly accurate. One thing the movie does achieve story- wise though is that for the most part, the movie accomplishes what Marvel's phase one did for the Avengers in just this movie; all the characters get good screen time and are expanded upon to make interesting and unique protagonists.
Each "Guardian" of the Galaxy is acted extremely well. Chris Pratt handles the leading role with ease providing sarcasm and emotion. Zoe Saldana as Gamora does a good job showing the pain and conflict in Gamora. Dave Bautista as Drax is one of the pleasant surprises in this film. Being a former WWE member, he does a good job as the very literal brute. Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon is a scene-stealer, playing the hyper-active test subject. He delivers most of this movie's comedic elements as well as its cheesiness. Vin Diesel as Groot does very well for what little he says ("I am Groot".) Finally however, the movie's main villain Ronan (Lee Pace) does his job of being the movie's antagonist but never does he feel menacing; he is functional but that is all.
The action scenes are executed awesomely, containing exciting moments as well as a rip-off of a certain Avengers scene. The movie is heavily based on CGI animation with many shots that had my jaw-dropping at how realistic it looked.
In my opinion though, Guardians of the Galaxy I believe is overrated. Although the movie overall isn't bad, it is not as incredible as made out to be. Firstly, as stated, the villain. Ronan as opposed to say Loki, from Avengers, a very similar movie, does not compare; Ronan lacks the depth and complexity (as well as the portrayal) for what this movie is being considered to be. Secondly, one of the factions has a stereotypical, over the top leader named Yondu portrayed by Michael Rooker. Admittedly, he did have one cool action scene but as a character alone, he came off as annoying and one-dimensional. Finally, two lesser characters who are Nebula (Karen Gillian) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou), have the same problem as Yondu. While not stereotypical, they're overacted and cringe-worthy when on screen. For this movie to be so praised it would need better supporting performances than what is already in the movie.
In conclusion, I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy but do not deem it as amazing as many others on IMDb believe.
8/10