So-so on all levels

Rating: 4/10 (3 August 2014)

I just got back from seeing _Guardians of the Galaxy_. Despite overall positive reviews and stellar recommendations from people whose opinions I value and trust, I found it only so-so at best. The humor was sophomoric—which I expected—but what I didn't expect was how boring it was. To be effective, humor relies on the element of surprise, and with only one or two exceptions, all the jokes were so blatantly broadcast that there was no opportunity to inject the unexpected.
In addition, despite a good cast, the acting was flat and one-dimensional. Michael Rooker (Yondu) put in the best show of any of them, and he was really just a blue Merle from the AMC series _The Walking Dead_. Apparently, the director's idea of instilling dramatic tension is to shout, in a rather flat manner. The characters, protagonists and villains, were all overly familiar stereotypes, and there wasn't a single moment in the development of the plot that was not predictable.
I am, frankly, surprised at the reviews this is getting. I was expecting a silly, rollicking space opera and instead got a noisy, explosion-ridden pastiche that bordered on tedium. Evidently, a lot of people are more easily pleased than I.