One of the best movies of all time, though still not the best in the MCU.

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2016)

Here is another movie that is very tough for me to review using my typical format. Watching this movie as a "critic" is incredibly difficult because I know every line and every joke. Unfortunately, it doesn't still give me quite the same tingles and tears it did the first 10 or so times I watched it, but I remember them (and those three words get me in the feels every time).
To put it plainly, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the best best movie produced by Marvel Studios so far (yes, as a movie, I rank it above Iron Man (though not by much)). It is not, however, a better comic book movie than Iron Man, and, as I write this, I am not entirely sure it is a better comic book movie than The Avengers. This may sound paradoxical, or at least contradictory, but it is a rather common thing in films. Citizen Kane is somewhat slow today when watched today, but Orson Welles invented (or perfected) several camera techniques and angles in that movie, and was essentially the father of the modern Hollywood movie. Because of this, and not for much else, Citizen Kane is still considered by many to be the best film ever. Empire Strikes Back was a better movie, but Star Wars is the best Science Fiction movie of all time. Godfather 2 was a better film but the original of that series was the best gangster/mafia film of all time (sorry Goodfellas). In that way, Guardians is better, but can never be the best.
Guardians wouldn't, couldn't, exist without The Avengers...and The Avengers wouldn't. couldn't, exist without Iron Man. For that reason, Guardians comes in 3rd in my list of MCU movies, though I might change my mind about that tomorrow.