Star Wars for a new generation.

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2014)

The movie was incredible! I honestly believe that this will be 'Star Wars' for a new generation of kids... where almost every character is Han Solo.
The story wasn't exactly ground breaking, but it was interesting and different enough to keep me guessing and at the end of the day, this movie gives focus to the characters firstly, and the narrative secondarily - which under normal circumstances I disprove of, but in this case it worked.
Pros: Rocket was spot on and Groot was the heart of the movie - I mean, every single time Groot did something adorable (which was all the time), I wanted to cry! Definitely 2014's two most awesome team IMO. Chris Pratt's Star Lord was a lot better than I was expecting (and I was expecting him to be hilarious) so as an actor he's gone way up in my "keep an eye out for that guy" list. Dave Bautista was probably the most surprising part of the movie... I really thought he'd be terrible and stale, but he actually ended up stealing quite a few scenes from the rest of the cast. Other than the actors & characters, the visuals were awesome: It looked fresh and new and colorful world that James Gunn created here really popped and stood out for me. The score was great, and the soundtrack amazing... I can't wait for Vol 2. The humor in the film was also a big surprise... I never thought Disney/Marvel would let Gunn and the cast get away with the shenanigans that they came up with. I mean... semen jokes?!
Cons: Gamora was totally unlike the character I've gotten to know in the comics. I guess they wanted a more sympathetic and softer character to counter balance all the rough 'n tumble ones on the team, but for someone who's read GotG and knows Gamora as a character, it was something I just couldn't get used to. Same goes for the Nova corps, but IMO they were just downright lame in this movie - although apparently James Gunn isn't exactly a Nova fan, so obviously not much thought went into that aspect of the story. Lastly, all I can say is that it was a pity that they killed off Ronan so early, which I felt they could have written differently, but aw well. Even though it is connected to the rest of the MCU, it feels like the most stand-alone movie they've made so far, yet surprisingly, there were still references and easter eggs abound (probably more so than any other movie). I mean... Cosmo... the movie had Cosmo!!! All 'n all though, a solid 9 out of 10 and I can't wait to see it again this week... and next week XD