Not a comedy, not a drama.

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy is an OK to good movie and worth the money you spend on seeing it, especially in 3D: The visual effects are great for the most part and the visual art is next to perfect: Fantastic new worlds (especially Xander), great looking 3D and special effects and exciting camera moves would make for a world class movie.
However -and to me that's a big letdown- the whole movie seems somewhat unrealized: After a fantastic start, the story becomes more and more predictable and uninteresting. It starts with the much too long and unneeded prison scene, which in particular holds up the whole movie and potential plot development. Tragically, from that moment on, the movie never really recovers, as we basically get to see one battle/action sequence after the other, with no meaningful, interesting or surprising story to unfold.
Also, I felt that -although I had some very good laughs- sometimes the humor was used in an attempt to save the whole movie. Furthermore, we are bombarded with too many names of characters, especially by some that play little to no role in the movie, which left me confused and uneasy. Maybe, if you have seen all the MARVEL films or read the comics, this in fact does make sense, but to me, it does not.
All in all I felt that the movie could/should have been so much better than it actually was. It had all the ingredients to be the absolute highlight of the year (or maybe even of all time), had it just had a better story, or -at least- would it have been a completely hilarious spoof. I cannot help but think that this must be one of the biggest opportunities missed in the whole movie history!
Hence, I give it 6,5/10, -7/10 rounded up- as this is probably a great movie for kids and teenagers, but definitely not for adults. For a comedy, it tries a little bit too hard at times and the serious moments don't fit, and for a drama/serious film, it misses depth in story and characters. Also, I feel that there are too many main characters in order to give them enough screen time to develop, especially that wrestler was ridiculously one dimensional, although he had some funny lines.
So, if you are up for a very, very light science fiction/action movie with stunning visuals and quite a bit of funny dialogue, then Guardians of the Galaxy is for you.
However, if you are looking for the next Star Wars/Blade Runner/Fith Element (which was my expectation after reading some of the comments here), I cannot recommend this film, as the other movies are much, much better. GotG however can't decide what it wants to be and therefore falls short.
What a pity!
One final word: Please don't compare this movie to Star Wars folks, it just shows that you haven't got the slightest clue that Star Wars has a much deeper meaning that goes beyond a few battles and stunning visuals. So don't make a fool of yourself.