It shouldn't work - but it does (and how)

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2014)

It really shouldn't work: a sci-fi, super-hero movie with an utterly bizarre set of five characters - the guardians of the title. There's Quill (Chris Pratt), the only human, an Indiana Jones/Hans Solo type with a devil-may-care attitude to all danger; next up we have Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a green-skinned woman with special martial skills who seems to have wandered in from the set of "Avatar"; then there's Drax (Dave Bautista) with huge muscles, multi-coloured skin and a habit of taking comments literally; even more outrageously we have Groot (Vin Diesel in motion-capture), a tree - yes, a tree - with lots of branches but only a three-word vocabulary (remind you of Chewbacca?); and finally - my favourite - there's a talking raccoon with attitude called Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a little fella with some BIG guns.
And yet, work it does - but how? Well, visually it's an absolute treat - different worlds, buildings, vehicles and weapons, the magic of deep space, and lots and lots of colour. I saw the film in 3D on an IMAX screen and it sucked me in. Plot-wise, it's all a bit confusing - lots of complicated names and something to do with a mysterious metal orb - but the whole thing zings along so speedily, it just doesn't matter. Perhaps, above all, it is quite simply fun - it is a rollicking escapade with lots of humorous one-liners and funny situations. At the end of the credits (as well as the usual extra clip in Marvel movies), we have an assurance that no trees were harmed in the making of the film as well as the promise that the guardians will be back (I'll be waiting).