As much as Marvel sucks, well, this doesn't.

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2015)

Marvel Studios has become an idiocratic cult that has somehow created for itself a cinematic niche which only it can fill and sustain. Year after year, Marvel manages to garner critical acclaim with flimsy, repetitive narratives and tiresome characters, critics and the masses alike revelling in obvious exercises of money-grubbing banality. Age of Ultron, even as a comic book film, was senseless, feeling almost like a remake of its much better (but still poor) predecessor. Ant Man was laughably clichéd, barely scraping by on its mildly intriguing visual innovation. Fantastic Four was ghastly. And the Avengers are the single most annoying bundle of inconsistent characters that I have ever been unfortunate enough to acquaint myself with. Glancing at the synopses for Marvel's upcoming endeavours, I am struck at how similar they all seem to older Marvel fare; conceptually impaired, overly serious, and all thoroughly atrocious. I often wonder why Marvel is the Hollywood powerhouse that it is, when it seems to dabble only in the realm of glorified TV movies.
Then I remember Guardians of the Galaxy.
Guardians is the best Star Wars spoof you'll ever see. I might even go so far as to say that it is a better film than Star Wars, but I'm sure that such a sentiment would spark death threats and such, and even thinking about it now, I'd like to take that one back. Guardians may surpass Star Wars in terms of charm and colour, but Star Wars has a better feel for its characters and concludes with nothing less than pure jubilation. Screw you, Death Star! Chris Pratt stars as the ever-lovable, cheerful renegade Peter Quill, who was kidnapped by space aliens when he was nine or so, right after his mother dies in front of him. Brutal stuff. And after we are forced to sit through the Marvel logo, which reminds us that cinema is art only in the sense that capitalism is art, we are transported across the galaxy to a planet with a super funky name. And I mean transported. The film's visuals are really quite stunning, the bleakness of space enlivened with red, orange, green and blue, making it feel like a mystical Tolkien-esque realm rather than, well, space. In fact, the film itself is a mind-blowing celebration of colour and shape, revelling in the capacity of the silver screen to mesmerize an individual out of existence. I'd say in terms of visuals, it epitomizes CGI-based escapism.
But this is all an afterthought when acknowledging the film's merits. While the visuals are remarkable, what really intrigued me about the film was its novelty, wit, and wonderful characters. Every character is given depth and self-awareness. I don't recall ever laughing so hard in a Marvel film. And I have to admit, a few scenes brought tears to my eyes.
Guardians has heart and soul, and a solid dose of hilarity to boot. And although it may be the first of a billion-dollar franchise, well, I could care less. I don't want to say this, but...
agh... urgh... gah...
...thanks, Marvel.