Marvel's best so far? No, but still incredibly enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2014)

First off, I don't read comic books, but I am at least nominally familiar with a lot of the Marvel characters. That being said, I had no idea who the Guardians of the Galaxy were. To a degree, after seeing this, I still don't completely understand since they don't really go into a lot of character depth but I am interested in going back to this world and exploring these characters again. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY has eye-popping visuals, an incredible soundtrack and some legitimately good world-building that manage to transcend a rather run-of-the-mill story. The basic plot is that these five characters, who are all outcasts in their own way, are thrust together through circumstance and unite to overcome a villain bent on destroying a planet. Those characters are Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel).
The best elements of the film which stuck out to me were the outstanding visual effects, world-building and character design. There are a lot of things thrown in together, and despite the enormity of it all, I never felt overwhelmed. Also, the action sequences were well-shot and there some truly amazing space battles. The performances, however, are more of a mixed bag. First, I will say that Chris Pratt was amazing as Peter Quill. He brought an everyman quality to his character and had a great sense of humor. Rocket and Groot were also great characters to watch in every scene they appeared. I'd go so far as to say they were my favorite characters. They were equal parts cute and badass, and have some of the best lines and most poignant scenes in the whole movie.
On the other end, though, I thought that Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan (as Nebula) weren't at the same level as other members of the cast. And then there were other characters who barely registered because they just weren't in the movie that much. Thanos is one of these, and I also didn't like Josh Brolin's voice-over. You also have John C. Reilly and Glenn Close who show up for a few scenes. Sadly, the main villain Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) was just as weak a villain as any other villain in a Marvel film. That's not to say that Lee Pace didn't do a good job or that the character didn't look cool, but he just wasn't given enough to do.
On a more positive note, the soundtrack was amazing. Kind of makes me want to buy a copy of Awesome Mix Vol. 1. And, for all of the lack of originality in the story, it was executed in an interesting way and elevated by the chemistry of the core cast members. I wouldn't say that it's the best Marvel movie to date, but it certainly is the most "out of the box" and daring thing that they've attempted so far.