Marvel's Star Wars!

Rating: 10/10 (16 May 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy launched in 2014 to surprisingly good box office numbers and amazing reviews from critics. And then came one of Marvel's most unlikely franchises-to-be; and what a franchise Guardians has become! I remember watching this film for the first time when it came out. A raccoon, a tree, that guy from Parks-and-Rec as 'Not-Han-or-Luke' StarLord, Uhura as a green alien, and... Dave Bautista's in this!? I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and the thrill it gave the audience. It's a space opera in the superhero world of Marvel, and it's an intergalactic love-letter to George Lucas' films of the 70s and 80s. You can see Indiana Jones at parts, you can sense Star Wars when there's moments similar to The Original Trilogy in terms of character chemistry and scale, yet this has the heart of a superhero movie. It's got the fun of Sam Raimi's first two SpiderMan movies, it succeeds where green LAntern failed and it doesn't need to be somber like Batman movies. Guardians of the Galaxy is its own thing.
Needless to say: I love this film! When I was missing Star Wars until The Force Awakens came along, I had Guardians and Interstellar to occupy myself with in the meantime. I'm glad that this film was successful; it's cinema-escapism that's pretty irresistible.