Fantastic Movie and one of the highlights of 2014

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2014)

I was one of the non-believers. I couldn't see how Marvel was going to pull this movie off with a bunch of secondary characters who I really didn't know much about. After all, in the comic adaptation world we've been used to seeing the major players turned into big budget spectacles and the more minor and fringe characters being released by secondary studios...
I have never been so happy to be wrong. When I say I was a non-believer, I was going into this movie fully expecting to see the first Marvel flop in recent times. That said, this wasn't just a movie, it was an event. I honestly believe it launched the long term platform Marvel recently announced and enabled less mainstream characters such as Dr. Strange and Ant Man to get full blown big budget productions.
Much of the movie's success comes from Chris Pratt's portrayal as Peter Quill/Star Lord. He was born to play this character and is a bona fide star and leading man. It's one of those moments when a star is born and it just so happens the platform he did it on was one the best films of the year.
Another thing that makes this movie so great, and what Disney/Marvel are masters at, is making it accessible to everyone. I think everyone form Junior to Granny would have a ton of fun watching this movie. The mix of humour/action/effects/story make it a truly unique experience. It's like they took what they had learnt from all of the previous Marvel movies and combined it into this one. Every detail was put into the production most likely because of people with opinions like mine where we were not sold on this concept.
Something else that stood out for me was that this didn't feel like your typical 'super hero(es) save the earth' story because of the space element. It seemed larger scale and a fresh direction. It was one of the more original story lines because these are aliens and not typical super heroes like The Avengers. All of this combined to create a more unique and refreshing experience. That and the heroes weren't cut and dry good guys, they were definitely more of a grey area.
In the end, if you haven't already, get down to that theatre before it's too late. You don't want to be the person who didn't the full experience of this theatrical event. After that is done, stream it on Amazon so Disney knows how much this movie was loved. This was definitely my movie of the year...there were some other good ones, but none in the league of 'GoG' as it is now known. Flixer Approved!