Marvel do it again

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2014)

'The Guardian of the Galaxy.' Who are they? I didn't know. Of course I quickly found out that they were based on – yet another – Marvel comic book, but a lesser-known one this time. And – yet again – we have another branch of the 'Marvel cinematic universe' which is currently best known for Iron Man, Thor, the Avengers and so on. However, what's most notable here is that 'The Guardians' is possibly the least 'linked' movie to what's already gone before. You could almost consider it a 'stand alone' film which needs no real knowledge of all three Iron Man movies (for example) to watch it.
Perhaps Marvel knew they were taking a gamble, investing so much money in a film that *most* people haven't really heard of. That's why they didn't 'link' it that much. That way, if it bombed at the Box Office, they could quietly forget about it and carry on with what's popular, i.e. 'Earth-based' superhero movies.
But then that's not going to happen. Because 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is great. Maybe what's best about it is that it doesn't really feel like a 'superhero movie' even though it's set in the same cinematic universe. In case you don't know... the five Guardians who find themselves forced to band together in order to stop an evil intergalactic warlord from destroying the universe (nothing new on the plot, eh?) are: Star Lord – our former resident of Earth, now all grown up and living in outer space while acting like a bad boy version of Han Solo, a green-skinned warrior babe alien called Gamora (Star Lord's obvious love interest – again, nothing new there), a muscle-bound alien, Drax, a borderline psychotic cyborg-racoon, Rocket and his tree-friend, Groot. Star Lord is basically the star, so he gets much of the screen time. He's played by Chris Pratt who enjoys being the bad boy and does it well. However, just Gollum partly stole the show in Lord of the Rings, it's the computer-generated Rocket the manic racoon who's a sheer joy to watch (Bradley Cooper who voiced him said he based Rocket on Joe Pesci's bonkers character from Goodfellas – yes, sometimes I could kind of see that there – think a furry Joe Pesci with a tree for a best mate).
Now, it wouldn't be half as much fun if this lot all got on. So they don't. Like the Avengers they constantly argue and bicker and try to outdo each other as much as possible. And that's fun to watch; it's a good way to enjoy the light-hearted nature of this semi-Star Wars clone before the action starts. Naturally, there are plenty of action scenes – laser fights, chases, space battles. They come with the territory and keep the kids happy. Personally, I found all these a little too computer-generated and – sometimes, especially while in space – I couldn't tell who was shooting at who.
Basically, you don't need to know much about Marvel's 'universe' to enjoy this. You only need to enjoy family sci-fi action films to appreciate this. Deep down, I know there's nothing that new about this film, it's plot or cast, yet I can't really help but love it.