A movie that can't really be hated

Rating: 9/10 (8 August 2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of those movies that is incredibly smart compared to most Marvel movies for a couple reasons:
1. It has A LOT of style. 2. The movie is fully engrossed in itself 3. There are MULTIPLE new characters in a new world 4. The movie has legitimate humour that isn't in the form of "one- liners" but actual funny dialogue
A couple of years ago no one would've assumed "Guardians of the Galaxy" would be one of the greatest Marvel movies but it is. The movie is able to establish a very strong and awesome atmosphere that most movies have trouble establishing. A lot of movies that try for a "throwback" style generally mess up by either having the throwback style being irrelevant to the plot or either it doesn't fit the movie at all. Guardians of the Galaxy's style fits perfectly with the plot. The visuals, the soundtrack, the dialogue, the lighting, and everything fits to form a very cohesive world. None of its style feels "forced" or thrown in for "nostalgic" purposes.
That is one of the greatest things about the movie is that it is able to use nostalgia without the nostalgia being central. The movie isn't a 60s-80s throwback, the movie just naturally has the feeling of that era. It is hard to explain, but the movie is entirely engrossed in how good it is at doing this.
The characters are easily some of the strongest seen in the Marvel universe. Without getting too much into their back story, all of the characters have a distinct, normal, realistic feel. Even the powerful, blood-thirsty, Drax the Destroyer will say some very natural dialogue. All of the characters seem to fit well, and the timing on the dialogue is great. Some of the previous Marvel movies suffer from forced "one- liners" that are too heavily emphasized upon. However, in this movie some of the most hilarious dialogue is muttered or heard in a very rapid-fire manner.
While the plot in Guardians of the Galaxy is good, I would be lying if I said it was incredibly original or ingenious. It follows a similar mood to a lot of blockbuster films: Big bad enemy has an army and wants to destroy. The villain isn't nearly as interesting as I would've liked. However, the movie intentionally doesn't focus too much on the villain, because the main purpose of the movie is to see the characters interact and develop bonds. Thankfully, all of the acting is great and hilarious. I will note (after taking some time to think about it) the villain does provide a very good... counter... to our heroes. Initially I thought the villain's dialogue was accidentally cheesy and "super- serious" but the more I think about it, the more I realize how clever the villain is. The villain literally thinks he is the most powerful BA person in the universe which makes it all the more hilarious in contrast with our heroes.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a great film that will be hard for Marvel to live up to. As of late, Marvel movies seem to be "action in cities that are all white and fairly colorless" but this movie drastically changes the visual appeal and is unlike pretty much any sci-fi movie in recent years.
All in all: go watch it.