This is probably the most fun superhero movie I’ve ever seen, in the best possible way.

It doesn’t even feel like a superhero movie.  Most of the time it has a Star Wars feel to it, or the vibe you get from a cool and comedic space action movie.  I’ll get to tone in a bit, but the comedic and action blend is what made the characters in this movie so great.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are this team of misfits and criminals who ultimately join forces over a common cause.  The chemistry between these actors is fantastic.  Leading it off is Chris Pratt who stars as an average guy from Earth calling himself Star-Lord and stealing objects for money.  His character is the funniest of the crew and ultimately the deepest.  He’s the average guy, who’s a really good depiction of being average.  And next is Zoe Saldana as Gamora.  Gamora has the coolest backstory of all the characters and is the most interesting overall.  She also proves that this continues to be the year of awesome female movie characters.  Black Widow, Mystique, Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow, and now Gamora.  I would say Gamora is the best of them so far, but even if she isn’t, she’s a close second to Mystique.  Then we have Vin Diesel kind of staring as Groot.  Groot is the easiest character to be since he doesn’t speak or move much, but when he does, his presence is felt.  And then Dave Bautista is Drax the Destroyer and he’s one of my few issues with the movie.  I know that Drax was like an iconic part of the comics but he feels somewhat useless and underdeveloped in the movie.  When watching the movie, I challenge you to look at him the way I did: if this character was not in the movie whatsoever, would the movie be any different? And the answer is no, which is a bummer when the character feels useless like that.  But a character who is in no way useless at all is Rocket.  After seeing the trailers and just knowing there was a talking raccoon in the movie, I thought he may steal the show.  He stole the show and more.  Actually it was kind of a competition between him and Star-Lord to see who would steal the show more and he won by just a little bit.  He was funny and violent and even sweet all at the same time.

And speaking of humorous, I LOVE the tone in this movie.  The movie is definitely more of a comedy than it is an action-superhero movie.  The movie has plenty of action but the comedic lines and forwarding storyline is what keeps the movie interesting.  These are characters we haven’t met before and they’re all introduced charmingly.  The movie also blends in the emotional parts really well.  The first scene of the movie is probably the most heartbreaking, and that’s really good placement by director James Gunn, who knew it would feel out-of-place anywhere but the very beginning or very end.

Speaking of out-of-place, let’s talk about the thing I didn’t like in the movie, outside of Drax.  This being the villain, Ronan.  His character’s motivation is shared by many others including Thanos and Michael Rooker’s character.  I think the latter would have made an even better villain than Ronan since he has a connection to Star-Lord.  Ronan is Thanos’s right-hand man and he comes across as just too forgettable.

But going back to things that I love about the movie (and yes I will say LOVE), I loved the soundtrack.  I’m not one of those Internet movie guys who says, “oh yes, that score was impeccable,” while blowing bubbles from a pipe.  I do however pay attention to the soundtrack when it seems like a good one.  You guys know that Hooked On A Feeling song that you downloaded and frequently listen to after this movie’s trailer came out?  That is only one of the awesome 70’s and 80’s songs played in this movie.  I would even say this movie is up with American Pie 2 as one of my favorite soundtracks from a movie ever.

A couple final compliments on the movie overall: Glenn Close, John C. Reilly and Benecio Del Toro were all good in their roles.  The visual effects were also top-notch.

And I really like that this doesn’t feel like a Marvel movie.  I have a feeling it’s James Gunn bringing his style to it, but it has very few Marvel-isms other than Thanos.  That’s really cool since movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 have been so heavily impacted by Shield and the shared universe.  Granted Iron Man 3 was one of my favorite films from last year and Captain America 2 is one of the best from this year.  People have been saying this is the best Marvel movie thus far, and I don’t know if I’d say it’s the best but it’s one of my favorites.  As far as I’m concerned, the order of Marvel movies is Avengers, Iron Man 3, THEN Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  And I LOVED The Winter Soldier!  So yes Guardians is a bit overrated but it’s also a fantastic film.

And that’s a big factor in rating this movie.  This is probably the hardest movie thus far determining a number for.  It’s actually why I didn’t review the movie right away, I was deciding what to grade it…  I had such a fun time watching it, and it’s something you guys should definitely go out and see it (even more than once).  The enjoy-a-movie part of my brain wants to give it a 5, but the deconstruct-entertainment part of my brain wants to give it a 4.5.  I hate giving decimal ratings because they feel like a cop-out.  For instance, if you give a movie a 3.36 out of 5, then I feel like the reviewer is telling you to figure it out yourself.  But this time, I’ll be that guy and give a decimal that I think is a perfect rating.

4.8/5

I’ll be honest, this movie is probably going to be on my Top Ten of 2014 List, and it will be higher than movies with 5/5’s.  I really recommend you guys check this movie out, it was one of my most-anticipated films of the year and it totally lived up to that.  My theory is that it was made for we reviewers who will now be in the best possible mood for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles next week…

***

Fun fact: this review was 1000 words exactly. Cool! (I wrote this mobile-y, so I couldn’t tell.) But anyway, have you guys seen Guardians of the Galaxy? If so, what did you think of it and who was your favorite character? Let me know down below! And as always, thanks for reading guys.