Despite a lot of noise coming from naysayers that this movie would not be worth the watch, the teaser trailers still got me intrigued.  While it was obviously not The Avengers, it still looked pretty fun.

Raydon and I saw this right after Enemy, which, in retrospect was possibly the dumbest move we could’ve done (aside from not watching it at all, I mean) because we were still mulling over that freakin’ spider movie well into James Gunn (Movie 43)’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

Here’s the round-up:

Please note that there may be spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

The story opens up on earth circa 1988, where, after the death of his mother, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt – Lego Movie) is abducted by alien thieves called The Ravagers, lead by Yondu Udunta (Michael Rooker – Jumper).  Twenty-six years later, Peter Quill is an inter-galactic thief who (would desperately like to) goes by ‘Star-Lord’.  He steals a mysterious orb which also happens to be the very thing that Korath (Djimon Hounsou – Blood Diamond) is after, under the orders of the fearsome Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).

Because Quill succeeds in stealing the orb and decides to sell it for himself, he simoultaneously angers Yondu who puts a price on his head – putting bounty-hunters Groot (Vin Diesel – xXx) and Rocket the Racoon (Bradley Cooper – American Hustle) on his tail – and pisses Ronan the Accuser off enough to sic Gamora (Zoe Saldana – Star Trek) – favored adopted assassin daughter to Thanos and hated sister of Nebula (Karen Gillan – Oculus) – on his heels.  When all of their paths cross and wreak havoc on Xandar, the Nova Corps – headed by Nova Prime (Glenn Close – Dangerous Liasons) and led by Corpsman Dey (John C. Reilly – Chicago) – don’t take too kindly to the disruption.

THE GOOD:

1. Groot!!!  Seriously, I want one!  I don’t exactly know how they got such a deadly thing to be so loveable and cute, ‘ya know?  Basically he’s merchandise for the whole franchise but I don’t mind shelling out precious dough for overpriced Groots.
2. The chesmistry between the leads.  At the risk of being lynched, I would like to say that I liked the chemistry between the Guardians better than the chemistry between the Avengers.  There.  I said it.  I found that the bonding and the whole process of how they got together to be more organic than how it happened in the Avengers.
3. Bradley Cooper’s Rocket voice.  Did this guy take voice acting lessons?  Had I not known that this was Bradley Cooper voicing our ferocious raccoon, I probably would have laughed at anybody who would suggest that it was the same hip thrusting depressed violent weirdo from Silver Linings Playbook who voiced Rocket.  I was actually on the lookout for any Bradley Cooper-ness but I couldn’t find any.
4. The action sequences.  Especially the ones with the spaceships – very reminiscent of the older Star Wars.
5. The snazzy writing.  Not only was the dialogue witty and smart, it also moved the plot along at a brisk pace (so things never got boring) while fleshing out the characters in a non-cheesy way.  Well, most of them at least.

THE BAD:

1. Which brings us to the cheesy expositons of the thinly written characters: Peter Quill and Gamora.  That it was all exposition was sort of lame, considering the wonderfully creative and emotional ways they doled out the backstories of the other characters (Rocket and Groot and Drax).
2. Star-Lord’s mask.  That is one creepy looking mask.
3. Ronan and Korath.  As far as villains go they were bleh and really not that threatening.  Also, what was his deal against the Xandarians?
4. Too little Glenn Close ans John C. Reilly.  I admit that I may be nitpicking here but it was just a collossal waste.  They could’ve done so much more, I think.  On the upside, I can’t wait to watch what they do in the next movie.

THE UGLY:

1. The forced romance.  Ughhhhh.  I was cringeing in my seat.  Why, why, why did they feel the need to incorporate that in there?

All in all Guardians of the Galaxy is an incredibly fun movie to watch.  With strong performances from leads who actually have great chemistry with each other and a mind-blowing soundtrack that is very reminiscent of the first Iron Man, you have yourself somethig that jusy might be good enough to make you forget the Avengers sequel.

THE VERDICT: 9/10.  Must see.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.