Guardians of the Galaxy: non-comic action at its best

Well surprise surprise, I liked Guardians of the Galaxy.  OK, that may not be entirely unexpected.  What will be surprising to those that watch it is how much they enjoy watching it too.  Guardians of the Galaxy is a Marvel movie, but it feels like a sci-fi/action movie.  It’s easily the best movie that Marvel has done.  The film is more fun than The Avengers and is the only one from Marvel that I’ve immediately wanted to see again.

Certainly I’ve wanted to watch other Marvel films again.  However, that’s been if nothing else was happening on TV or I’m laid up with the flu or hernia surgery.  Guardians is the one that I want to-and would see again in the theater tomorrow.

Without breaking down too much of the plot I want to share with you 5 reasons why the average movie goer would enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy.

It’s Fun

This is a very fun movie.  It moves quickly and you’ll be hooked as soon as you see the opening sequence.  In a summer of big, serious movies, some of which are great (like Apes) or not (Spidey…) it is refreshing to watch a movie that pokes fun at the genre, while at the same time being a great example of it.

The action

From the 17 minutes I saw a couple of weeks ago I knew that the set pieces were big.  The movie goes from chase, to fight, to chase to banter with ease.  This is more of a buddy cop movie is space with talking trees, surgically altered raccoons, an 80’s kid, well spoken assassin and step daughter of universe killer.

You don’t need to know anything about the characters.  They’re spelled out simply and directly within the first 20 minutes of the film. While the 3D isn’t necessary, it is very good.

The humor

Back to the buddy cop movie analogy.  Marvel movies have never been this humorous-or this fun.  Sure The Avengers had some great lines, but it wasn’t overall funny.  Guardians is funny, without taking the characters lightly or watering down the peril that they face.

The music

The mid 70s rock is just a gimmick I thought.  It is, but it works.  Back to the opening scene, once Star Lord is on a foreign planet about to enter a tomb.  The scale of that scene, combined with the music make you grin as you watch the film.

It’s concise and understandable

The Infinity Gauntlet can be difficult to explain.  Guardians of the Galaxy does it in a way that explains why things happen in this film and sets up the grand opera that will happen in future Marvel films.

See this movie.  My wife meant to go, but our baby sitter fell through at the last minute.  She would have loved it.  If we get a sitter this weekend I’m taking her-and she will love it.  Guardians of the Galaxy is rated PG-13 for action, violence and mild language.