Like most of the reviews here, I agree that Guardians of the Galaxy was an absolute hoot. Guardians never takes itself too seriously which makes this movie a whole lot of fun. The cast was perfectly chosen and even though two of the main five were CG, knowing who voiced and acted alongside them completely filled out these characters. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of those rare complete audience pleasers. Good fun for everyone!

**A long form review originally posted n 2014:** Now that I’ve given _Guardians_ a BluRay watch through, I feel more comfortable reviewing it. I saw it on the first day of its Australian cinematic release, but I wasn’t sure what I thought. I watched it again and still wasn’t sure, but now that it’s six months later, I am sure. I’m a massive fan of director James Gunn. Come to think of it, I’m also also a big fan of Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Djimon Honsou, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Peter Serafinowicz, Alexis Denisof, Rob Zombie and Nathan Fillion, and they’re all in this. Not to mention I’m an absolute sucker for the MCU. So after hearing that a very decent chunk of the fanbase thinking that not only was this the best Marvel film of the year (going up against _Winter Soldier_ and _Days of Future Past_), but that they would then go on to say it was the best Marvel Cinematic Universe film ever, you could imagine I was very surprised to find that I actually didn’t think it was all that great. I don’t want people thinking I didn’t like it. I did. In fact I will go on record saying that it was miles away from their worst film, and if I’m being honest they handled the last 25 minutes (arguably the most important part) of the film absolutely spectacularly. But I didn’t get the magic that everyone was telling me about. How this was the film for the new generation. I didn’t even get the sense of satisfaction that I had in Cap’s movie just a few months previous. So many things seemed under utilised, but I don’t know what you could have cut to make room for the extra things I wanted. Which means the only way to get it is to have a longer film. It’s already two hours, and a longer movie means a bigger budget and less screenings. ie. more money going out and less money coming in. And at the end of the day Disney is a business, and they have to make their money the best way they think they can. So I understand why it wasn’t perfect for me, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling _Guardians_ is a mite overrated. Good damn movie. But overrated. Personally I’d stick it somewhere in the middle of the MCU’s releases thus far. Leaps and bounds above _The Incredible Hulk_, _The Dark World_ and _Iron Man 2_, but not so beloved as the likes of _The Avengers_, _Winter Soldier_ or _Iron Man 1_. 73% -_Gimly_

When planning how I was going watch all these MCU films, this is one I earmarked as being one I thought I'd enjoy - not based on anything of note, I knew very little, but from the passing screenshots and such I had seen it seemed like one I'd enjoy. I'm happy to say I certainly did! <em>'Guardians of the Galaxy'</em> is so enjoyable. It's 121 minutes of pure entertainment. It does, at least to me, have a different feel to it when compared to the nine preceding MCU films. That's not a negative for either this or those earlier productions, it just felt different to me. I particularly enjoyed the cast, which features - as is customary at this point - a load of well known names. Chris Pratt is, probably, the perfect choice for Peter, he carries the role extremely well - his humour sticks out, but he also performs the more serious stuff nicely. Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Michael Rooker are all thoroughly enjoyable too. Vin Diesel (kinda?) appears to portray Groot, which pleases me as someone who is a big fan of <em>'Fast & Furious'</em>. There are a few others in there, including Djimon Hounsou and Benicio del Toro. Terrific cast! There is a lot to like here. I look forward to seeing the follow-ups to it.

Generally speaking, I'm fan of Chris Pratt and here he is thoroughly entertaining as the "Star Lord - Peter Quill", a sort of inter-galactic treasure hunter who is challenged to track down an orb. Once he finds and tries to sell it, his world becomes a whole lot more interesting as just about everyone from Djimon Hounsou - sporting a cracking hairdo as "Korath", to kick-ass Zoe Saldana "Gamora" and the most unlikely of duos "Rocket" & "Groot"- one a racoon (Bradley Cooper), the other a walking tree with an extremely limited vocabulary (Vin Diesel) - want to snatch it from him! It soon transpires that the orb contains a source of unimaginable power that the evil "Thanos" and his lieutenant "Ronan" (Lee Pace) will stop at nothing to possess. When all these attempts to steal his artefact attract the attention of the authorities lead by an immaculately coiffured Glenn Close, they end up in a maximum security prison where they decide to join forces - alongside the deservedly named "Drax the Destroyer" (Dave Bautista), forcing their way out and setting off on a quest to stop the arch criminals from reducing Ms. Close's world to atoms. It's got bundles of charisma, this film - the script is witty and fast moving, the characters are easily the most interesting and developed in the ensemble Marvel-verse, and the pretty eclectic soundtrack is used properly, rather than as a substitute for the dialogue. I'm praying that it doesn't spawn a whole slew of pointless sequels and spin-offs; it's originality is an huge part of it's charm.

**Guardians of the Galaxy embraced its underdog status in the MCU and catapulted its cast of misfits into stardom!** Who saw this movie coming? I know I didn’t. I only saw Guardians of the Galaxy because it’s a Marvel movie, but I knew nothing about the characters, and even some of the actors were still on the rise, but James Gunn and this movie turned them into mega-stars! This movie perfectly balances exceptional comedic performances with sincere heartfelt moments. This rag-tag group of outcasts finds family in each other while finding their way into our hearts. I expected a hilarious performance from Chris Pratt (but was surprised at how ripped he got for the role!) but was surprised by how funny Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan were proving themselves as sensational comedic actors. These unknown characters and lesser-known actors became household names due to great fun writing, entertaining performances, excellent effects, and a perfectly chosen director that knew how to bring it all together.

A good nerd flick for the geeks! At least this one has some humor. My daughter loves Groot.