Guardians of the Galaxy

What a bunch of a-holes.

The Guardians of a Galaxy at first glance looks like a bit of a wild card play for Marvel. They're hardly a big name draw, being a little obscure among even most of the nerd community. On the other hand, who ever expected an Iron Man movie to do the sort of business it did? When has a Captain America movie ever done better than tank?

It's still a bit of a gamble, of course. The Guardians have little brand recognition, and they're a completely different kettle of fish to the Avengers. Superheroes may be the flavour of the month, but this is frankly space opera, and space opera is not a traditional big-seller (the big guns of Star Wars and Star Trek aside).

So, what have Marvel produced?

They've produced a fun, pacy sci-fi adventure, rich with humour and not too stingy on the feels either. While the main characters - boyishly charming space-pirate Peter 'Star Lord' Quill, renegade assassin Gamora, escaped experimental subject Rocket, vengeful warrior Drax the Destroyer, and Groot - may not hug, or for the most part share stories, but there are plenty of touching moments, from the reveal of Rocket's scars, to Quill's mix tape (the most robust ferro-magnetic cassette tape ever), and pretty much every 'I am Groot' in the film. Action and humour are meat and drink to the current run of MCU films, of course, and this manages to mesh the two well, and even gets the balance on Quill so that he is flippant, but never glib.

I went into the film knowing, of the five leads, only Rocket, and that from his earliest incarnation as the lovable ranger charged with protecting the Loonies of Halfworld. For all that and the fact that the film blows straight in at full pace, I didn't feel uninformed, or lost at any point. The introductions and establishment of the characters (mostly in the form of a fight) was done seamlessly. The 70s/80s mix tape soundtrack was also used brilliantly.

It's not a perfect film, but it is certainly a very good one.