Review of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) by Stealthblade — 03 Aug 2014

Don't go in believing the hype. Worth a matinee pricetag but not the blockbuster hollywood so desperately wants us to believe it is and clearly needs this summer (the worst hollywood summer season in years.).

The heroes of the movie consist of a talking raccoon, a green woman assassin, a muscle bound mercenary, a talking tree and a funny human front man. The movie seemed to be confused on whether they wanted to make a a superhero film for the kids, a serious film targeting adults, or a rom-com teenager film. It felt like the movie never settled in to a theme and about a dozen times I found myself thinking "that was out of place.".

For example, the main hero, played by Chris Pratt, starts off the journey on an abandoned planet where he turns on his 80's walkman, dancing and using the native lizard creatures for microphones to find an orb to make some coin from a collector. Its very fun, light and seems like a great movie that even the kids can come to. It then bounces towards the middle of the movie where the drunken raccoon "rocket" breaks down over his history, saying he didn't want to be created and at one point even tells his co-hero that he doesn't care that he lost his wife and daughter, in a move that probably sounded better written than they pulled off on film. Then add in and awkwardly long flip off scene from the main hero to the camera, an awkward blacklight "sperm joke, and finishing the movie with a "We're the guardians of the galaxy, **** punchline.

I did find myself however enjoying the special effects and was surprisingly impressed by the acting from a tree, raccoon and former WWE wrestler.

Worth seeing once, but it could definitely have done without all the hype.