Guardians of the Galaxy

I have always maintained a pretty consistent opinion about all of the Avengers-related movies. That being that they aren't the best movies in the world (they are no Citizen Kane), but they are certainly the most entertaining flicks in recent years. While other comic book movies are trying to piggyback off of the Nolan school of being heavy and not much room for humor, and often falling flat, Marvel has gotten the idea that you can have a movie with dramatic tension and emotional connections while also making room for humor, fun, romance and all of the other things you'd expect in a summer action flick. In the past, the hero that hit that point hardest was Iron Man, matching some solid writing with Robert Downey Jr.'s wit and charisma. If there was another Avengers tie in that got just as good if not better than the Iron Man movies, it would be Guardians of the Galaxy.

This really is one of the most entertaining movies that I have seen in recent years. The writing has a perfect balance between dramatic moments that almost hit tear-jerking to hilarious scenes involving the hilarious Rocket Raccoon. Not to sound like a broken record, but Rocket Raccoon really is the best part of the movie. And, going back to my point about mixing drama with humor, Rocket provides the funniest moments while also having some heavy moments of his own, breaking down in drunken tears when recounting his past. The rest of the cast is excellent. Chris Prat is very relatable and likeable as Star Lord, Zoe Saldana is kickass as always. Even Vin Diesel was having fun reading three simple words for his performance. 

There are two weak areas that should be addressed. Number one being Dave Batista as Drax. He tries his best, but he still needs a little work on the whole line-delivery thing. To his credit though, after learning that he had gotten the part, he immediately signed up for more acting lessons and also became teary-eyed at getting the chance to be in a Marvel movie. So, give the guy credit for taking it seriously and proving he was the right pick.

The other weak spot is the villain, Ronan the Accusor. I'm not gonna say that he was a weak badguy or that he was poorly portrayed. Actually, as a Star Wars fan, I thought he was pretty cool. In fact, just judging by character alone, he was probably one of the stronger bad guys. However, I felt as though he was a little misplaced. I know I've praised these movies for playing with tone, but whenever he was on screen, things felt really dark. Like I kept expecting the emperor's them from Return of the Jedi to play whenever he was on screen. Compared to the rest of the avengers tie-ins where there was still a fun element to the villains, Ronan just felt a little too serious for this movie in particular. Don't get me wrong, he was still a cool character and I would love to see that actor play more sci-fi villains (maybe even a Star Wars baddy? Anyone?), I just felt that the tone took an unnecessary deep dark dive when he was on screen. I know this particular criticism sounds weird and oddly contradictory, but having humorous scenes with the main characters come right before or after these dark toned, dimly lit parts where things like genocide, enslavement and mass murder are being discussed was a little off putting.

But even with all of those weaknesses, Guardians of the Galaxy is still one of the best comic-book movies to come out in recent years, as well as the most entertaining movie to come out in 2014. And even if you aren't a comic book fan, but you still like science fiction, I just have one question for you:

Have you ever wondered what a movie would be like if they combined Star Wars, Star Trek AND Firefly?

Well, here's your chance to find out!