Enjoyable, overlong, irreverent-but-not-really shaggy dog sci fi epic. Like Pixar, Marvel have cracked the code on how to make blockbusters - have a simple story at heart, some likeable characters and plenty of emotion. This one piles on the exposition (there's an awful lot of "world" to set up) but at its basic essence it's about the guardian chasing after a thing, the most powerful thing in the galaxy - which, come to think of it, is the plot of Thor and The Avengers and other Marvels.
But the writers also ensure there's always powerful emotional stakes underpinning everything - the opening sequence has Peter Quill see his bald, cancer-riddled mother die and then be abducted from earth; Rocket the raccoon has clearly suffered great torture and has a chip on his shoulder; Groot gives his life to save his friends; Drax is avenging his family and struggles to communicate; the emotional core of the movie is about these loners finding friendship and a family. It is quite moving in places.
The cast is strong - Chris Pratt is very likeable (even if he's really not that unconventional a hero - for all his self deprecating humour he's still super capable, brave and all that); Zoe Saldana always makes a good alien, Lee Pace and Karen Gillan are first-rate villains. It does drag - surely it could have been cut down to under two hours? - and the admittedly well-done special effects got wearying after a while. My age, no doubt.
But good on Marvel for taking a chance - this wasn't that well known a comic book and it didn't feature stars, and they've been rewarded in spades. Of course, there was a star - the Marvel name. That really should be counted on the Quigley annual polls.
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