648. Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper

Director: James Gunn

Running Time: 121 mins

Guardians Of The Galaxy is an American film and the tenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A group of five criminals, including an assassin, a tree, a raccoon, a thug, and a human, spark a new hope for the planet Xandar, which is on the brink of destruction by the evil lord Ronan as he pursues the all-powerful orb.

Apart from having a great story and being full of great action, there are two main reasons why I’m a big fan of this film.

Firstly, it’s so fun. Unlike many superhero films, this is laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end, it’s a total farce, and it shows a refreshing break from the overly-serious action blockbusters that we’ve seen in recent years.

Secondly, it is unbelievably similar to Star Wars. From the whole plot to the atmosphere of it all, from the characters to the visual effects, everything feels a whole lot like A New Hope. I could compare the main cast to all of the Star Wars cast (I won’t), and I’m sure that if you followed the two stories simultaneously, you’d see a lot of striking similarities in all aspects.

However, don’t think that it’s a total copy, this has been its own comic book for years now, but the fact that it feels so similar to a great classic like Star Wars simply demonstrates how the atmosphere works, again cementing the fact that this isn’t so much a serious superhero film, more like a story of exploration and discovery.

So, the main thing that separates this film from the rest of the crowd is the comedy. While, being a 12A/PG-13, it’s not the most raucous or intelligent comedy you’ll ever see, it’s simple and funny enough to just be enjoyable, almost taking the mick out of all these serious superhero stories, with random jokes popping up everywhere, and even if it’s totally inappropriate timing, it’s still surprising and entertaining enough to really make you laugh.

Away from that, there’s still a lot of great action to witness. While some of the battle sequences feel amazingly similar to those you’ll see in and around the Death Star, the fact that this film does have this atmosphere of such fun (coupled with some stunning visuals), makes the more long-winded action sequences less boring than you’d expect, because all the damage and chaos just adds to the farce of it all.

Finally, I was also impressed by the central performances. While most serious superheroes only seem to have to look brave and steely, these characters were a lot more charming, with more heart and depth.

We briefly see Chris Pratt’s character as a young boy, and, even though he’s grown-up for most of the film, he still seems to act it all as if he’s back in the 80s enjoying all this space adventuring as a kid. Meanwhile, Zoe Saldana is as slick as ever, and Bradley Cooper is surprisingly hilarious as a raccoon (a very tough job), while a whole host of others were a great joy to watch.

So, overall, this gets an 8.0, because as well as having an action-packed imaginative story, akin to Star Wars, this film was simply great fun to watch.