Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

I want to thank Karen Gillan for existing.

So, last month Michael Bay gave us the fourth, and worst, installment of the "Transformers" series. It was nice to see the worst that Science-Fiction/Action-Adventure had to offer, because I'm pretty sure, James Gunn has made the very best of the (sub)genre. He has absolutely made the best film of the summer. Gunn, who both directed and co-wrote "Guardians" (with Nicole Perlman), seems to get the Marvel formula perfectly, and runs with it in bold and unexpected ways. This movie is funny and exciting in equal measures, and contains the most complex characters of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also manages to use the flurry of special effects to great advantage; creating a spectacular new side to the string of Marvel films that have been released so far.

Chris Pratt has found his star-making role in Peter Quill (A.K.A. Starlord), an intergalactic thief who was taken from Earth as young boy, and raised among the stars. His fluid performance is consistently charming, and at times very moving. Dave Bautista is excellent as the literal-minded Drax the Destroyer, and Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel lend their voices to Rocket Raccoon and Groot with great emotion and much humor. You would also be surprised at how much inflection Diesel can put into just a single reading of the line, "I am Groot." Zoe Saldana rounds out the title characters with the fiercest performance of her career (which is saying something). She is an ultimate badass as Gamora, one of Thanos' assassin daughters, and if she wasn't already the go to lethal female in Hollywood, she would be after this. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the excellence of Lee Pace and Karen Gillan as the film's villains. I need to stop now, because this short review keeps getting longer. This is honestly everything that film making should be: Fun, exuberant, escapist, and heartfelt. This may be the perfect movie.

Grade: A
3D: It was ok.
Easter Egg: Yes! The best since Shawarma.

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan
Director: James Gunn
Writer(s): James Gunn and Nicole Perlman - Comic: Dan Abnett and Andy Landing
RT: 121min
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language