Cast: Chris PrattZoe SaldanaJohn C. ReillyMichael Rooker, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, Dave BautistaKaren GillanBenicio Del ToroDjimon HounsouVin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Josh Brolin (voice), Peter Serafinowicz 
Director: James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman
Genre: Sci-Fi / Adventure / Action
Certificate: 12A

It's official Marvel is one step closer to total domination of the blockbuster movie. I have to confess that I am a big fan of the Marvel franchise and I must still be a big kid at heart because I always get excited by the Marvel ident just before the opening credits roll. These flickering comic book stills look even more effective in 3D.

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Chris Pratt as Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord

This is why I was a little bit sceptical about Guardians of the Galaxy as Marvel were taking quite a risk by deviating from their usual Superhero format. It was clear from the early teaser trailers that this new adventure was going to be more laid back and tongue in cheek. That is not to say that there hasn't been some great humour and wit in the recent Marvel offerings particularly with Joss Whedon's influence in the Avengers Assemble and also with Robert Downy Jr's brilliant portrayal of Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. However, many Marvel characters have always had some troubled past and they are usually holding a lot of angst inside.

So...does Guardians of the Galaxy match up to the high Marvel standards? Read on.

The film opens on earth sometime in the late seventies early eighties. A small boy and his relatives gather at the hospital bedside of his dying Mother. The distressed youngster Peter Quill runs out of the hospital into the night wearing his his Walkman headphones to comfort him with a tape of 'Awesome Mix vol 1' put together by his Mother. Just to add to his woes he is beamed up by a spaceship. Peter's not having a good day.

Fast forward twenty years and we see Peter grown up as a space adventurer, a kind of cross between Harrison Ford's Hans Solo with his arrogance and weapon skills, Indiana Jones cunning and ability to search out valuable relics and Nathan Fillion's Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds from the TV series Firefly and Movie Serenity with his wit and sense of humour. We are first introduced to Peter in as an adult on an abandoned planet on his way to steal an Orb ( a sort of spherical metal object that holds a lot of power.) But unfortunately there is a an evil megalomaniac called Ronan (Lee Pace from Pushing Daisies) who also wants the Orb to rule the Universe. Quill  tries to sell the Orb to an interested buyer but gets arrested along the way and thrown in prison where he meets a group of misfits.

.Your Local Guardian:
Guardians Of the Galaxy

Ganora (Zoe Saldana) a green skinned warrior and assassin for Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin) who rules Ronan and the rest of the bad guys.Drax the Destroyer (played by ex-wrestler David Bautista) who's wife and child were murdered by Ronan and seeks revenge and then there's the double act of Rocket the genetically engineered talking raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his sidekick Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) a humanoid tree creature.
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 Zoe Saldana as Ganora the warrior

The five unlikely heroes agree a truce and join forces to eventually become the Guardians of the Galaxy. Can they keep Ronan from taking the Orb from them and changing the Universe forever?
Unlike previous Marvel films, Guardians of the Galaxy has all of the action and adventure set in space. Since Star Wars there have been many imitations of the space adventure such as Battle Beyond The Stars(1980) which was a take on The Magnificent Seven but in space starring George Peppard, Richard Thomas and Robert Vaughn who reprised his role from the original western. The Last Starfighter (1984), The Black Hole (1979) and Battlestar Galactica (1978) to name but a few.
 
I think the time is right for a decent space romp and Guardians doesn't disappoint. Also I think that the success of this film will be due to the fact that this is a little known comic book series and the large part of the audience will be going to see it without any preconceived ideas as to how the characters should mirror the comics
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David Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
 

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Vin Diesel voices Groot

Chris Pratt is excellent as the wise cracking Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord (exept nobody has ever heard of the name Star-Lord and is a running gag throughout.) His 'Awesome Mix tape is a nice touch and features some great seventies rock music throughout the film. Pratt is probably known more for TV's Parks and Recreation when he was also carrying some extra weight and went on a vigorous training routine to get in shape for Guardians. Hence a gratuitous half naked scene to show that the money was well spent on those Abs!
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Bradley Cooper voices Rocket Racoon

Zoe Saldana seems to be making a good living from Sci-Fi / fantasy movies with Star Trek 1 & 2 and Avatar (2,3, and 4 already in production) where she was blue instead of green. Doctor Who's Amy Pond Karen Gillan no stranger to Sci-Fi is unrecognisable as baddie Nebula and holds her own in her first big Hollywood blockbuster. Most of the laughs are supplied by the comedy duo of Rocket the machine gun toting Racoon and Groot the alien tree monster.To be honest I thought the Racoon character was going to be really annoying but you soon warm to Rocket thanks to the voice talents of Bradley Cooper. The most likeable person is Groot who despite being an animated character is also the most expressive with his feelings even though his vocabulary consists of three words "I am Groot" which is odd that Vin Diesel was brought in to record the dialogue but in different tones.
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Karen Gillan as bad girl Nebula

The big surprise for me though was David Bautista, the ex-professional wrestler who plays Drax the Destroyer a sort of man mountain who would not hesitate to rip your head off but has a child like naivety and does not know what a metaphor is. His comedy timing is actually quite good which is apparent in some funnier scenes.
This film really works and is a lot of fun. I might go as far as to say that it will probably overtake Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as the big Summer movie of 2014.
By the way both the "Awesome Mix" tapes used in the film will be released soon as a download and possible album.

Official Marvel Trailer

A Foker On Film 5 out of 5 stars.
In cinemas from July 31