Review: Funny, action-filled ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is a wild, fun ride

Posted on August 8, 2014

With “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Marvel Studios left the Earth entirely for a sci-fi adventure featuring a ragtag group of grifters and criminals who become unlikely heroes. This is a movie featuring characters only comic book enthusiasts had ever heard of before. (In fact, the entire marketing campaign seemed to be geared around the idea that nobody knew who they were.) This is a movie co-written and directed by James Gunn, whose only previous theatrical directing credits include the low-budget comedy “Super” and the horror film “Slither.”

And what did we get? A terribly funny, slightly subversive comic book movie that is also a fun and exciting sci-fi action film filled with zany characters, crazy storylines and a wonderful living galaxy that greatly expands the ever-growing MCU.

And risking a bit of hyperbole, I have to say “Guardians of the Galaxy” is not only one of the best movies of the already declared great Summer of 2014–not to mention one of the best MCU films to date–it is perhaps the best space-opera film released since “Return of the Jedi,” which hit theaters 31 years ago.

The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language.

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