Guardians of the Galaxy: Funniest movie I’ve seen all year

posted by Eivind on August 10, 2014, at 11:18 am

guardians-of-the-galaxy-posterIf you haven’t caught Guardians of the Galaxy in the movie theatres yet, now is the time.

I had absolutely no expectations for this movie when a friend invited me to go see it with him, yet had more fun watching it than I have had in the cinema for a long time.

Guardians is a silly, well-made space opera featuring the charming Earthling Peter Quill, an adolescent yet incredibly courageous and likable man,  as the unlikely savior of the universe. He’s not going to give you profound lessons on how to be a mature man in the world, but he is going to take you on a riotous ride together with his unlikely quartet of space freaks.

Guardians of the Galaxy is riddled with gags that actually hit home and cliche-busting laugh out loud moments. I can tell the people behind this movie must’ve had a lot of fun making it.

In the movie, Peter (aka “Star-lord”)  gets wrapped up in a quest for a very powerful orb of mysterious origin. Arch villain Ronan the Accuser, who seems to want nothing more than to lay waste to the Universe, predictably also covets it, as it seems to have the ability to lay waste to entire planets with great ease (who wouldn’t want that eh?).

In the battle against this totally enjoyable nemesis, Peter pulls on the support of Drax the brute, Groot (a talking tree), Rocket (a genetically alterted genius Racoon) and the green femme fatale Gamora.

The makers of the movie have employed a 70s and 80s soundtrack, featuring classics such as Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a feeling”. This is a genius move, that serves the double purpose of connecting Peter to the earth that he was taken from (he plays the songs on his old walkman). The eclectic mix of music and sci-fi scenery lends the movie incredibly personality and leads to some very funny moments, among others a dance showdown between Peter and Ronan.

I’m not going to share much more, but suffice to say I haven’t enjoyed a Hollywood-production this much in a long time. Guardians brings levity to a genre that often takes itself too seriously and has an uncanny ability to penetrate Hollywood cliches with charm.

It’s not profound (which is why I’m not doing a formal “Masculinity-Movies review”), but it’s a lot of fun.

I’d give this movie a 9 out of 10.

Have fun!