A little bit Star Wars, a little bit Avengers and a whole lot of funny, Guardians of the Galaxy is the first Marvel comic book adaptation to take the action and adventure to outer space.
On the day his mother dies, young Peter Quill (Pratt) is zapped into a spaceship and taken away from earth forever, brought up by a group of intergalactic mercenaries and thieves. Armed with just a Walkman playing seventies and eighties pop tunes to remind him of home, the grown up Quill steals for a living but gets more than he bargained for when he grabs an orb that could destroy galaxies. Reluctantly teamed with a rag-tag group of misfits – green-skinned murderess Gamora (Saldana), muscleman Drax (Bautista), walking tree Groot (Diesel) and wise-cracking raccoon Rocket (Cooper) – he has to stop the sphere falling into the hands of evil Ronan (Pace).
Fast-paced and packed with terrific moments – the jailbreak and first encounter with space thief Quill are both treats – Guardians is huge fun, filled with the great special effects we’ve come to expect from Marvel comic book movies. Pratt, who could be son of Han Solo here (a missed opportunity perhaps?), is the right mix of comic lead and anti-hero, while Cooper and Diesel steal the show with their vocalisations of Rocket and Groot. A real blast of a summer movie.
Marvel fans should note that this movie doesn’t have a sneaky extra scene at the end of the final credits.
Is Guardians Of The Galaxy suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Younger children may find the opening scene, in which Peter’s mother dies and he is abducted, upsetting.
The under-9s may also find Ronan and his army scary.
Parents should also note the movie does have some swearing but the fight scenes are bloodless.
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