In my brief time as a film critic blogger, I have never been so eager to see a movie as this one.

What’s It About? Five misfit spacefarers are forced to join together to defend the galaxy from an unimaginable power.

STRAIGHT UP: Nearly perfect Flash Gordon/Star Wars-style sci-fi. 9.5/10

What I Liked

Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon – Star-Lord gets top billing, but I felt that Rocket was the real star of the show. With swagger, sarcasm, and loads of heavy weaponry, he stole every scene. Rocket is an impressive technical achievement, too – if he’s not equal to Gollum as an expressive, fully lifelike CG character, then he’s not far behind.

Dave Bautista as Drax – I’m a dedicated pro wrestling fan, so imagine my surprise when my least-favorite wrestler ever ended up being one of the best parts of this movie. I felt that Drax, with all his quirks, was the most charming character of the bunch.

A galaxy of wonder – Few things speak directly to my heart like a vivid, colorful sci-fi setting. GotG‘s imaginative locations and diverse palette far outstrip the usual action movie browns and grays (or oranges and teals).

Crisp, coherent storytelling – Considering the circumstances, this wasn’t a given. GotG throws around a lot of unfamiliar concepts (e.g. names of alien races, major galactic landmarks, etc.) and could have easily gotten lost in the explaining. Instead, the screenplay provides just enough context to avoid confusion, then moves on.

Actually a good comedy – This is legitimately the funniest dialogue in any Marvel production, which is added value to the movie’s playful tone.

The grand finale – The battle to save the Nova homeworld, Xandar, is maybe the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen in a Marvel movie (yes, including the Battle of New York from The Avengers).

What I Disliked

Misuse of a great soundtrack – Look, I love the classic hits of the ’80s as much as the next guy, but GotG seems to play whatever is on Star-Lord’s mixtape regardless of whether it fits the scene. What does “Hooked on a Feeling” have to do with serving time in a space prison? “Cherry Bomb” when the heroes suit up for the final battle? The music kind of took me out of the movie a few times.

Every dancing reference – I was prepared to handle a lot of cheese, but these moments were too much for me. Hard to believe that was all it took to distract Ronan…

CLOSING THOUGHT: I’m not surprised that this turned out to be a great movie. In fact, I expected it to be great just based on the fact that it was filmed at all. Think about it – there are plenty of people out there who know just enough about, say, Superman or Spider-Man to be able to put together a half-baked script; and there are plenty of studios who will film that script, knowing that the title alone will drive business. For a C-list property like Guardians, though? A major studio like Disney wasn’t going to produce that unless the initial screenplay was amazing. Indeed, this is an A+ effort, and an interesting contrast to Marvel’s other major hit this year, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. If that movie was a bold fusion recipe, then this one is a traditional favorite cooked to perfection.

Metaphor.