Before I talk about guardians of the galaxy, I need to make a small rant about Disney+. The IMAX mode for Disney+ really ruined the viewer experience for me this time around and now I think this mode have made me unnecessary hate on other Disney+ movies because I really thought these movies tried to pull off an aspect ratio change. So as far as I understand the movie will change aspect ratio when the companies feel like the experience will enhance in widescreen. Sometimes this is for one shot that lasts maybe 2 seconds and then changes back. Please remove this, it´s distracting and pretentious. Anyways, back to the actual review.

It´s fun to go back to this movie and really feel how restraint James Gunn most have been. Guardians of the Galaxy is as how I remembered it, a bland sci-fi movie having too much going on for it´s own good. I understand the love for this Marvel property as no one saw this movie to really be anything and then being surprised it was something. The themes are good for this movie, but this is the definition of Marvel creatively hijacking a movie and just making it nothing. The dialogue is bland, the ideas are rushed and I´m disappointed a little more every time I watch it, because I can clearly see what the movie wants to do and only halfway doing it.

Peter Quill was abducted as a child from earth and is now a space mercenary tasked to retrieve an orb. In a conflict of interest, a rag tag team of mercenaries are captured and most now help each other to escape prison, retrieve the orb and save the galaxy.

I think what really makes this movie stand out is the unlikely heroes within it. This is not your typical good guy superheroes, these are murders and thieves, coming together because this is their best chance of winning. Drax as the chaotic aggressor, Peter as the trying to be leader, Gamora as the quite secret keeper and Rocket as the chaotic force, all most try to make this unlikely alliance work. I think this movies version of Groot is the best as the heart of the group, I also really like Rocket in this movie and the rest of the gang will develop more and better in later movies in my opinion.

The CGI hasn't aged that well in some aspects and aged okay in others. I think the practical effects are what makes the world more believable and characters like Groot still look good today. Rockey looks a bit stiffer, and the wide shots of cities don't look good now. The spaceships and space fights look fine now. What makes the movie stand out a bit ore is the different space locations and Gunns portrayal of space looking really colorful and beautiful.

I wish this was more than just a setup movie. It´s hard not to make it that since this is an origin story, but it feels so slabbed on and no organically integrated into the movie at all. Characters don't talk like people but like scripts and fire of exposition after exposition and it just doesn't land with me. I also wish the movie used more time to develop its surrounding plots. Space politics are kind of just thrown at us and we are supposed to believe the villain cares about this when we as the audience barely get to know it. The villain is not well integrated into the plot and just seems like a big bad for big bads sake.

The action in this movie doesn't really work for me either. The fighting is for the most time poorly edited and the spaceship fights genuinely leave me numb. Maybe I haven't been told to care enough for these characters, but I just don't feel like anything whenever space fighting is happening. Maybe it´s because it´s hard to communicate visual damage to spaceships, but I never felt excited when space battles were happening. It´s also fun to go back and really realize how many of these Marvel movie ends in the big battle trope. It´s just too formulaic and they still do it till this day. This is one of the grand battles I really didn't care for and just sat emotionless to, which has happened more and more frequent with the Marvel end battles.

The acting is a bit meh here. I think the best performances are by Dave Bautista as Drax that brings good comedic elements to his role and Bradley Cooper as Rocket that definitely brings the most emotion to his role. While the dialogue is hard to deliver for this movie, I fell like Cooper did an okay job with it, even though he also is cursed with the "reading of a script" feel at times. The same could be said about Peter and Gamora that really didn't blend into the movie for me that well. I feel like their performances are underwhelming and they feel like they don't want to be here for the most part. The costumes are cool though.

The humor is hit or miss here but I feel like it works better for this movie than so many other Marvel movies. I think the comedic value of Drax is the best, and they understand how to make a straight man funny.

The soundtrack and score is really good. There are two or three good scores, and the use of songs are a part of this movies DNA. The songs feels fitting and really elevates so many scenes and makes them memorable.

I think what frustrates me the most is that I see the potential for a strong and meaningful story and the idea of finding family and friends though trauma, I just don't believe it here. This movie is too busy being a setup movie that it undermines the friendship and alliance accept and all of a sudden, these characters are best friends. It feels unearned and I think Gunn would have wanted more of this, but hey this is an infinity stone movie we need all the time in the world to set all of this up. But there are glimpses of something genuinely good here. Peter working with his childhood trauma and only really moving on after getting a new family, that's really good, and more of the movie should have been dedicated to this journey.

Guardians left me like it has before, like this movie could be something cool, but falls into the common Marvel tropes that makes it feel like just another brick in the Marvel wall. To much of this movie is just setup and not really focusing on telling a contained story with excellent themes. I was left more or less numb by the movie.