Chris Pratt is a space guy who flies around and steals things. He is asked by some other space guy to steal this orby thing from a desert place. Whilst doing so some other space guys turn up and say 'hey that orb belongs to the guy from Pushing Daisies, give it back'. Chris doesn't give it back and instead runs to a planet where Bradley Cooper as a racoon, Vin Diesel as a tree and Zoe Saldana as kermits daughter are all after him, the orb or a combination of the two. They have a noisy fight and get arrested and sent to a nasty prison for nasty people. Here they meet Dave Batista, yeh Dave Batista the wrestler, who is a nutjob prisoner. The five of them decide to break out due to a mutual hatred of Pushing Daisies. They make a brief stop at Benicio Del Toros house, bad idea, before heading out to give lots of aliens a right old slap in the noise maker.
The concept, premise, cast list and source material for this film are all, on paper, asking for a fall. The original comic was a minor cult hit at best, being overshadowed by its older, more successful Marvel siblings. It is odd then that Marvel decided to turn this little known band of misfits into a fully fledged film. The cast list also has its moments of bravery in casting a wrestler with little to no acting pedigree, Dave Batista, and a first time leading man in Chris Pratt. Thankfully it gives me massive pleasure to say that everything works and then some. Chris Pratt is a revelation in the leading role and holds his own brilliantly. He embodies the cocky character of 'Starlord' completely and brings the charm in spades. Cooper and Diesel provide their voice talents and do a great job of making you care about a racoon and a tree and Saldana is as good as ever as the green skinned assassin. The real surprise however is Dave Batista who fits into his role very snuggly. Admittedly his character is meant to be wooden in his delivery but Dave has surprisingly good comic timing and provides some of the films best laughs. This brings me onto the laughs which are plenty and effective. Marvel are known for injecting humour into their films but they also have a real core of seriousness. This film is different and is meant to have a lighter tone to it. This is no bad thing and I had so much fun watching this film unfold. There is a lot to be said for a film just being fun to watch and I for one will be buying this when it comes out on dvd and watching it again and again. I can't finish this review without a small mention for the soundtrack which is just brilliant. I won't mention the songs used as I want them to be a surprise but all of them are classics and are used perfectly. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Well done Marvel.
Verdict: 5/5
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