Guardians of the Galaxy took the record for the highest box office opening weekend for an August film in history.

Guardians had so much working against it: an unknown name, a silly concept, and an even stranger comedic advertising. Many people were questioning if it was a parody of the Avengers. But my goodness did it pack a punch.

Note: I keep these reviews spoiler free, and from a perspective usually knowledgeable with the source material.

Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in outer space. Its time line runs chronologically with the phase two release dates.

What I mean by that is it takes place after Winter Soldier. Not some crazy prequel time paradox. What galaxy are we in? It never defines but we can assume our own galaxy given the tie-ins to the previous films.

In this film, we follow Peter Quill, an orphan raised by intergalactic bandits, an assassin named Gammora, the vengeful Drax the Destroyer, a lab experimented raccoon named Rocket, and his best friend Groot.

If this sounds like a strange assembly of individuals, it’s because it should be.

Throughout the film, we see the reoccurring theme of family from characters that have all lost something very important to them. The film tells the story of the loners learning how to trust one another and become a family. The film does a great job delivering some very touching and emotional back story (Quill may leave you in tears).

But this balances out with laugh-out-loud humor that may make this the most quotable film since Mean Girls.

Not only is this easily one of (if not the) funniest Marvel films to date, but it is also one of the most explosive. The climactic battle is reminiscent of Star Wars in the way it utilizes space ships/jets etc. Director James Gunn creates a beautiful symphony delivering heartfelt emotion, razor sharp humor, memorable action, and an enormous scale.

The sound track itself will have viewers singing and dancing through the moment they get home after the film.

Is it perfect? No. There were times where I wish they could have numbed down the comedy in order to let some emotion sink deeper. The villain is about as weak as Malikith from Thor 2. However, I wasn’t bothered that much since he is more of a plot device than the actual obstacle which the main characters overcame through trust and friendship.