I saw this tonight at a pre-screening and I really enjoyed it! Here's my copy-pasted thoughts from Letterboxd:

Despite some ABYSMAL 3D projection that made the movie unwatchable for the first 10 minutes, until I figured out that flipping the glasses upside-down fixed everything, this is the most I've enjoyed a Marvel movie in a while. Gunn's direction is far more dynamic (and visually coherent) than Winter Soldier and the story is comprehensible unlike in Thor: The Dark World. All these Marvel movies have identical visual palettes, but the outer space setting allows for some really fun production design. You can tell that they've been waiting to do this one for a while.

The script is what really shines, though. Tellingly, it's also the area where Gunn seems to have been allowed free reign. The titular Guardians are actual, honest-to-god characters, rather than Quip Machines, and everything about them comes from deep-seated pain. Forget Avengers 2, give me more of these guys. The movie nails it tonally, too. There are touches here and there of self-aware humor, but it doesn't dominate the film. Give me more of this over the barrage of solemn self-serious blockbusters we're constantly subjected to these days. This movie embraces its silliness, but never loses its heart.

I was close to giving this 3.5 stars, because the space battles are dull and it's disappointingly beholden to the rest of the Marvel Universe, but you know what? Fuck it. I got a real kick out of this film. I'm willing to bet you will too.

Best movie of the decade....

"Life is about movies; anything else is a bonus!"- Me   

Ya Buscemi woulda been perfect for that

I definitely understand Trey's first point - because as a huge fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics (and more importantly the storylines that lead before the team got their own book) it was way easier for me to get. I know these characters, items and events, so it's more just seeing how they're slotted in to this take on the universe, and while I really enjoyed the film as a whole, there was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind about how confused people who weren't me were.

As a fan of the series, I was just happy to be in a theater watching a movie of this property, as I never in a million years would have thought it would happen. While waiting for the post-credit scene two kids next to me talked excitedly about the characters (mainly Groot, Rocket and Drax) and it validated my entire investment in the series for me.

You have to remember the actors from the first wave of films signed contracts that only committed them to a certain number of films. Once those are up, I'm sure Marvel has a plan to blow the movie universe up and recast everyone. This could be the start of that.

That movie was *awesome*