I had a really great time watching “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The soundtrack was well-chosen, the visual effects were consistently interesting and on top of it all, the film was refreshingly fun.

After stealing a mysterious orb from an abandoned planet, human Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt, becomes the target of bounty hunters and assassins also seeking the orb. Soon after he discovers the true nature of the orb, he and a group of outlaws self-described as the “Guardians of the Galaxy” set out to keep the orb out of the hands of vicious alien warlord Ronan, played by Lee Pace, and protect the universe from his dark plans.

One of the most enjoyable things about “Guardians of the Galaxy” was how funny it was. I love superhero films, but I felt that “Amazing Spider-Man 2” lost a lot of the charm that the character Spider-Man had in the comics because it took itself too seriously. In “Guardians,” the film is acutely aware that two of the leads are a talking raccoon, played pitch-perfectly by Bradley Cooper, and a tree with a limited vocabulary, played by Vin Diesel. There were plenty of tense and even sad moments as well, but the film never lost sight of its comedic core.

The cast worked very well together, and I was especially impressed by Dave Bautista as space brute Drax. Besides a few choice performances from Dwayne Johnson, wrestlers don’t generally make great actors, but Batista delivered in the funny scenes and was especially impressive in the more somber moments of the film. I’ve been a big fan of Pace since his role on ABC’s “Pushing Daisies,” and he really imposing as Ronan. I can definitely see this and his role in “The Hobbit” series bringing him a lot more villainous roles in the near future because he does them so well.

There really wasn’t a part of this film I didn’t enjoy. It had such a joyful, charming atmosphere that many modern films seem to disregard in favor of being gritty and dark. Not all comic movies can be “The Dark Knight,” and this film embodies the idea that big budget films don’t have to be to be great. Even the fact that the film made you care about the civilian lives when they were in danger was refreshing to see.

My recommendation is to see this movie on the big screen. I laughed, I cried — I loved it. It’s a Marvel movie, so it has an after credits scene, and although it’s not as major as Nick Fury’s cameo at the end of “Ironman 2,” I got a kick out of it.

5 out of 5 Stars