Guardians of the Galaxy Forgets to Be as Awesome as It Should Be

I miss a lot of superhero movies these days. How could you possibly not? But I was genuinely excited about the offbeat and obscure Guardians of the Galaxy.

Unfortunately, it ends up mostly being a cheap knock-off of Star Wars (which is certainly better than a cheap knock-off of most things). Root is a mix of Chewbacca and C3PO. Peter Quill aka Star-Lord is a mix of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Zamora is Princess Leia. I don't know what the raccoon Rocket is. And Drax is the Thing meets Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Quill (played by the always-likable Chris Pratt) is the only one who really gets a backstory. His mother dies back on Earth and he didn't give her a proper goodbye. After aliens abduct him, the only thing he has to hold on to his Earth family with is a Walkman with the songs of the 70s that his mom loved, like "Hooked On a Feeling" and "Come and Get Your Love." The soundtrack, needless to say, is one of the best things about the film.

The humor works most of the time and the bad guys are also a hoot to watch, especially the Star Wars-like Ronan and blue-skinned Yondu. The backstory on the characters and the plot of everyone chasing a silly little orb around the galaxy are where Guardians falters. By the second half, the story really drags down the entire production.

A few seemingly easy fixes and this one could have been a classic.

*** out of ***** stars

Non-Flashy Sci-Fi Her Offers Endlessly Sad Portrait of Love

Her was nominated for best picture at the Oscars last year and rightfully lost to 12 Years a Slave.

Still, I really love the concept by music-video-director-examplar Spike Jonze. The classic sci-fi plot of machine overtaking man is taken to fascinating psychological extremes, with Scarlett Johansson's playful and sexy voice as the operating system that the weird and exotic Juaquin Phoenix falls for hard.

The two turn in wonderful performances, as does Juanquin's sympathetic friend played by Amy Adams and the hilariously clueless Chris Pratt as one of his colleagues.

The way we all stare at our cellphones as we walk down the street makes this story seem like a near-future possibility. The massive and futuristic Los Angeles setting is also captivating, as are the goofball 50s pants worn by most of the male characters. That Phoenix basically falls in love with his cell phone/desktop is endlessly sad, but it is indeed a bit of a stinging metaphor for our burgeoning relations with our technology over the past 20 years or so.

Her moves a little slowly in places and sometimes unfolds like a long music video. Luckily, Arcade Fire's soundtrack treatment is gorgeous. For fans of Jones' works like Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are, and for lovers of non-special-effects sci-fi, this flick is a can't miss.

****1/2 out of ***** stars