One of the drawbacks of the school holidays is that the choice of films in the cinemas is restricted to blockbuster action movies targeted at teenagers, or animations aimed at children. There's little depth or humour, and when these are used, there's a tendency to batter the audience over the head with them.
    On the face of it, Guardians of the Galaxy is no different, and my expectations of it were low. I looked forward to 90 minutes of fairly mindless action and noise with caricatures instead of rounded characters. I soon reviewed my opinion. The film has a delightful streak of whimsy that makes it more than a little bonkers and sets it apart from the norm. It's based on the Marvel Comics characters. None of them are superheroes and only the villain is wholly predictable. Stereotypes and clichés abound, but they are subverted by pure silliness. Even the 70s music was bearable.
    My favourite character was Groot, who reminded me of Terry Pratchett's librarian of Unseen University in the Discworld novels. The librarian was turned into an orang-utan by a spontaneous burst of magic. All he ever says is 'ook' but the reader knows exactly what he means. Make sure you keep your seat during the end credits. Marvel Comics films usually include a final treat to reward those who watch to the finish, and they've outdone themselves this time.
    Guardians of the Galaxy is one action film I could happily watch more than once.