The new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy has been praised to the heavens in many quarters, with some saying it’s the best film the studio has ever produced.

Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt stars in Guardians of the Galaxy

The cast for the new movie is absolutely stellar, casting Chris Pratt as the lead alongside Zoe Saldana and with strong support from Vin Diesel, Benicio Del Toro and Bradley Cooper. But what do the naysayers think? In our experience, whenever something in modern culture is as popular as Guardians of the Galaxy, there’s almost always a critical backlash to a certain extent.

MORE: What we’re thinking ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy

Though the film currently holds an impressive approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, the online aggregator of critical and fan opinions, there are a handful of dissenters. The New York Post’s Kyle Smith is perhaps the most outspoken of the film’s detractors with the withering put-down “Guardians of the Galaxy brings to mind some of the most unforgettable sci-fi event movies of the last 30 years. Alas, those films are "Howard the Duck" and "Green Lantern."”. Which is quite possibly the meanest thing you could say about a sci-fi film.

Jake Coyle of the Associated Press also had a pop at the film, calling it "terribly overstuffed and many of the jokes get drowned out by the special effects”, going on to criticise the overkill of ‘70s anthems on the film’s soundtrack. Josh Larsen also noticed this aspect, arguing that it’s “so stuffed with pop-culture references that if you removed them the entire movie would likely collapse.” Jon Hanlon was a bit more restrained in the criticism but nevertheless felt that it “lacks the unadulterated sense of fun that was so integral to many of the earlier Marvel movies”.

However, it must be emphasised that an enormous amount of the critical reception has been positive, and it looks set to be an archetypal summer blockbuster. Guardians Of The Galaxy is released on August 1st.

Watch the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy here