“We’re just like Kevin Bacon!”

James Gunn has done the impossible: the former Troma director has recaptured the gleeful joy of old-school summer blockbusters and packaged it for modern sensibilities. Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a giddy, punk rock-infused work of pop art, blissfully aware of how pulpy it is—and damn proud of it. The director caught lightning in a bottle with this film, and it’s the most fun you’ll have at the movies all summer.

Expanding the Marvel universe to galactic reaches, Guardians begins on earth as young Peter Quill watches helplessly as his mother dies of cancer. Understandably distraught, he runs from the hospital—only to be abducted by aliens. Now an adult, and played by Chris Pratt, Quill lives as a ravager—a thief traveling from star to star, stealing things and selling them to the highest bidder. He even has a code name for himself—Star-Lord. He’s proud of the name; no one else seems to be impressed.

Quill ends up stealing a mysterious orb, which sets in motion several characters: the genocide-spreading Ronan (Lee Pace, as far removed from Ned the Pie Maker as ever) wants the orb, and he sends the assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to get it from Quill. Also looking for Quill are two bounty hunters, Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voice of Vin Diesel). The fact that Rocket is a genetically altered raccoon and Groot is a walking, talking tree only adds to the fun. Quill, Gamora, Rocket and Groot may start as enemies, but it’s not long before our main characters have all teamed up with one goal: to finally start giving a shit about something. Soon the four of them end up in prison—where the blunt-speaking Drax (Dave Bautista) joins their motley crew.

Let me be honest: the plot of this film does not matter. Normally, that can be terrible, and it can sink a movie. But Guardians makes so much with so little; its plot is paltry and threadbare, because the plot isn’t what’s driving this film. Instead, it’s the characters. This is the most character-driven ensemble film Marvel has ever made—yes, even more so than The Avengers.

Everyone is hitting his or her mark to perfection here. Pratt, as Quill, is a bonafide movie star. It’s amazing to think that the goofy guy from Parks and Recreation could fit so perfectly into leading-man status, but Pratt wonderfully demonstrates how much he can do. Quill is still in Pratt’s “goofy lunk-head” wheelhouse, but it’s mixed elegantly with roguish charm; think Han Solo meets Peter Venkman. But Pratt isn’t the sole focus of this film; all of his fellow Guardians have a lot to work with. Saldana, as Gamora, is cool and tough, but with a touch of sweetness — a killer with a heart of gold, if you will. Diesel gets a ton of mileage out of just uttering three words over and over through the whole movie. Bautista is a delight as Drax; going into the film I had a feeling this would be the weakest character in the film, but the script, and Bautista’s performance, surprised me. His dead-pan delivery of Drax’s lines—he always says what he means, and metaphors are lost on him—endear the character to us.

However, the scene-stealer of the film is unquestionably Rocket, with Cooper’s voice performance. This probably won’t be a huge surprise to anyone, seeing as if you go into a movie knowing there’s a talking, gun-toting raccoon, then you probably have a good idea it’s at least going to be amusing. But there are so many layers to the character that it’s almost shocking. Never in my life would I have thought I’d consider a CGI raccoon to be a fully fleshed-out character with more humanity than most humans, but Guardians of the Galaxy pulls it off. Cooper’s delivery is hilarious, and I would wager that every single comedic line he hurled landed perfectly with the audience in the cinema with me. This is going to be a character people talk about for a long time.

Without a doubt, this is hands-down my favorite Marvel movie. It may not be the best Marvel movie, but I honestly cannot recall the last time I had this much fun watching a film. As things progressed at whiplash-inducing speed, and jokes came fast and furious to the point that some of them got lost under the audience’s continued joyful laughter, I found myself grinning like a child. I became wholly aware that I was going to get everything I could possibly ask for from this movie, and more. There’s some sort of magic on display here; it grabs hold of you, and wraps you up, and takes you to places you’ve longed to see. If it sounds like I’m gushing over this film, that’s because I am. You couldn’t possibly ask for a better pulpy, silly, smart, ass-kicking blockbuster than this film. Not in this day and age, at least.

Gunn’s direction is confident to the extreme. This is the biggest budget he’s ever had to work with, and he uses it like a kid who has finally been given all the toys he could ever want. Take notes, Michael Bay: this is how you direct a big goofy summer movie—with real heart and energy, and most of all, with enthusiasm. As the film rolls, you can almost hear Gunn thinking: “I can’t believe they’re letting me do all of this!” He’s having a ball, and we’re right there along with him. Rumors abound that Joss Whedon wants to leave the Marvel world after The Avengers 2, so they’re going to need a new director. Hey, Marvel, might I suggest Mr. James Gunn? He would hit it out of the park.

The camera has a life of its own in this film, but never to the point that we’re confused by the action; it’s all right up there on the screen. Gunn peppers the film with an absolutely killer soundtrack featuring David Bowie, The Runaways, Jackson 5, Blue Swede, Marvin Gaye, and more, and he expertly fits this music into the film through a long-running plot point about a so-called “Awesome Mix” tape that Quill still carries around from his previous life on earth.

Nonetheless, there are some chinks in the armor. This is not a perfect movie. The fact that the film is so briskly paced works to its advantage, but there are a few occasions where, to save time, characters simply blurt out what has to happen next. This feels a little cheap and a bit like cheating. But those moments are few and far between, to the point that you won’t be totally put off by them. Former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan makes the most of her role–that of Gamora’s wicked sister Nebula–but this is perhaps the most underwritten character in the film. It feels like she’s being set-up for sequels, which is all well and good, but how about a little bit more of her here? The same goes for Benicio Del Toro’s Collector character: while he has a lot of wonderfully goofy menace about him, he plays almost no real part in the story. Even Lee Pace’s Ronan, who has the most to do of all the bad guys in the film, isn’t really much of a character, but rather more of a delivery system for a series of prosy, ominous lines. Pace is just so good in the role that it’s easy to let this slide.

Flaws aside, Guardians of the Galaxy is a film that takes your expectations and does remarkable things with them. You have a pretty good idea going into the film what you’re going to get, and the film delivers it—but it does so in ways you would never predict. This is a bonkers Looney Toons cartoon come to glorious, neon-colored life. This is Star Wars and Spaceballs somehow occupying the same exact movie. This is every lunatic child’s sugar high-induced concept of what comic books should be. This is the best movie of the summer, and it’s not a minute too late.

Bring on the sequels.