'Guardians Of The Galaxy' Wins Big In The Critics Choice Awards And Leads Other Comic Book Adaptations In The Oscars

Marvel Studios won big with its latest offering "Guardians of the Galaxy" in this year's Critics Choice Awards. The latest comic book adaptation brought home two gongs for "Best Action Movie" and "Best Makeup." The film was also nominated but failed to secure wins in the following categories: "Best Visual Effects," "Best Actor in an Action Movie (Chris Pratt)" and "Best Actress in an Action Movie (Zoe Saldana)."

In the "Best Action Movie" category, "Guardians of the Galaxy" edged out other strong contenders like fellow superhero movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." The other nominees included "American Sniper," "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Fury." Meanwhile, for the "Best in Makeup" category, the Marvel film triumphed over such films as Angelina Jolie's "Sleeping Beauty" spin-off "Maleficent." The other contenders included the third instalment of "The Hobbit" franchise entitled "Battle of the Five Armies" as well as "Into the Woods" and "Foxcatcher."

For "Best Visual Effects," the film was defeated by "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." For the "Best Actor in an Action Film" category, Chris Pratt lost out to Bradley Copper from "American Sniper." The other nominees in this category included superstars like Tom Cruise who was nominated for his role in "Edge of Tomorrow" and Brad Pitt who was nominated for "Fury." Chris Evans of "Captain America" was also nominated.

In the "Best Actress in an Action Film Category," Zoe Saldana lost out to Emily Blunt who won for her role in "Edge of Tomorrow." The other nominees were Scarlett Johansson ("Lucy"), Jennifer Lawrence ("The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1") and Shailene Woodley ("Divergent).

The real big winners for the night were "Boyhood" which secured the "Best Picture" accolade among four other awards. "Birdman" won seven gongs including two for lead actor Michael Keaton who received both awards for the over-all "Best Actor" award and "Best Actor in a Comedy."

"Guardians of the Galaxy" also leads the pack for Marvel Studios' list of comic book adaptations in the much anticipated Oscar Awards. The film is nominated for "Best Visual Effects" and "Best Makeup and Hairstyling." Unfortunately, it will go up against fellow Marvel films "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past" in the visual effects competition. The 87^th Annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015.

Contact the writer at: c.caparras@ibtimes.com.au