Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is the sequel to the 2014-smash hit Guardians of The Galaxy. It is directed by James Gunn, who directed the previous movie.
Although the idea of a talking raccoon and a tree in a superhero movie sounded bizarre on paper, it proved to be an extremely succesful, entertaining blockbuster film. Not everyone loved it, but personally I consider it to be up there with Marvel's The Avengers and The Dark Knight as one of the greatest superhero films ever made. Despite my love for the first film, Guardians 2 was my least hyped CBM of the year, especially since we're getting a Justice League movie this year, and a Spider-Man movie that looks actually good.
That said, I was still excited to see what Gunn was going to do with the sequel, especially since he was so eager to make a movie that is different from it's predecessor, instead of trying to emulate it's success. This is the first superhero movie in years that I saw before reading ANY reviews. I've still yet to read any reviews because I wanted to give my opinion on this film without the influence of any other opinions.
Let's start off with some of the better aspects of this movie: Gunn's direction is even stronger than the first film. There are sequences in this film that ooze off a sense of confidence, life, comedy, and energy. There are scenes in which the music perfectly synchs up with what's going on screen and it's just a joy to witness. The action overall is an improvement on the first film: gone are the flat, uninventive action sequences, instead replaced with dynamic, interesting action sequences.
Remember that awesome opening of the first film where Star-Lord dances his way to the Orb to the tune of Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love."?This film somehow manages to top that opening with a phenomenal introduction. Overall, James Gunn (or whoever is responsible for the soundtrack of this film) still has a great ear for beats. The first GoTG had Hooked On A Feeling, Pina Colada and more, and this film delivers once again with a GREAT soundtrack. There are classical songs in this film I want to google up once I'm done with this review.
In terms of humour, most of the jokes in this film land, and when given good material, the returning actors predictably perform well. Pratt's performance is just as charismatic, all the while being more natural. Zoe Saldana as Gamora is a lot better than the first film, Bradley Cooper once again does a hysterical job as Rocket, and Vin Diesel as just about as good as you can be when your only lines are I, and Am, and Groot, specifically in that order. Rooker does a good job as Yondu. Bautista is good as Drax. In terms of new additions, Mantis exceeded by expectations. She was great and I hope to see her again.
That's really all there is to it guys. This movie is one of my least favourite MCU films, and certainly the most disappointing. The initial set-up: the initial conflict isn't compelling. It reminded me of Fantastic Beasts in that regard. Another CBM this movie reminded me of, and I might get flak for saying this, is the last Fantastic Four film. Most of this film is set in repetitive locations, with a tacked on, bombastic climax set in a bland environment. This film TRIES to emulate Empire Strikes Back's multi perspective structure, but the difference between this and Empire is that, that film had a compelling, gripping set-up. Plot is almost non existent for the first 1 hour and 40 minutes of the movie.
The conflict is terribly established and rushed. The structure is terrible: long periods of time pass with nothing interesting going on. Ego The Living Planet is in it, and his character is terrible. The parental relationship between Peter and his father is also simplistic and shallow. The villain is terrible. I wish I could get into more detail, but I'm trying not to spoil what little plot there is to the movie.
Although I said a lot of the humour in this film succeeded, this film is still comedically inferior to the first film. Gunn went for QUANTITY over QUALITY. A joke that is initially funny will be repeated again, and again and again until it loses it's appeal and becomes annoying. Remember how Drax cracks up laughing when Mantis reveals Star-Lord's "deepest, darkest secret"? Drax does that a LOT in this movie, to the point where he became more pretentious than endearing. He'll just burst into a fit of laughter multiple times throughout the movie. Mind you, Drax isn't the only character that does it. That's my problem with the humour in this film. Characters will say something and then crack up laughing. You know what they're doing, right? They're asking for a laugh. They're poking you and telling you this is when you should laugh.
The movie tries to be emotional, but the set-up just wasn't strong.
That's my opinion on the movie. It's a misguided attempt at doing something different from it's predecessor but it's clear Gunn doesn't have the chops to do a middle, more emotional chapter. Even the thought of seeing Ego THE LIVING PLANET, falls short of what Gunn described as "the biggest special effect in movie history." It isn't even the best special effect in this movie. If you're a Marvel fan, I think it's worth seeing it for yourself, but personally? It's up there with The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and The Dark World as one of my least favourite MCU films.
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