Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Review Thread

daniel , stop being a taserface.

Yeah, the Ego stuff didn't entirely work because it was another end-of-world bullshit but Kurt Russell was just too darn good to say that whole section fell flat. And the gold people were there to set up part 3. I don't know if you sat through the 50 end credit scenes.

They also opened the door for Michael Rooker's character and all the Rooker-Rocket scenes that daniel loves so much.

My question is did The Gold Queen steal Star Lord's DNA and will Adam Warlock end up being Star Lords Son in some way. I just have a feeling she was so desperate for revenge thats she do anything to beat the Guardians and thats Steal Starlords Blood Somehow when he was god power awakened.

I got bored today and decided to go see GotGv2 again.  It's still good, but the re-watch reminded me of something that bugged me the first time.  Ego's reason for killing Starlord's Mom doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.  Ego says that he loved her so much, that if he saw her again, he would never be able to leave her.  He would be forced to abandon the purpose he'd given himself.

Why?  Ego clearly recognizes that Meredith Quill is mortal.  She will grow old and die.  He can spend her entire lifetime together, and continue with his plans once she dies of old age.  He could even take her and their son to his planet, eliminating their time apart and ensuring that Peter would be more inclined to go along with his plans, should Peter prove to have inherited his father's powers.

This is a minor nit-pick, but Gunn really should have come up with something that would force Ego's hand that makes sense.

If Ego was lying about his feelings for Meredith, then there would be no reason to go back to Earth to kill her.

Killing her so Peter has less a reason to stay/go back to Earth would be a somewhat plausible reason.

Guardians of the Galaxy is not the highest grossing film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it might have inspired the most passionate fan-base. Before it was even released, Guardians was celebrated for being something so weird and the film itself was praised for its colourful characters, general sense of fun, and for being unique within the Marvel universe. I was a lot more reserved in my praise. Ultimately, I found the plot a little undercooked and the film adhered a lot closer to the Marvel formula than most would admit. In short, it was yet another Marvel movie where a bland villain seeking an infinitity stone to destroy the world and the heroes overcome by learning to work as a team in an overblown CGI infused climax for the fate of a planet. I liked the characters a lot though, and in my original review I compared the film to a TV pilot where a somewhat boring story is used as an excuse to introduce some fun characters. Because of this, I had hope that future movies would be able to really deliver the goods. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 does not reach the highs I had really hoped for, but it is a fun romp that improves on its predecessor in a handful of ways.

Set sometime after the original film, the Guardians of the Galaxy are now working as a mercenary team of sorts, performing odd jobs which involve battling strange creatures for high profile clients. Such actions, coupled with the Guardians’ defeat of Ronan the Accuser has brought the team to the the attention of Ego (Kurt Russell), a strange being with an interest in Guardians leader Peter Quill, aka Starlord (Chris Pratt). The team must also contend however with various powerful groups who they’ve wronged in the past, including an advanced alien race whom Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) stole from and The Ravagers, another mercenary team led by Peter’s adopted father, Yondu (Michael Rooker).

That plot synopsis perhaps makes the movie seem leaner than it actually is. If the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy was undercooked, then that of Vol. 2 is overcooked. Between the mystery of Ego, the powerful groups pursuing the Guardians, the introduction of new characters, Yondu’s disgrace at the hands of other Ravager captains, Nebula (Karen Gillian) seeking vengeance on her adopted sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the introduction of new characters like Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and the internal issues within the Guardians themselves, the film is a little overstuffed. That isn’t to say that a lot of these elements aren’t enjoyable. The conflicts within the team work well enough and are a natural extension of the characters in the first film. I also really enjoyed the new characters introduced. Mantis brings a nice comedic dynamic and Kurt Russell also does really great work as Ego. I was less fond of Yondu’s backstory, which seemed like a forced attempt to set up future movies. I was happy to see Gamora and Nebula’s story advance, though admittedly this seemed like something which should have been in the first movie.

While these subplots and side stories do have their merit, they also serve to bury the main story for much of the film. For all of the film’s plotting, there doesn’t actually seem to be much of a story driving Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In the third act however, the villain is revealed and proves to be the best of any MCU film. This is meant as a reveal so I will speak vaguely to avoid spoilers, but the character is compelling in a number of ways. On the simplest level, the performance given is both charismatic and contains an appropriate menace, but the character also has an interesting perspective which justifies extremely violent and destructive actions in a calmly rational way and I also think the villain mirrors the inner conflict within the Guardians nicely. And as the cherry on top, there is a clear emotional connection between the character and the Guardians which make these scenes all the more. This is a really great villain, but unfortunately, most of this is reserved for the third act. By the time the character is fully revealed, it’s basically time for the climax. I would have liked the central conflict here to be explored in more depth.

James Gunn returns as a writer and director here and continues to do good work. I’ve long complained about the Marvel movies for their lack of visual imagination, but that isn’t the case with Gunn’s Guardians films. At times, Vol. 2 is straight up beautiful, featuring some dazzling colours, cool alien designs, great make-up effects, and some very confident shots. The film’s sense of humour is also pretty sharp. The general tone is pretty light and there are definitely some good laughs to be found here. At times, I do think the film maybe indulges in humour a little too much, often undercutting potential tension or drama in favour of a laugh, but the execution is stylish and the wit often strong so I can’t complain too much. If there’s one thing I think Gunn could stand to improve on, it’s his action scenes. While the action here is mostly serviceable, they are all too often drowned and CGI to the point of lacking humanity and breaking the rules of reality. As a result, I find myself disconnected from the scene and unable to invest myself. Consider an early scene where the Guardians ship crash lands from space to the surface of a planet with Drax hanging out of the back and landing completely unscathed. I realize this is a comic book movie, and a comedic one at that, but leaps so large break my suspension of disbelief.

This review probably reads pretty harsh and I do think Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a very flawed movie, but all the same I definitely enjoyed my time with it. The fact that it has a genuinely great villain and an emotionally charged climax goes a long way. Beyond that, the humour generally works really well and at the end of the day these characters are still a lot of fun. There is room for improvement for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Personally, I’d like to see a leaner story, a stronger balance of humour and drama, and more grounded action sequences. Still, Vol. 2 is definitely a step in the right direction. For whatever problems the movie has, it is indeed a fun film and in its best moments, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 provides some of the best content Marvel has offered so far.

B

Comic book films aren't really my thing, and yet with the constant wave of them that we've been subjected to for the last decade it's difficult not to get swept up in them from time to time and even walk away very impressed. That was how I felt about the original Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a film that was edgier in its humor than its Marvel counterparts and the characters were far from the household names that generally have graced the big screen. The film embodied the best that comic book films offer in terms of sheer scale and entertainment but also had a lot of heart and deviated from the stock characters and retread origin stories that often plague many films in the genre. Inevitably, the sequel was made, and while the fun and entertainment certainly remained intact there's something missing this time around and it's hard not to be a bit disappointed by what could have been compared to what we got.

The film wastes no time in springing into action as we open on the Guardians fighting a giant alien while Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) dances around in the foreground. It was a very fun way to reintroduce us to the characters while also showing off the film's dazzling visuals and keen sense of humor. It also is a solid indicator of what the rest of the film will entail as it essentially boils itself down to big action pieces that contain lots of laughs and very little plot. The main plot revolves around Starlord (Chris Pratt) meeting his supposed father, Ego (Kurt Russell), who is a sort of demigod that has found the key to eternal life through creating and staying on his giant planet. There, Starlord begins to unlock his own god-like potential while also attempting to juggle his somewhat concealed (after a very funny sequence where his secret is brought to light) secret admiration for Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Drax (Dave Bautista) is also with them and along with Baby Groot provides the bulk of the film's laughs. James Gunn clearly has gone all in with Drax's character to make him the unabashedly blunt comic relief, and to be honest I never tired of his hilarious insights and one-liners. The rest of the Guardians are scattered about dealing with Yondu's (Michael Rooker) fallout and never really seem to hook themselves into the main storyline, but their endeavors are amusing even if they don't really contain much value.

Ego proves to be a worthy enough adversary, but really it's hard not to come away from his storyline with Starlord feeling a bit underwhelmed. The film goes all in on laughs and action and forgoes an interesting plot as a result. While the first film's biggest weakness is also its thin plot and villain, it benefitted from feeling a lot fresher than the sequel and also was more focused in its pacing and storytelling while Starlord acquires each member of the team and they move towards their hurdles, for the most part, together. I wanted more time and focus on Ego and Starlord and much, much less on Yondu and Rocket's escapades which really sucked up a huge chunk of the film to little effect. The father-son dynamic isn't fleshed out very well, and the reveal later on feels too easy. The film is also overly sentimental in the wrong places. I kept wondering after why the film devotes so much time towards this. I mean, are we really supposed to care that much? I certainly didn't. It's not like he was even one of the central characters really. Gunn is a better writer than what he delivers here, which is essentially a tacky "my real father was you all along" that felt cheap. I understand I'm going on about this, but I'll reiterate that the exorbitant amount of time that's spent on Yondu really should've gone towards the events on Ego's planet. It just didn't work for me like it should have, and despite the strong amount of laughs and visual thrills that the film offers, the story is underwhelming and the character's arcs never rise above pure sap or pure comedy. The original film did a much better job of balancing all of these elements, and Gunn's lack of restraint hurts the film overall.

Despite my criticisms I did have a good time watching the film in terms of pure blockbuster entertainment. While it fails to live up to the original in every department, the sequel still boasts some very clever dialogue on the humor side and the best production value and effects that money can buy. The cast is terrific and it's great to see how well they've sunk into their characters for the second go around. The plot, villain, and themes of the film remain flimsy and the film also disappointed in resorting to cheap sentimentalism, but the film still has a lot to offer for its more forgiving viewers.

7/10

Okay, so I re-watched the first one again the other night, and...I might actually prefer the second.  The first is still good and everything, but it's more concerned about humor and thrills/action, whereas the sequel has more of an emotional component at the center of its story, plus a much better villain.  Also, I might actually prefer the soundtrack of the sequel, too.

And it was a throwaway joke that worked.  Not all of the humor in Vol. 2 works, but the majority of it lands better for me, plus the story is more personal.  The story of the first, as good as the movie is, is pret-ty thin.