Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Review

136min

Genre:       Comic-Book, Action, Adventure, Comedy

Director:    James Gunn

Cast:         Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Kurt Russell…and more

Writers:     James Gunn, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning… and more

-Synopsis-

The Galaxy’s move beloved misfits are back!, now finding themselves celebrities after saving billions from the whims of the evil ‘Ronan’, determined to keep the Galaxy safe from a growing threat while uncovering the mysterious origins of their self-declared fearless leader ‘Peter Quill’.

After cosmically expanding the Marvel universe, and introducing most of the movie-going world to a whole host of new heroes with 2014’s hugely entertaining ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’—James Gunn returns to the writer’s room and director’s chair to go bigger and weirder, wrangling a huge cast and crew and applying Disney’s big bucks to this galactic soap opera . . . and an almighty dysfunctional family feud.

Chris Pratt return as Quill (aka Star-Lord) and Zoe Saldana as ‘Gamora’ to lead this merry band of misfits, as the Guardians hilariously struggle to make a family out of their menagerie while taking advantage of their newfound fame to become galaxy savers for-hire. When their latest job goes sour, they unexpectedly encounter Quill’s long-lost father ‘Ego’ (Kurt Russell)—a powerful god-like alien—who gives his estranged son a new purpose away from his adoptive family escapades, but at a great cost as our lead Guardian discovers that resolving his daddy issues may not be the cathartic experience it’s cracked up to be.

Following up the unexpected global success of the first ‘Guardians’—a film which delighted audiences with its zany blend of quirky characters, irreverent humour and huge action sequences—was always going to be a daunting task for Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel. Gone is the novelty of surprising the majority of its audience with a tone of comic-book movie which breathed new life into the genre, and in comes a huge amount of anticipation from a now expectant and entitled public—but thankfully for the most part writer/director Gunn & co. manage to deliver.

Much like its predecessor but perhaps even more so, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ is centred around a meticulously selected soundtrack of classic pop, rock and soul tunes (Awesome Mix Vol 2), with the music even playing a role within a narrative which lays the nostalgia on thickly. It overtly references pop-culture influences and feels to some extent like a huge-budget Marvel tribute to 80’s action films—which makes the casting of Kurt Russell and indeed his ‘Tango & Cash’ partner Mr. Stallone in a cameo even more appropriate.

As you might expect with an inflated budget the visuals are lavish and extravagant throughout, with a more trippy aesthetic which at times makes it seem like we’re witnessing a quirky James Gunn fever dream, once again scored by Tyler Bates (300, Watchmen) and set to a bitchin’ soundtrack. The action set-pieces are elaborate and massive in scale, infused with signature Guardians humour of course, but this time broken up by attempts at poignancy, as the writers try to flesh out our heroes and introduce more drama.

While the first film was about these disparate rogues coming together and becoming a dysfunctional family of sorts, this one is about keeping that family together while adding some unlikely new members, and employing a major tonal shift to do so. Every character faces their own personal issues here, while with Quill finally unravels the mystery of his origins, and discovers the uncomfortable truth about why he had to grow up as a scrappy galactic orphan.

If you liked the first Guardians then there’s plenty to like about this one, but aside from being hampered by not having the freshness of the previous volume, this sequel is limited by other factors too. The plot is somewhat anarchic and episodic, and seems like a slightly directionless attempt at giving these superheroes more depth—making the film feel like a stopgap between introducing these characters and sending them into Marvel’s upcoming epic ensemble clash the ‘Infinity Wars’ . . . or indeed the inevitable volume three of their adventures.

The tonal balance of the film is also an issue, with Gunn banking on the affinity the audience has built for his heroes and foregoing some of the madness and hilarity of the first instalment for a lot more drama and pathos between them—which works only to a point and often feels out of place in the comic-book space which this franchise created in 2014. Chris Pratt’s considerable charms just about make his stirring scenes convincing, but not throughout and the same cannot be said for every character, leaving too many forced and slightly trite moments of emotionality which break up the film’s momentum.

Yet when the madcap action and irresistible banter between them all kicks in, it reminds us of everything we loved about the original. Ultimately it’s the cybernetically enhanced ‘Rocket Racoon’ (Bradley Cooper) and the blunt alien warrior ‘Drax’ (Dave Bautista) who steal the show—both comedically and dramatically—but with the emergence of blue space pirate ‘Yandu’ (Michael Rooker) into the fold giving them a run for their money (not to mention the adorable baby Groot), in what is still a very entertaining cinematic experience . . . and a frenetic feast for the senses.

The Bottom Line . . .

While it may be handicapped by a slightly directionless plot and a bit too much unconvincing pathos, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ is still a worthy follow up to the 2014 smash hit, as Marvel moves the pieces on its Cinematic Universe chessboard. All-in-all a dazzling and entertaining effort which leaves us looking forward to next year, when this raucous mob butts heads with Tony Stark’s currently not-so-merry band of men & women.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Adventurer, thief and Galactic rogue Peter Quill is hunted across the corners of space after discovering a powerful and dangerous artifact, and is forced to join forces with an unlikely ragtag group of dangerous characters to save the universe from a dangerous fanatic.

Directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper among others.

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.