Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 Review
With being a huge fan of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1, I have to say I was extremely excited for Vol.2. After watching the sequel last night, I feel as though this film has suffered from the common problem a lot of sequels suffer from, and that is trying to take what made the first film good and multiplying that by ten.
The film starts off with taking us back, and showing us some of Peters history by providing the audience with a little bit of background on his parents. As we are well aware from the trailer, Kurt Russell is Peter’s Dad, therefore within this scene, we get to see an incredible CGI’d Kurt Russell, looking very youthful. I have to say this is the best bit of ageing CGI I have ever seen. Jeff Bridges looked awful in Tron: Legacy, and whilst the RDJ scene in Civil War was better, it still looked obvious. This scene with Kurt Russell however was really impressive.
As the film progresses we get thrown straight into the present day, where we see The Guardians doing their thing, which is saving the galaxy from some kind of threat. This acting as the intro titles, playing to Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra. During this part of the film it really concentrates on Baby Groot, who is a show stealer. I have to say I prefer adult Groot, but that is not to to say Baby Groot is bad, as he is truly brilliant. You will never see a character like him in cinema history, and this will be what makes you want to watch this film again and again. He is Gunn’s secret weapon to success. As you would imagine from all this so far, we are off to a really good start for the next chapter of James Gunn’s whacky superhero flick, but sadly things start to go a bit down hill from here for me...
Even though we are still gifted with these phenomenal characters, I feel they just over did it. Everything you love about the characters in Vol.1, you get in truck loads in Vol.2, and personally I don't think this is a good thing. There is a saying, that you can have too much of a good thing, and this is certainly the case for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. This especially applies to Drax, who has the ability to literally say the wrong thing at any possible time, and not only doing this, he then finds it absolutely hilarious. Again, not to sound like a broken record, as this aspect of character made for such a great watch in Vol.1, but in this chapter it became so predictable, and repetitive. You started to find his laugh grate on you as you heard it over and over again. This was the same case for the others guardians, and what made them special previously.
As the story progresses we get to know the characters a lot more, which was nice, as we do still love these maniacs, even if we are now getting them in overdrive. Gunn does a great job at showing us all why each member of the team is why they are, and that they are all the laughs and piss takes are just covering something deeper. This lead to some very touching moments, which redeemed the film in sections. The audience is also treated to some new additions to The Guardians, this being Yondu, played by Michael Rooker. They really turned this character around, and gave you a new view on our scavenger. I really enjoy stuff like this, as when you watch Vol.1 again it will make you look at the character completely different. However I felt some of the reveals for Yondu took away some of the badass you learned to love about him from the first film, but this is a minor gripe.
This leads me on to the soundtrack of the film, which is another point that made the first film so successful. As I write this review now I am listening to the soundtrack for Vol.2 and as much as it is enjoyable, it won't leave me with the same feeling that Vol.1 gave us all. The first film somehow took these iconic songs, and made you now associate them with a marvel picture, as they were perfectly picked for the film, and used at the best times.Vol.2 does not have the same affect. It is a good soundtrack, but it just hasn't got the same vibe as Vol.1.
The more you watch of this film, the more you come to realise this is a character driven movie, and not so much a story driven one. The story itself only really properly starts to kick in, probably in the last third of the film, and at this point I feel the film just went a bit out the window for me. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone, therefore I won't go into too much depth in regards to what happens, but I just feel it was just a big mess. There were parts of this big finale where I just thought to myself “What the hell is going on?”. Honestly, I can’t really explain to you what was happening without spoiling anything, but as well I am not completely sure myself.
One of my friends, who is a huge comic book fan, loved the climax of this film, as he says it was a great way to pull off how this villain is in the books themselves. Sadly as much as I am a huge comic book/superhero lover as well, I do not know much about the Guardians of the Galaxy, therefore I could only watch this film with my movie loving head on, and sadly, for me, this was not the best bit of film making.
Let us know what you thought of the Guardian of the Galaxy Vol.2 in the comments section below...
