My Personal Thoughts on "Guardians of the Galaxy - Vol. 2"

in #story7 years ago

After the phenomenal success that was the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it seemed a new franchise (within a franchise) was born. Another important point of note was that Marvel were now so big, they could even introduce brand new characters into their ever-expanding universe and still received worldwide critical acclaim. Familiar faces from their huge roster of comic book heroes was no longer a mandatory formula. Yes, indeed. Guardians of the Galaxy was the surprise runaway hit of 2014. But can this lighting in a bottle really strike twice?

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Following an altercation with a race known as the Sovereign, our band of heroes (comprised of Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and baby Groot) manage to find solace with the aid of Quill’s* father Ego (played by Kurt Russell), whom himself was missing his son's life up until now. He leads them to his home planet where Quill (played by Chris Pratt) learns more about him. It turns out his father is actually some sort of celestial being who can manipulate matter and consciousness, thus allowing him the ability to almost “merge” with anything around him and harness it’s energy. Meanwhile, Gamora has her sister Nebula, daughter of the mighty Thanos, held as prisoner too, which makes for an even more volatile situation than before. Add to that the fact that the Sovereign have hired their old arch enemy Yondu (played by Michael Rooker) to help recapture the company in the hopes of bringing them to justice and you have yourself epic adventure once again.

If you loved the first movie, chances are you will feel somewhat at home with this one. The producers went with the assumption that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and gave us a movie which feels very much like the first. Now, this can be seen as a good thing, for the most part anyways. The acting is on point throughout, with the wit and charm of Quinn being as sharp as always. I was glad to see Daxx have more of a significant role in this movie, especially regarding a quirky friendship he develops with a being living on the same planet as Ego. It’s all humorous and fast paced stuff. Exactly what you’d expect from a movie of this type. Baby Groot on the other hand, still voiced by Vin Diesal no less, was a bit of an anomaly. I understand they wanted to add an extra layer to the group, which in essence has now become something of a “nuclear family” in their own right. But apart from appearing cute, given some minor roles to play in the third act and generally “being clueless”, I found he began to grate on my nerves after a while. Saving the universe whilst trying to cope with a baby Groot just didn’t sit well with me.

The movie direction is suitably loud and colourful. In particular, the final third act showdown is a special effects extravaganza, which should provide enough entertainment to make the trip to the movie worthwhile. Though I do feel a little of the “magic” of the first film was absent here. Could it be a little too much on-screen comedy in situations of life-threatening endangerment? Or a villain who I found serviceable, albeit with not enough of a strong character backing? I’m not entirely sure, but as you can see, the issues are subtle. But they are there. With these movies (and a prime example being Guardians of the Galaxy – Vol. 2), the element of peril or “fighting against the odds” is not nearly prevalent enough. It’s all a bit too tongue-in-cheek and convenient in places where you should be feeling a real concern for the welfare of these popular characters. Again, I know they are targeting a certain demographic whilst trying to appease a wider audience, however the plot didn’t seem to carry over the weight or depth of the first.

At the end of the day, I thought Guardians of the Galaxy – Vol. 2 was adequate. The actions was furious and consistent with the special effects dazzlingly good by anyone's standards. Though not one of my favourites from the Marvel juggernaut I grant you, but it delivered what the fans expected and wanted. However with the sense of any real impactful drama being lessened with each subsequent release by the studio, it feels we are entering more the “by the numbers action flick” territory and at the cost of any new, innovative story-lines. Marvel overload syndrome? Let’s see…

My Verdict: (7/10)

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*Source: (1,2,3,4)

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)


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Guardians of the Galaxy was great back in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was fine but not as great as I expected, mostly the 2nd part of a franchise is the worst one, no Idea why (maybe except empire strikes back or The dark knight)
With the Upcoming Infinity Wars movie, we will finally see if there was a Masterplan behind it and all side stories will have their place or if they just made it because they know it sells well.

You made a great point there, @tzap90. The payoff will be revealed in "Infinity Wars". I'm so eager to watch that film. Really looking forward to it. :)

What would you rate the first movie?

For me I like the first movie a lot! Probably one of my favorite superhero movies. The second one I enjoyed, but nnot as much, probably 8/10. It seemed more of a joke to the creators, definitely didn't take itself seriously, which bothered me at times. It felt like a comic though, which I thought was pretty cool. There were fun segments like when baby groot needs to get the fin, me and my girlfriend thought that was hilarious. There were some parts I didn't like but overall I was happy with the movie.

I make no qualms about it. I like the first one more too. I felt it had more substance combined with it's refreshing vibe and original content. I pretty much second your comments. Nice job... :)

Also, I just checked out the disaster artist and liked it way more than I thought I would, it was heartfelt for me

You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be checking that one out. Heard really good things about it... :)

You're pretty much on point with this review. While it was good, it wasn't great. My barometer goes like this: would I watch it more than once? The first Guardians, yes, and I have. Volume 2? I doubt it.

I couldn't have put that better myself, buddy! :)

You know, I actually liked the second one a little better. The story is cool, Kurt Russel has a lot of space in the movie (pun unintended, if you see one), the characters actually seem to evolve. While I hate when they go all Disney on some other franchises (the latest Thor was a good movie, but it felt like a parody here and there), Guardians is one of the few where I feel on-screen comedy is almost never out of place, therefore I didn't really mind baby Groot. In the end, you make some very good points about the plot and the depth, though. I hadn't really thought about it that way.

I'd love to have your two cents on the latest Star Wars :D

It's good to see a spectrum of differing opinions. I love a little on-screen comedy in these movies as much as anyone. Though timing is of the essence. Where our heroes make jokes in the face of death takes me out of the movie somewhat. It "is" fun overall, but at the same time a pet peeve of mine.

I've already reviewed "The Last Jedi" a little while back... Thanks for stopping by. :)

Really? I checked before writing...I must be going blind. I'll check out your review at once :D

Yeah, Vol. 2 was pretty good. I was really impressed by Karen Gillan's performance as Nebula. She is incredibly talented. Her range is really impressive, being able to play Nebula so convincingly as well as playing Eliza Dooley on Selfie shows that she has some real chops. Not to mention that she's a writer, producer, and director.

And the cameos got me watching it again to see if I could spot Rob Zombie (you can't). And Miley Cyrus did the voice for Mainframe, Seth Green did the voice for Howard the Duck (my favorite cameo). And I never would've guessed that Michael Rosenbaum played Martinex!

Oh, and Jeff Goldblum in the after credits scene dancing as Grandmaster was a really nice touch.

I think 7/10 is fair as far as the entertainment value. But I have to give it an 8.5/10 because of the great cameos and because anything with Ving Rhames in it has to have some points added, lol.

Nebula was a welcome addition to the movie's roster I thought. Though still missing a certain element that was present in the first. I feel it was the overall a little too "light-hearted" in nature, but not a bad movie by any measure per se.

Yeah, I get what you're saying. Seeing her play Nebula's (relatively) softer, gentler side was a little weird. It didn't quite fit the character. But she played it of well. She was believably conflicted, and that was a neat trick considering that she plays the character with that malicious, unnerving mix of stoicism and psychopathy.

I hope to see her in something where she really has a chance to play a character who shows a broad range. Something like Edward Norton's character in Primal Fear, maybe. Something where she can move seamlessly from sweet to psycho or simple to complex. Something like that.

Good movie, the first one was much better cuz you didn't really expect this, but now Disney they start to make all movies like avengers (big beautiful action, humour and cute stuff)

I did love the first one immensely. Mainly for the fact that it was so original for the time.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Movie was good, more like one time watch... it lack the essence that first part has.... except groot...which is of same level in second.

Yep, I mostly agree with your summation, @cryptsr. :)

I enjoyed this movie too! I thought it was quite comical and gave you deeper insight about the characters. I would definitely catch another one.

I loved the first one and I enjoyed the second one quite a bit too. But I do agree with your analysis and vol.2 didn't manage to strike the same perfect balance as the first one.

The first one indeed had a better villain and bit more suspense. Still, vol.2 was a very pleasant watch and I'm sure I'll rewatch it at least a few more times in the years to come.

I prefer the first one. Not that it wasn't good but they could have done more with Jeff bridges. still looking forward to number 3 and them being in the same universe as iron man. I hope Peter finds his family back on earth

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