So I liked Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 more than the first one… though I would understand why many wouldn’t. Now, I liked Guardians Vol 1 but I didn’t like it nearly as much as some – it was a fun space popcorn flick that really didn’t have much in the way of stakes and action scenes that were “throw stuff at the screen” in style. But it was a fun movie and I don’t begrudge it’s fans. The new movie focuses less on big action set pieces and more on character and that might lose some people.
The first thing to say about this movie as a negative is that, boy, if you liked the first one, they give you a lot of the same stuff again. You like Groot, you’ll love a bunch of Baby Groot. You like classic 70s rock music, you’ll love Awesome Mix Vol 2. You liked Yondu and his whistle-missile thing, here’s more of it, etc. So I can’t argue that it doesn’t go back to the well a bunch and, at least early on, it was noticeable, even distracting.
The second issue is that the movie is very fuzzy and aimless at times – it just kind of wanders around unfocused, having fun and/or telling its character bits. There is a plot but it isn’t quite as plot-heavy and there are some scenes that run on for a few beets too many. This would normally annoy me but, due to the strengths of the movie, it didn’t.
Because this movie is very focused on its characters. We get genuine arcs and character development for Nebula, Rocket, and Yondu mainly but also Peter Quill, Gamora, and even a little (just a tad) for comic relief Drax. But in that they brought two of the (blue) villains to the forefront and gave us stories about what it really can mean to be a family (all apologies to Fast and Furious movies) was really neat. And it gave this big popcorn sci-fi flick genuine heart. And that they could do that with villain characters was even more interesting.
The basic story is only really hinted at the in the trailers which don’t give away as much as I expected. Peter Quill meets his space dad played by Kurt Russel in a really good, very cool performance. Quill, Gamora, and Drax go off with space dad on one adventure leaving behind Rocket and Baby Groot behind for their own adventure.
There’s also a better, more charismatic villain in the movie than in most Marvel movies (especially compared to Guardians 1). Heck, even the side-villains are kind of enjoyable in a jokey way, as befits the tone of these movies.
Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (i.e. the 70s soundtrack) is good and I totally give them kudos for picking not the most obvious songs. In fact, I’d hazard we haven’t heard many of these songs in any other movie… instead of going for the obvious, they went for some deeper cuts. Even if sometimes it felt like an extended commercial for the soundtrack album. That said, there’s a pretty good joke about Vol. 3 or, at least, how it will be delivered.
And, finally, the movie looks beautiful – the outer-space scenes, the interiors, and one or two of the worlds is just stunning to look. Not just because of great visual FX, but because there’s real artistry in the imagery.
So, yeah, this is a really solid movie. If you aren’t the kind of person who cares as much for characters and character growth and would prefer more action/adventure focus, you might be a little less enthused. But the movie still has plenty of rollicking space action – I just think its more focused on the characters than the events.
Score: 86