The MCU suffers a case of "sequel-itis"

Rating: 6/10 (27 April 2017)

In 1997's Scream 2, movie buff Randy Meeks spelled out the "rules" for a sequel. While he was specifically talking about horror movies, the basic principles of these rules could easily be applied to other genres. More characters, more action pieces, higher stakes, and some kind of added wrinkle to the expected story.
And what do most sequels from that era also seem to have in common? A lot of them were not well received by audiences. "Sequels suck" has been a popular school of thought for as long as I can remember. These days, the popularity of sequels has started trending upwards, but sometimes we still get one that follows the same old rules.
Thus, we get Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
That story starts with the Guardians – Peter Quill / Starlord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) – as mercenaries for hire. After doing a job for a race of people called The Sovereign, the Guardians find themselves in trouble when Rocket steals from The Sovereign. After a chase scene straight out of The Empire Strikes Back, the Guardians – now with Nebula (Karen Gillan) in tow – find themselves stranded while Rocket makes repairs to their ship. This is where Peter's father, Ego (Kurt Russel) and his assistant Mantis (Pom Klementieff) finally catch up with the Guardians. Ego whisks Peter, Drax, and Gamora away so Peter can learn of his true lineage. Meanwhile, Yondu (Michael Rooker) has been disgraced by The Ravagers, and accepts a job from Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), head of The Sovereign to track down the Guardians and bring them to justice.
As for the stakes the Guardians are up against this time, it was always going to be difficult to top the Infinity Stone story from the last movie, and it first it doesn't look like they're going to. The majority of Vol. 2 feels like a smaller and more personal story (which, keeping in mind that I haven't seen Iron Fist yet, Marvel seems to have found decent success with on their Netflix shows), but later turns out to have ramifications for the whole galaxy. I'd have preferred it if they had kept it small and focused on the family the Guardians are becoming. Especially given that the final battle scene feels overly long and drawn out for no particular reason. Not only that, but the Sovereign are among Marvel's worst villains. They're not evil, they're just pompous douchebags who only go after the Guardians because Rocket stole from them.
That's actually quite a shame, as the rest of the battle scenes are a lot of fun. Peter's music collection again provides the backdrop, and there's something whimsical about seeing explosions and bodies falling while you're listening to some classic pop music from the '70s and '80s. The best of these is perhaps a scene where Yondu effortlessly takes out a number of mooks with a flying arrow that he seems to control by whistling.
While all the Guardians – except Groot – get some great character moments here, the focus is really on Peter, Gamora, and the new additions to the team. Mantis was an absolute delight, and her budding relationship with Drax is something that deserves a lot more screen time come Vol. 3. Karen Gillan gives perhaps the movie's best performance as Nebula, who is dealing with issues from her childhood thanks to her relationships with Thanos and Gamora. I spent the movie hoping she'd find the peace she was looking for, but knowing that if she did, it wasn't going to come in the way she clearly wanted it to.
The weak link in the acting, surprisingly, is Kurt Russel. Ego's entire story gives him a whole range of emotions to go through, and Russel just doesn't convince me on any of it. From a man I know is capable of so much better, this felt like him just cashing a paycheck.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a fun movie, overall, and if that's all you're looking for from it – if all you want is an amusing space adventure with characters you (mostly) already know, with some great action and musical sequences – then you're probably going to have a great time with this movie. But if you were hoping it would recapture the magic of the first movie, or show a little something more, you'll probably come out feeling somewhat disappointed.
For my full review of this and other movies, visit my website at theblogfather.co.nz