'Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2' Review

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2017)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 2
STATISTICS (*NO SPOILERS*) "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2" is a 2017 superhero film directed and written by James Gunn ("Slither"). Music is by Tyler Bates ("Super"); cinematography by Henry Braham ("Legend of Tarzan"); editing by Fred Raskin ("Django Unchained") and Craig Wood ("Frogs"); and production by Kevin Feige ("Thor"). It primarily stars Chris Pratt ("Parks and Recreation"); Zoe Saldana ("Star Trek"); Dave Bautista ("The Man with the Iron Fists"); Vin Diesel ("Fast and Furious"); Bradley Cooper ("The Hangover"); Michael Rooker ("The Walking Dead"); Karen Gillan ("Oculus"); Pom Klementieff ("Sleepless Night"); Kurt Russell ("Silkwood"); Elizabeth Debicki ("The Great Gatsby"); Chris Sullivan ("This is Us"); Sean Gunn ("Gilmore Girls"); Sylvester Stallone ("Rocky"). Filming began February 11, 2016 in Fayette County, Georgia and ended June 16, 2016. Its budget totaled at around $200 million, and to date (May 2017) it has earned about $632.3 million. It spans a total of 2 hours, 16 minutes (136 minutes) and is grouped as PG-13.
PLOT SUMMARY (*NO SPOILERS*) We begin the film with the Guardians, headed by Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Pratt) and consisting of assassin/combatant Gamora (Saldana), the primary muscle and brawn Drax (Bautista), raccoon hybrid Rocket (Cooper), and an adorable yet still infant Groot (Diesel). They are on a job for the Sovereign Race, a group of no-nonsense, relatively generic yet perfect beings led by High Priestess Ayesha (Debicki). They do this in exchange for Gamora's sister Nebula (Gillan), whom the Sovereigns have captured. But Rocket, against the team's best interests, steals a collection of the batteries intended for the Guardians to retrieve. The angered Sovereigns begin to chase the Guardians, but luckily a mysterious commodity comes to their aid. The Guardians crash land on a foreign planet, where Ego, (Russell) later revealed to us as a modest celestial, rendezvous with them and reveals to Star-Lord that he is his once faceless father. Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax agree to join Ego to his home planet, while Rocket, Groot, and Nebula repair the damaged ship. But Star Lord and his friends soon learn that Ego's planet, as well as Ego himself, are not as they appear.
REVIEW (*SPOILERS*) There is trash, and then there is good trash. This is good trash. It's not awe- inspiring, or thought-provoking; it's not even blatantly clever. No, this funny. It's violent and fun and entertaining. It was purely meant to kill 2 hours of your time and give you a nice ride while doing it. So let's actually discuss the film and how everything played out. First, the characters are presented with undeniable swagger. Most of the audience will have a connection and familiarity with the Guardians already, so most of the film focuses more on them, their aspirations and backstories, rather than introducing their abilities or parentage. Really, this is an expansion of the Guardians, a movie that allows you more time with them as they save the universe. Yes, some moments are admittedly stupid, yes the story can get a bit choppy. But it ultimately succeeds in its goal to be fun and entertaining. In terms of action and cinematography, this film is stunning. The arguably best scene was when Yondu (Rooker), Rocket, and Groot were escaping a Ravager Prison and Yondu showed the immense abilities of his telepathic arrow. The graphics were seamless, and I was guiltily captivated as he commanded the arrow with an angelic whistle and it whirled across the screen to his whim.
As for what I didn't like; I didn't think the Sovereign subplot was used to its full advantage. The beginning scene was funny, interesting, and promising. But since the Sovereigns are supposed to be the main antagonist until Ego is revealed, I felt they were under-used for the rest of the film. There was also this scene toward the climax when the Guardians, with no Quill, are discussing whether or not they should leave him behind, thereby saving themselves. Drax chimes in with a classic, "We're family. No-one gets left behind" speech. So yes, the moral can be a little ham-fisted. But those are my only complaints.
The new characters were very interesting; Nebula brought a kind of ominous seriousness to the already light hearted film. She had some moderately funny lines, but it was ultimately her identity and Karen Gillan's performance that made her stand out. Mantis was captivating and entertaining. She had little in the way of backstory or development in that way, but she was sweet. I just wish that her talents and abilities were expanded on more. I knew very little about her respective powers or how they really work. Other than that I liked Mantis. With Kurt Russell's Ego I thought the film was very self-aware that they were using a common superhero trope, so they tried and succeeded to bring something fresh. Ego was different, and he brought a versatility that the first film lacked.
In short, I enjoyed and recommend this film.
7/10
70%
B-