Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chris Sullivan, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Alex Klein
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 136 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 3 May 2016
Written by: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chris Sullivan, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Alex Klein
Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi - 136 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 3 May 2016
Compared to the dark and dour DC Comics films, think Batman and Superman, the Avengers are a light-hearted club of drinking buddies. Compared to the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy are members of the Delta fraternity in Animal House. After watching super-serious Captain America and Iron Man make faces at each other in Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a gale force of fresh air to cleanse our Marvel palates. Writer/director James Gunn shoves in more plot this time around organizing everything around Star-Lord’s ‘who am I?’ story, but he laces all of the daddy issues melodrama with a dancing Baby Groot and some of the best soundtrack tie-ins I have ever witnessed in a theater.
Gunn bats lead-off playing a trick on the audience. The Guardians are on a platform waiting for a space alien to attack and when he arrives, we only see bits and pieces of the fight as heroes careen by and alien tentacles thrash about. We’re watching Baby Groot (Vin Diesel, The Fate of the Furious) boogie to ELO’s "Mr. Blue Sky". This spurs a similar atmosphere in most of the fights to follow. The action in the rear are villains getting shot, speared, and disintegrated as they plummet to their deaths, but in the foreground, frequently in slow motion, is a main character smiling without a care in the world with an inner soundtrack synched perfectly with the scene. The capstone to it all is Yondu (Michael Rooker) enjoying some sweet revenge on some mutineers in his crew making it rain dead bodies all set to the catchy "Come A Little Bit Closer" by Jay & the Americans. Thinking about this scene will leave you smiling for days afterward.
Gunn bats lead-off playing a trick on the audience. The Guardians are on a platform waiting for a space alien to attack and when he arrives, we only see bits and pieces of the fight as heroes careen by and alien tentacles thrash about. We’re watching Baby Groot (Vin Diesel, The Fate of the Furious) boogie to ELO’s "Mr. Blue Sky". This spurs a similar atmosphere in most of the fights to follow. The action in the rear are villains getting shot, speared, and disintegrated as they plummet to their deaths, but in the foreground, frequently in slow motion, is a main character smiling without a care in the world with an inner soundtrack synched perfectly with the scene. The capstone to it all is Yondu (Michael Rooker) enjoying some sweet revenge on some mutineers in his crew making it rain dead bodies all set to the catchy "Come A Little Bit Closer" by Jay & the Americans. Thinking about this scene will leave you smiling for days afterward.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), which blindsided and delighted Marvel fans the world over, teased us with some open-ended mysteries Vol. 2 spends it time solving. The prime Answer-in-Chief is Kurt Russell (Deepwater Horizon) as Ego, revealing himself as Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt, Passengers) aka Peter Quill’s father. Ego and Quill have the same over-confident and fly-by-night mannerisms and are all set to make up for lost time. Alas, all is not quite as it seems, and it will take Peter and his Guardian family to save the galaxy once again, if they can stop bickering for two whole seconds. Please notice James Gunn's knowing nod to father-son relationships by the way. The first thing the duo unknowingly do is start a game of catch using the only material they have available. Every dad in the audience will sport an understanding grin; a game of catch is what we do.
Peter’s green-skinned muse, Gamora (Zoe Saldana, Live by Night), is the film’s main sub-theme sharing time in two different arcs. First, Gamora continues to deny there is any chemistry or unspoken romance between herself and Peter. She can feel it more than anyone that appearances on Ego’s home planet may be a façade, but getting Peter to acknowledge the oddities will take some effort. Yet, Gamora has her own family struggles. Nebula (Karen Gillan, The Big Short), a villain from the first film, is a Guardian prisoner who spends her time vowing to painfully kill Gamora given the first chance. The back story between the two deepens, and by the end, do not be shocked if you discover some surprising empathy for the blue and purple cyborg.
Rocket the raccoon (Bradley Cooper, War Dogs) is in charge of slapstick laughs and his main problem now are his sarcastic defense mechanisms which are alienating his friends. As far as plot points go, Rocket’s issues are less than compelling and his extended riff on a bad guy named Taserface (Chris Sullivan) feels too low-brow for Guardian standards, but he pulls his weight. Drax (Dave Bautista, Spectre), the too literal strong man, spends his time explaining to Ego’s servant, Mantis (Pom Klementieff, Old Boy), just how ugly and sexually-revolting she is. It was well established in the last film Drax does not understand metaphor and sarcasm and Gunn perhaps dips his ink in this dry humor well a few jokes too often. Drax's one-liners are not the most unnecessary presence in the film though, that is Sylvester Stallone. Sure, it's funny to see the old guy, but he adds nothing.
Most of these small complaints disappear when the soundtrack kicks back in and we watch Peter Quill take in his father’s planet to a good chunk of George Harrison’s "My Sweet Lord". There will be a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming down the line a few years from now and fingers crossed Gunn keeps giving us a whole bunch of a good thing. Vol. 2 should also be a warning to the next superhero films marching toward us like another Spider-Man reboot and Justice League. Your audience is in a good mode right now jamming to tunes, smiling at Baby Groot, and laughing out loud when Peter calls Rocket a trash panda. Your frowny-face, jaded heroes may receive a similar welcome to what Batman received during Dawn of Justice; more of a grimace than a welcome back nod.
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