Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
Nearly, but not as good as the original: 3.5 Stars.
Don’t get me wrong, sequels always have a much harder job to impress audiences, especially when the original was really good; the bar has been set much higher.
The movie has a great story with impressive special effects. However, my only complaint is how some scenes – well into the movie- are much longer than they needed to be and accordingly my Yawn-meter went off on a couple of occasions 3/4 in to it.
The same crew are back with Rocket (Bradley Cooper) taking a much more prominent and active role than the original and is the better for it. The baby Groot (Vin Diesel) is adorable and each scene he parrots his name in – the meaning of which is translated by Rocket- is a delight to watch. The well- meaning but socially inept Drax (Dave Bautista) provides most of the light (and dark) humour.
The movie centres around filling in the hero’s backstory gaps and his love interest with Gamorra (Zoe Sandana). Whilst being pursued by a reckless band of mutinous space pirates formerly led by the blue bleached Yondu (Michale Rooker) of the Ravagers who turned willing Bounty Hunters for the duped golden Kree.
Peter Quill, aka Star Lord (Christopher Pratt), as we learned from the Marvel original, was abducted by alien Ravagers when he was a child; after running outside of the hospital where his mother lay dying of a brain tumour.
Ego (Kurt Russell) makes the revelation to Peter of his true ancestry (Sylvester Stallone and David Hasselhoff also make appearances that add to the nostalgic flair of the 1970s and 80s). As Peter appreciates his true origins, it’s the consequences of which that leads him down a haphazard path of his own genetic uniqueness and the awful truth concerning the fate of his mother.
Smouldering issues between sisters Gamorra and her bitter sibling Nebula (Karen Gillan) also come to a head.
This movie has plenty of action, thrills, humour, quantum jumps, deep space scrapes with maverick piloting (barely outmanoeuvring their pursuers) and swashbuckling fights with space pirates and ravenous alien monsters. The music is great too with the mostly 1970’s soundtrack, from Peter’s childhood ‘Awesome Mix’ tape, providing a great addition to the movie’s amazing images and special effects (I wouldn’t be surprised if Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain makes a comeback on the iTunes Charts). So, overall, a good time had by all.
Worth seeing; I enjoyed this movie: 3.5 Stars
Take Care & Cheers.
Jason
Written & Directed by James Gunn (II).
