Upping
the action, as well as the CG components, Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 2 should go down easily for fans of the
first film, even if
it's not quite on the same footing in terms of story pacing and
balancing the tone of the mean-spiritedness in its comic violence with
the levity of the sillier shenanigans. The effort here isn't to try to
take things into any sort of new direction so much as to try to outdo
the first film in nearly every facet viewers enjoyed, and it succeeds,
for the most part, despite the levels of sadism in the violence and
caustic dialogue that sour the film from being unabashed enjoyment on
a few occasions.
Once again written and
directed by James Gunn (Super, Slither), this second volume finds Peter Quill
(Pratt, The Magnificent Seven), aka
Star-Lord, and the gang getting their bacons saved by someone who is
more than a man, named Ego (Russell,
The Fate of the Furious), who claims to be Peter's father. Despite
skepticism due to Ego's seeming abandonment, Peter is invited to join
Ego on the latter's own Eden-like planet, called, of course, Ego's
Planet, where he must periodically return to in order to keep it
alive, residing there with only his assistant, an empath named Mantis
(Klementieff, Old Boy).
Meanwhile, there's an powerful golden-skinned race called The
Sovereign out to retrieve some stolen and highly valuable batteries
from Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper,
War Dogs), a fleet of Ravagers is on the hunt, and signals
the comeback of Yondu (Rooker, Jumper).
Some of this seems to be setting up for the inevitable third Guardians
of the Galaxy movie more so than something that resolves in this one,
which leads to a bit more of a sloppy plot in this effort than in the
relatively simple and breezy first entry. That said, it is also still
quite stand-alone in its approach to storytelling, not spending much
time in any characters that are pre-established in any of the other
Marvel Cinematic Universe properties.
Themes of family abound,
coming back to the notion that just because someone is related by
blood doesn't mean they have your well-being at heart. On the
converse, sometimes it is those people who aren't related to you at
all that have your back the best. In addition to the father/son
dynamic between Quill and Ego, we get more of the conflict-filled
relationship between sisters Gamora (Saldana,
Live by Night) and Nebula
(Gillan, The Big Short), Rocket confronts his
own troubled upbringing, and a resolution of the abductor/stepfather Yondu's relationship with Peter.
Perhaps there are two or three story threads too many for the film to
maintain focus, but Gunn keeps the interest through his ability to
draw out funny and human moments amid the less developed bits.
Lots of sight gags, fun
cameos, scatological humor (your mileage may vary on the turd jokes),
pop culture references from the 1980s, and a whole new 1970s
radio-friendly pop/rock soundtrack to set the tone of the storyline,
some directly, such as Looking Glass's 1972 hit, "Brandy (You're a
Fine Girl)". The rest of the soundtrack strikes just as resonant
a chord with the vibe of what's going on from scene to scene,
deepening a film that could have just as easily have ridden merely on
eye-candy spectacle alone. That, and the humor: Drax (Bautista, Riddick), in particular, drums up the laughs with each
unfiltered statement he makes, which livens up some of the darker,
more serious moments that bubble up as the film draws closer to
conclusion.
The eye candy is here, perhaps a bit too much at
times, as the characters get drowned out by the overly busy effects
work and extended action sequences which go on beyond their need for
pushing forward the story elements. The final cataclysmic battle in
particular will test the patience of even avid fans to adhere strict
attention to it beyond the vividness of the colors and overall
prolonged destruction. Nevertheless, there is more here
than just excess, even a few touching, poignant moments thrown into
the cacophony. Some of this hits the spot, while others seem to
miss the mark in terms of characterization interest. Characters still seem like they have only two speeds:
obnoxiously yelling or completely silent to one another; it's not a
film that expresses itself through subtle nuance often, and it barely
stays on the PG-13 side of things. Gags are repetitive, but, luckily for us, it's still
enjoyable even when the volume is cranked to the max most of the time.
Higher expectations may factor in as to whether you feel this
follow-up continues to be upper tier Marvel or fall just short.
Though I won't score it quite as high, I'm happy to report that the chemistry is still there, even with the addition of
new characters to the mix, adding to the overall fun vibe that's still
infectious enough to have you tapping your feet to the tune of GotG
Vol. 2. While it isn't as fresh in its ideas as the dynamic
breakthrough, the intergalactic party continues, making for yet
another fun, irreverent ride for Marvel fans.
-- Stay through the entire end credits for multiple extra scenes.
Qwipster's rating:
©2017 Vince Leo
