‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2’ review: ‘Star Wars’ with Kurt Russell, 70’s music and Baby Groot
Marvel’s popular team of aliens is back with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and fans will be ecstatic they the sequel is jam packed full of action, jokes and emotions.
Following a brief intro set 1980, the film opens with the Guardians are on a paid mission to protect valuable batteries from a giant squidlike creature called an Abilisk. Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) betrays the mission, steals some of batteries, angering the Sovereign and their leader, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), who attack the Guardians, damage the ship and setup the “team split up” which drives the entire film.
Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord sets off to reunite with his father, played by Kurt Russell, who is an eternal lower-cased “g” god named Ego. Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista) and a new character named Mantis (Pom Klementieff) comes along as Rocket attempts to repair the ship and battle an angry mob of Ravagers who are revolting against Michael Rooker’s Yondu.
The entire film centers on family, dealing with the past and each person’s identity. Fans of the original will be happy with the final product as the action and laughs are woven around this family therapy session.
Like the first film, the worst part of GOTG 2 is the foul language and sexual innuendo. Turd humor, the constant cussing and discussion of testicles does seem to contradict the Marvel outreach program to kids and family who are flooding Disney theme parks, buying action figures and dressing up.
Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) steals the show in a big, big way and fans won’t want to (and shouldn’t) leave before watching the FIVE credit clips which extend the story in funny and entertaining ways.
Critics will be hard on GOTG2.
The first film took everyone by surprise, exceeding even the most optimistic of expectations. The sequel seems to plod along at times and several of the best moments were spoiled in the trailers/previews. I personally didn’t enjoy the soundtrack as much, but that’s just subjective taste.
Only Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain (which was revealed in the promotional trailers) and Brandy by Looking Glass as Ego’s “theme song” (you’ll see) were the only two standouts to me.
Marvel plays it safe, almost to a fault. The studio got it the way here and it showed.
The split up cast and Sci-fi nature of the film lends itself to stark comparisons to the Star Wars franchise and well, that’s not a good thing either.
Director James Gunn brilliantly handled the ensemble cast, moving each character forward, adding new ones which the audience will and, most of all, somehow brought Ego to life.
Yes, there will certainly be a GOTG 3 and the Guardians will make a splash during Infinity War, but don’t get ahead of yourself. This chapter is key to defining Star-Lord, giving identity to each character and yes, adding a ton of new ones.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 receives 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
It will be a huge opening box office win for the film and a race to $1 billion for the studio, but GOTG2 will always be second fiddle to the first film, even after we identify and soak in ALL of the Easter Eggs. Happy hunting.
