The opening scene of
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is one of pure joy. The adorable Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) does a
toe-tapping dance number to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” while Star Lord (Chris Pratt),
Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper)
fight a giant space squid. Most
directors would make the space squid battle the center of the action. Thank God director James Gunn isn’t most
people. Instead, he focuses on Baby
Groot’s dance moves while all the space action happens in the background.
This is truly one of
the best moments in a Marvel movie thus far.
The only problem is that Gunn tries this same ploy of keeping the action
obscured while something humorous is happening in the foreground a little too
often. Each time he does so, it’s with
diminishing returns. Since the first
time he did it was unadulterated cinematic bliss, I can’t say I really blame
him for trying to recapture that feeling.
Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 2 is a sequel set in The Empire Strikes Back mode. I don’t mean that it’s a particularly darker
movie, although there is some dark stuff in it.
What I mean is that it is steeped in Daddy Issues and that half of the
team is split up for most of the running time.
It also has a bit of a Wrath of Khan vibe as there is at least one
touching death scene.
As you can see, just
by throwing out Empire and Khan in conjunction with this movie, you can already
tell it’s a pretty good one. I can’t say
it’s quite as good as the first one, but that’s mostly because it lacks the
freshness and invention of the original.
Things really sizzle when Rocket and Baby Groot have to team up with
their former foe Yondu (Michael Rooker) to escape the clutches of some space
pirates. In fact, Yondu’s whole
character arc is one of the genuine surprises of the entire flick. We all know that Michael Rooker is a national
treasure. It’s just that he has been
woefully underutilized for decades.
Here, Gunn gives him a golden opportunity to do what he does best and
Rooker hits it out of the park.
Going into the film,
I was the most hyped about seeing Kurt Russell.
He is a great addition to the Marvel Universe and he does a fine job
with his role. There really isn’t anything
wrong with his character arc, except that it’s predictable. (I mean, his name is Ego, which pretty much
tells you that he’s only looking out for himself.) The way he plays it though, with that unmistakable
twinkle in his eyes, keeps it from feeling stale.
Even though the film
mostly centers around Pratt, it still feels like he gets the short end of the
stick. He was a revelation in the first
movie. You could see a movie star in the
making. Here, he’s mostly a dick to his
friends until he learns the error of his ways.
Like Russell, he’s not exactly bad or anything, it’s just that the
writing is a bit flat (and the final superhero battle looks like it came right
out of Man of Steel).
Luckily, Drax is even
more hilarious this time out. Once
again, Dave Bautista steals scene after scene from his more prestigious co-stars. I also liked the interplay between Gamora and
her sister Nebula (Karen Gillan).
So yeah, it may not
entirely be successful, but it’s amazing just how good Vol. 2 is. I can’t say it’s as good as the first
one. I can say it comes damned close.
If anything, Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the second best sequel starring Vin Diesel and Kurt
Russell about a makeshift family unit engaging in crazy action sequences where
the villain from the last one is a good guy in this one I’ve seen in the past
month.
Marvel Cinematic
Universe Scorecard:
Avengers: Age of Ultron: ****
The Incredible
Hulk: ****
Iron Man: ****
Iron Man 3: ****
Captain America: Civil War:
*** ½
Ant-Man: *** ½
Guardians of the
Galaxy: *** ½
Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 2: *** ½
The Avengers: ***
Captain America: The First Avenger: ***
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: ***
Thor: ***
Thor: The Dark World: ***
Iron Man 2: ***
Doctor Strange: ** ½
2017 Comic Book Movie
Scorecard:
The LEGO Batman
Movie: ****
Logan: ****
Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 2: *** ½
Ghost in the
Shell: *** ½