GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2
“Welcome to the frickin’ Guardians of the Galaxy.”
2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a risky move for Marvel. Very few movie go-ers had even heard of the group of heroes. I’ll admit, I hadn’t. Then the movie came, and to most people’s surprise, it was a huge hit. The humour, tone, and honest lack of feeling like a super-hero movie did it wonders, and it fast became a fan favourite. Well, now we have the second instalment in James Gunn’s trilogy.
Vol 2 sees the Guardians do what they do best, saving the Galaxy one step at a time and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. The adventure begins when Star-Lord and the team are found by his father, Ego, played by the ever talented Kurt Russel. From here, the story begins. I won’t go into a huge amount of detail for you, because honestly, it’s a really enjoyable story and you shouldn’t have it spelled out for you here. The plot uses both fun and fast flowing action sequences mixed with moments of pure emotion and it does it very well. Much like the first film, this feels slightly detached from the tone and overall plot of other Marvel films, and that works. It makes the film feel more original, and removes the chance of falling into the ‘Marvel movie type’, which sadly last year’s Doctor Strange failed to do. It means the film, unlike so many Marvel films that have come before it, gets a villain who might be remembered for more than five minutes.
While I will commend the plot, I wouldn’t say it’s Marvel’s strongest to date. That being said, I will say it’s by far the funniest movie Marvel have produced. In fact, it’s the funniest film I’ve seen in a long time. More than once the entire cinema erupted with laughter, and the use of comedy, which hit pretty much every time, made the film hugely enjoyable. Even in the more serious moments. While the cast on the whole does a very good job in the humour department, I think top awards have to go to Dave Bautista’s Drax.
Some of the funniest jokes in the film comes Drax, and most of his lines had a lot of people laughing. But don’t get me wrong, the rest of the team gets more than enough time for some laughs, and Chris Pratt, as always, brings his A-game.
He’s just one of those people who will always be funny…
I will admit the film is a bit too CGI heavy for my personal liking, and while there were scenes where practical effects would’ve worked fine, I will commend the CG department. The film is beautiful to look at and the CGI very rarely, if at all, falters. We live in an age where CGI really is starting to look like real life, but that’s not what’s good about it here. Vol 2 uses some really vibrant colours in the CGI and it makes the whole film so much more stylish along the way. In recent years Marvel films have started to get a little bit grey, with Captain America: Civil War unfortunately being part of this trend that no-one asked for. Vol 2 is a very colourful film, and I think movie go-ers will appreciate that. I know I certainly did.
Much like the first film, Vol 2 comes equipped with another great soundtrack. While I will say the first film’s features some better known songs, and is perhaps better on the whole, it’s clear that a lot of thought went into Vol 2’s soundtrack. The songs are more meaningful and reflect the story slightly better than the first film’s did. And as an added plus, the opening number is cinematic genius.
On the whole, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 proved that the Guardians are still of Marvel’s most enjoyable and funniest properties. The moments of pure and utter laughter mixed with action scenes and emotional rollercoasters worked an absolute delight. Unlike Doctor Strange or Ant-Man, Vol 2 won’t be one of those Marvel films that go un-noticed and quickly looked over. And, with references to comics and characters here, there and everywhere, it’s on a good footing for die-hard comic fans too. Taken out of the Marvel context for a moment, Vol 2 sets a very high standard for this summer’s box office season, and that’s something to enjoy. While it might not be better than the first film in certain areas, it’s still hugely enjoyable, and I, for one, can’t wait to see these characters in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War.
