Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - May 5th, 2017

[SNIKT1950]

I just saw it for the second time, yesterday, and I realized that I never posted about it after seeing the double feature last week. I loved it, I was moved by it; 2017, thus far, has been the year of comic book movies that pack a punch. It's such a weird, off-kilter, I'd hesitate to call it "little" movie, considering the budget, but "little" movie. The humor was there, and it was a movie that really embraced its weirdness and balanced it, well. There was an unsettling quality, I felt, to the mutiny, with the air lock and then Baby Groot being tormented, but they never veered too far over the "edge," and seeing Yondu take vengeance with that magic stick of his, in a weird, bloodthirsty way, leaves you elated, because whatever is happening to them feels earned, and I feel like that speaks to a lot of this movie. It feels earned.

I'll be honest, I didn't entirely not see the Ego thing coming, but, at the same time, I didn't really want to. I mean, from the moment they announced Kurt Russell, I think anyone's natural inclination is to want Star Lord's dad to be more Jack Burton, less Stuntman Mike, and, again, I think the Ego revelation is representative of what makes this film feel so appealing. It felt fresh, and it felt raw, and, at a time when Marvel movies in the Disney Universe were starting to feel stale, James Gunn came along and did for the MCU, as it is currently, what he did for it with Guardians 1: he made a goddamn movie.

I thought it was fantastic. I was worried about being disappointed, but it was refreshing to see an MCU film that made me feel. You love these characters, you love their merry little band of misfits, and you get involved with them and, when Gunn puts them through the wringer, he's taking you with them. You laugh with them, you cry with them; that fear that Baby Groot has as Ego's closing the tunnel around him; I just wanted to reach through the screen and rescue this tiny little computer generated tree, and then to take a character like Yondu, and give Michael Rooker a chance to, basically, star in his own multi-million dollar picture, and boy did he deliver. They managed to take this supporting character from the first film and explore the depth of his character and infuse him with such emotion that, when he makes that ultimate sacrifice to save his son, you feel it. I was very close to crying during the Ravager funeral, and I had chills throughout the entire thing, both times.

Gunn has a talent for being able to take whatever ingredients he has and just milk them for all they're worth. The integration of the original Guardians as members of the Ravager guard paying tribute to their fallen comrade should not have worked as well as it did, but, through Stallone's Stakkar character, the way Yondu's situation is defined, and just his identity as a man who's made mistakes and paid dearly for them, by some miracle, Gunn manages to infuse a moment that could've just as easily been a small "Marvel moment" for the hardcore fans to go "oh, cool," before moving on to the next Easter Egg and make it a pivotal, visceral, emotional validation of who Yondu was, and I thought that was done extremely well.

The music, I felt, worked wonderfully, for the most part, as well. First thing you have to know: I'm biased. 90% of this music is stuff I'm listening to, anyway, so, Gunn already engaged me by appealing to my musical sensibilities, and, frankly, any movie that gets these people looking up Sam Cooke wins the soundtrack department by default, but seriously. The elation I felt watching Baby Groot dance to Mr. Blue Sky was only matched by the way I was moved by Father and Son. The use of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain was a sticking point for me, at first, because I didn't really know if it worked that well when they introduced it, but the payoff, when Quill embraces his power, defined it to a much larger extent, and, ultimately, realized it's role in the film. That entire sequence with Come a Little Bit Closer made Yondu's mass murder of his mutinous Ravagers so much more fun than it, honestly, should have been, but, more than anything, I loved the way they integrated the soundtrack into the plot. Brandy was a real treat and having Ego, basically, use the entire song for his being a genocidal Meredith Quill murdering ******** in a Shatneresque, spoken word exploration of the lyrics was just...so ****ing bizarre.

Honestly, the best sequel to a Marvel movie since The Winter Soldier, and, probably, one of my top MCU films, easily right up there with the first, and, maybe, even higher. I can't speak for everyone, but I loved it, and I'm so glad that it broke the mold of what I'd come to expect of MCU movies.

Agreed on all accounts.

 

[jye4ever]

Great enthusiastic review by batfan I wouldn't expect anything less from him anyways.

How Yondu was presented in this movie is how Han Solo should've been handled in TFA.

I cared more for Yondu then freaking Solo and Superman, like holy crap!

But...

If Thanos is handled more like Solo and Superman and less like Yondu then Houston we have a problem.

Lets see because it took 2 movies for Yondu to shine brilliantly.

There is no doubt left now that Gunn is a very talented director especially at character building.

 

[Khev]

I've got a pretty light workload today so I should be able to catch a 3D IMAX matinee within the the next couple of hours here. Very curious to see how it plays for me as I have very little excitement/anticipation for it. If it wins me over that will be quite the accomplishment!

 

[batfan08]

I will say, in terms of character growth, I love what they did with Drax. There's a certain sense of closure to be found in seeing how joyful he can be and, especially, having watched both films back to back, while there are still shades of his pain still present, as we see on the steps with Mantis, his sense of belonging, his place with the Guardians as his newfound surrogate family, it's kind of beautiful to see that much healing take place for a given character. To go from angry and vengeful and lost and broken to this joyful and loving person; I think, in many ways, at least, in terms of the team's construction in the second movie, Drax is kind of the heart of the team. He's the one who truly embraces that they're a family and he's kind of all in on it, because he recognizes that, without each other, they've got nothing.

I don't know. It's just a beautiful character study in so many ways. The bond between Rocket and Yondu and Yondu's role in enabling Rocket to embrace happiness and family, Gatorade and Nebula's reconciliation and Nebula, in many ways, regaining her humanity (humanoidity?); even Kraglin, seemingly, finding a place with the Guardians and rediscovering his relationship to Yondu, I felt, was yet another way that a minor supporting character was elevated and given a bit more depth. Okay. I'm done...I think.

 

[chewblacca]

I liked that Drax went into detail about his wife. Instead of playing her for his reasons last movie and forgetting her they brought her back. I think, despite what he says he has feelings for Mantis.

 

[jye4ever]

I've got a pretty light workload today so I should be able to catch a 3D IMAX matinee within the the next couple of hours here. Very curious to see how it plays for me as I have very little excitement/anticipation for it. If it wins me over that will be quite the accomplishment!

A thrilling ride wrapped in a visual extravaganza with some extraordinary character moments.

But it's all just wheel spinning for me until Thanos.

They're fighting cosmic threats even before Thanos is a threat.

Thanos is already becoming less special and unique.

That being said at least Marvel has given us perfectly good reasons to care about these characters when they do show up in IW so kudos to Marvel for that.

 

[Josette]

batfan08 - Great review! I feel like I wouldn't have much to say in my review now.

I also saw the double feature, last Thursday night. Watching the movies back to back was so much fun, and both myself and my boyfriend loved it.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy has become my favorite Marvel movie, even over my absolutely beloved Winter Soldier - I've re-watched it countless times. I've listened to the soundtrack more times than I care to count. And this one will slide right up there with it, I would imagine.

Ultimately, I am a character person before plot, and this had a plot that showcased the characters.

I loved the soundtrack as much as the first. I have to highlight how well chosen a few those songs were in key scenes - the double use of "The Chain" (the reprise of it near the end awesome to me), "Brandy" and especially "Father and Son" were perfection. "Come a Little Bit Closer" is also a fave (as well as the sequence that accompanied it).

I thought Baby Groot was used just right.

I am looking a lot less forward to the third movie, though.

 

[SNIKT1950]

A thrilling ride wrapped in a visual extravaganza with some extraordinary character moments.

But it's all just wheel spinning for me until Thanos.

They're fighting cosmic threats even before Thanos is a threat.

Thanos is already becoming less special and unique.

That being said at least Marvel has given us perfectly good reasons to care about these characters when they do show up in IW so kudos to Marvel for that.

The problem is they won't be written or handled by Gunn in IW.

 

[jye4ever]

I still think the Russo's are better at delivering action but Gunn is Marvel's overall best director.

Lets see how BP turns out.

 

[Scareb]

****ing loved it.

James Gunn's ear for music is practically unparalleled. Not only did he choose great songs to play throughout, they actually tied into the scenes.

Hands down my favourite scene was when

Spoiler

Peter is on the ropes the second time with those tendrils in him and then The chain starts playing and Peter starts thinking of his family. That song alone made that scene. I got goosebumps when those opening notes started playing. I honestly cannot think of any other song that would even remotely come close to having that same impact. It's such an almost odd choice to what you'd expect in movies nowadays and that's what makes it perfection.

 

[SNIKT1950]

The suits run the Russos therefore I have no faith in them.

 

[jye4ever]

C'mon Snikt you're smarter than that Gunn is run by the suits just as much as the Russo's are.

Want an example of a director who thought they were not run by the suits look no further than Trank.

Gunn bends over just as much as the rest of them.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

All directors are ran by the "suits" in some fashion or another. All of them.

 

[twistedfreak]

I just saw it for the second time, yesterday, and I realized that I never posted about it after seeing the double feature last week. I loved it, I was moved by it; 2017, thus far, has been the year of comic book movies that pack a punch. It's such a weird, off-kilter, I'd hesitate to call it "little" movie, considering the budget, but "little" movie. The humor was there, and it was a movie that really embraced its weirdness and balanced it, well. There was an unsettling quality, I felt, to the mutiny, with the air lock and then Baby Groot being tormented, but they never veered too far over the "edge," and seeing Yondu take vengeance with that magic stick of his, in a weird, bloodthirsty way, leaves you elated, because whatever is happening to them feels earned, and I feel like that speaks to a lot of this movie. It feels earned.

I'll be honest, I didn't entirely not see the Ego thing coming, but, at the same time, I didn't really want to. I mean, from the moment they announced Kurt Russell, I think anyone's natural inclination is to want Star Lord's dad to be more Jack Burton, less Stuntman Mike, and, again, I think the Ego revelation is representative of what makes this film feel so appealing. It felt fresh, and it felt raw, and, at a time when Marvel movies in the Disney Universe were starting to feel stale, James Gunn came along and did for the MCU, as it is currently, what he did for it with Guardians 1: he made a goddamn movie.

I thought it was fantastic. I was worried about being disappointed, but it was refreshing to see an MCU film that made me feel. You love these characters, you love their merry little band of misfits, and you get involved with them and, when Gunn puts them through the wringer, he's taking you with them. You laugh with them, you cry with them; that fear that Baby Groot has as Ego's closing the tunnel around him; I just wanted to reach through the screen and rescue this tiny little computer generated tree, and then to take a character like Yondu, and give Michael Rooker a chance to, basically, star in his own multi-million dollar picture, and boy did he deliver. They managed to take this supporting character from the first film and explore the depth of his character and infuse him with such emotion that, when he makes that ultimate sacrifice to save his son, you feel it. I was very close to crying during the Ravager funeral, and I had chills throughout the entire thing, both times.

Gunn has a talent for being able to take whatever ingredients he has and just milk them for all they're worth. The integration of the original Guardians as members of the Ravager guard paying tribute to their fallen comrade should not have worked as well as it did, but, through Stallone's Stakkar character, the way Yondu's situation is defined, and just his identity as a man who's made mistakes and paid dearly for them, by some miracle, Gunn manages to infuse a moment that could've just as easily been a small "Marvel moment" for the hardcore fans to go "oh, cool," before moving on to the next Easter Egg and make it a pivotal, visceral, emotional validation of who Yondu was, and I thought that was done extremely well.

The music, I felt, worked wonderfully, for the most part, as well. First thing you have to know: I'm biased. 90% of this music is stuff I'm listening to, anyway, so, Gunn already engaged me by appealing to my musical sensibilities, and, frankly, any movie that gets these people looking up Sam Cooke wins the soundtrack department by default, but seriously. The elation I felt watching Baby Groot dance to Mr. Blue Sky was only matched by the way I was moved by Father and Son. The use of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain was a sticking point for me, at first, because I didn't really know if it worked that well when they introduced it, but the payoff, when Quill embraces his power, defined it to a much larger extent, and, ultimately, realized it's role in the film. That entire sequence with Come a Little Bit Closer made Yondu's mass murder of his mutinous Ravagers so much more fun than it, honestly, should have been, but, more than anything, I loved the way they integrated the soundtrack into the plot. Brandy was a real treat and having Ego, basically, use the entire song for his being a genocidal Meredith Quill murdering ******** in a Shatneresque, spoken word exploration of the lyrics was just...so ****ing bizarre.

Honestly, the best sequel to a Marvel movie since The Winter Soldier, and, probably, one of my top MCU films, easily right up there with the first, and, maybe, even higher. I can't speak for everyone, but I loved it, and I'm so glad that it broke the mold of what I'd come to expect of MCU movies.

*insert standing ovation gif here*


Seriously, that is such a fantastic review.

I got to see this on Monday night. This is such a HUGE win for the MCU. Not only did this flick have heart infused into it, it had so much of it and it was just done right. Gunn so clearly gets these characters. I love it! Gunn I think is the best game in the MCU right now. This sequel is the only sequel that is worth watching over, apart from TWS. Damn... Yondu! I loved it. He was so fantastic. Rooker brought his A game to the film, and Gunn gave him a lot to work with. And speaking of Yondu, IMO that is the first and only meaningful death in the MCU. I don't count Coulson, since that was short lived and that just didn't have the impact that Yondu did. His character, the relationship with Quill was really elevated and explored in this. That was just smart on all accounts. It hit me, and hard. The fact that Yondu was also integral in the development of Rocket's character adds to the meaning of it. Rocket has grown on me even more now.

Gamora and Nebula. Yep, I was wanting more from the first Guardians in terms of their relationship, and I got that. As batfan said, Nebula seems to have reclaimed some of her humanity/alienity lol. I can't wait to see what they do with Nebula going forward. I hope that we will get a scene of Nebula and Gamora taking on Thanos together, as I think that would play well to their relationship development. Baby Groot... was cute, super cute. His dancing during the opening credits was hilarious. I thought that they would have overdone him, but I don't think they did. I thought it was the right balance. I was rooting for him as he was getting some revenge on the Ravagers that were beating him.

Drax and Mantis. Drax is what I call kind of the secret weapon. He is just full of surprises. He makes himself very vulnerable at times, and yet seems to stay guarded at times behind the humor. I liked that Mantis was given a part in in showcasing the emotions of Drax. That in and of itself eludes to the value of Mantis. I think that we will see a lot more from Mantis, and I look forward to that.

Peter and Ego. Well, we now know how and why Peter was able to hold in stone in the first film. Peter is a powerhouse for sure. That was showcased in his fight against his own father. Eh, I saw the whole thing coming with Ego, but I think that it was handled well. In lesser hands it may have been more cliche, but here it felt pretty organic, IMO.

The effects were most excellent. I never thought "hey that looks fake" really. This was by and large a character study. It has paid off in spades though. This franchise has heart. You care about the characters. I am most pleased that Gunn is signed for volume 3. He has crafted the best overall franchise in the MCU, as far as I am concerned.

 

[Khev]

Well I guess I'm the party pooper so stop reading if you really loved this film.

Spoiler

One of the biggest "go through the motions/check all the boxes" productions I've seen in at least the last decade, possibly longer.

To me this film was made by a guy who set out to make a movie that:

1. Makes you laugh
2. Makes you cry
3. Makes you think he's super hip and cool in how he did it

For #1 I did chuckle a couple of times (mostly at Rocket), #2 nope and #3 absolutely nope.

I found the jokes to be mostly tired and repetitive and the type of thing you'd see in the last half hour of an episode of Saturday Night Live. As soon as Baby Groot was told to get Yondu's fin and he came back with something else I *knew* they were going to beat that gag into the ground having him come back over and over and over with the wrong thing. You know that old sentiment "it's only funny the first time?" Well it wasn't even that funny *on* the first time.

The visuals were repetitive too. I found it quite boring to watch Yondu's arrow kill an entire army's worth of bad guys just so we could listen to a cool song in its entirety. He whistles and his magic arrow somehow finds everyone. I get it. I don't need "Yondu's arrow, the full length MTV video." The one 3D visual of all of them falling was very cool though.

I didn't think any of the drama was earned. Gunn's formula seemed to be joke, joke, joke, try and make you cry by having two people yelling at each other suddenly get choked up mid-sentence, joke, joke, video game orgy, joke, 30 minute Yondu funeral (wth?), credits.

Fighting aliens arcade game style was just done in "Pixels," (complete with giant chomping Pac-Man!) Star Lord's battle with his dad was just two guys flying around like MOS again, we got more "Suicide Squad" action with mortals holding their own against a god (for real this time!) and what was a bit embarrassing was remembering how people mocked SS for using "Spirit in the Sky" but then GotG2 comes right back and once again mines from Pixels by closing their credits with Cheap Trick's "Surrender." Ugh, the freaking inbreeding of all these films.

And then Gunn going full "Spock's death" from Wrath of Khan with Yondu complete with gratuitous space coffin farewell and in true GOTG2 fashion a completely random and bizarre "Ravager funeral" that went on far too long with more unearned cameos than you could shake a stick at.

And Stan Lee absolutely is the "Wilhelm scream" of the MCU. Just stop, it's not funny or cool anymore. When the Watchers were walking away from him while he was unsuccessfully trying to be funny I wondered if they were supposed to be a metaphor for the audience leaving the theater because I felt their pain as I rose from my seat.

All IMO of course.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Well I guess I'm the party pooper so stop reading if you really loved this film.

Spoiler

One of the biggest "go through the motions/check all the boxes" productions I've seen in at least the last decade, possibly longer.

To me this film was made by a guy who set out to make a movie that:

1. Makes you laugh
2. Makes you cry
3. Makes you think he's super hip and cool in how he did it

For #1 I did chuckle a couple of times (mostly at Rocket), #2 nope and #3 absolutely nope.

I found the jokes to be mostly tired and repetitive and the type of thing you'd see in the last half hour of an episode of Saturday Night Live. As soon as Baby Groot was told to get Yondu's fin and he came back with something else I *knew* they were going to beat that gag into the ground having him come back over and over and over with the wrong thing. You know that old sentiment "it's only funny the first time?" Well it wasn't even that funny *on* the first time.

The visuals were repetitive too. I found it quite boring to watch Yondu's arrow kill an entire army's worth of bad guys just so we could listen to a cool song in its entirety. He whistles and his magic arrow somehow finds everyone. I get it. I don't need "Yondu's arrow, the full length MTV video." The one 3D visual of all of them falling was very cool though.

I didn't think any of the drama was earned. Gunn's formula seemed to be joke, joke, joke, try and make you cry by having two people yelling at each other suddenly get choked up mid-sentence, joke, joke, video game orgy, joke, 30 minute Yondu funeral (wth?), credits.

Fighting aliens arcade game style was just done in "Pixels," (complete with giant chomping Pac-Man!) Star Lord's battle with his dad was just two guys flying around like MOS again, we got more "Suicide Squad" action with mortals holding their own against a god (for real this time!) and what was a bit embarrassing was remembering how people mocked SS for using "Spirit in the Sky" but then GotG2 comes right back and once again mines from Pixels by closing their credits with Cheap Trick's "Surrender." Ugh, the freaking inbreeding of all these films.

And then Gunn going full "Spock's death" from Wrath of Khan with Yondu complete with gratuitous space coffin farewell and in true GOTG2 fashion a completely random and bizarre "Ravager funeral" that went on far too long with more unearned cameos than you could shake a stick at.

And Stan Lee absolutely is the "Wilhelm scream" of the MCU. Just stop, it's not funny or cool anymore. When the Watchers were walking away from him while he was unsuccessfully trying to be funny I wondered if they were supposed to be a metaphor for the audience leaving the theater because I felt their pain as I rose from my seat.

All IMO of course.

Finally someone gets it.

I don't think I was quite as soured on it as you, Khev. But I agree with what you said. I don't think the adoration will last over the long haul. Look at "Superman Returns" as the prime example of people gushing and then completely turning against 3 months later. GOTG2 isn't as horrid as Superman Returns. It's more like TFA... which many, many people cooled to over time.

 

[jye4ever]

 

[chewblacca]

Aaaaah, Khev. . . . Khev.

 

[Wor-Gar]

How Yondu was presented in this movie is how Han Solo should've been handled in TFA.

See. TFA. In a year, people will say "_______ is how they should have handled Yondu's death."



j/k. But I could have done without the fireworks. Spock deserved fireworks, not a Ravenger. Maybe a flurry of beer bottles.

 

[jye4ever]

But I hated how Han was handled from the start.

Yondu I liked.

Yondu was an ugly man who's death was given impact, a daddy who sacrificed himself for his adopted son and was rewarded for it.

Han had his ship taken.