GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 REVIEW

If there’s one thing that Guardians of the Galaxy proved when it launched onto the big screens in 2014 is that you can take a bunch of characters, whether they are floating at the height of popularity in pop culture or sinking at the bottom, and still create a compelling story with them. it propelled Star-Lord and co from the lesser known regions of comic book fandom to become one of the biggest surprising of that year. But that was then, this is now, when the characters are as common as Captain America and Spiderman. I asked myself the question of whether the mystery of these characters had spoiled any chance of history repeating itself. There’s a simple answer to this, no. However, the film still manages to be a thrill from beginning to end.

James Gunn’s gem has all the comedic charm of the first film and then some more on top of it. Every character at least says or does something once that will bring out the belly laughter inside you, and I mean belly laughter. This is probably one of the funniest films of the year partially due to its self-aware nature, this is not a film to have a serious think and/or discussion over, this is a film for you to kick back and escape all the troubles of the world.

Character wise, it’s basically the character you know and love back again with a few tweaks. Firstly, Baby Groot who has been demoted from having a serious role in the narrative to become the “aww” factor contributed in the film. I would normally say this would be negative on a films behalf, but for a film like Guardians of the Galaxy is adds more weight to the comedic tone, I think with the path they’re choosing with Groot, expect him to become a much more rounded character in future installments. As the film demotes Groot to an additional character, I was pleased to see characters like Nebula and Yondu have a much bigger part to play. These two are the characters that you’ll be able to dig further into and they have a much impact on the screen as the true stars of the show.

Speaking of which, the rest of the guardians as just as entertaining, but the one character I thought had a big step up from the previous film is Drax and this is partially due to the scenes involving him and the newest character Mantis. The scenes that involve these two characters are oddly pleasant, not only is it funny due to the dialogue that only Drax could say, but the fact that these are two very out of place characters from how the others would normally act, talk and think, it makes their hint of a blossoming romance even more delightful to witness and makes you want to stay with them further.

I have been awe-inspired by how the first Guardians of the Galaxy mastered the technique of tone consistency, from beginning to end, no other film in recent memory has been able to do this so effortlessly in my view, with its second instalment it continues to shine, not just because of the comedy or the self-awareness as previously mentioned, but because of how the film introduction of characters creates a vibe that every audience member can easily identify and gear themselves up for.

Now it sounds like I’m praising this film for being better that its predecessor, but it’s not, in fact it’s nowhere near to what the first film created. A major stand out is the shift in witty dialogue to basic dialogue, for a film with a comedic tone and an expansive world, there is no requirement for basic written dialogue, it drags you out of that feeling of enjoyment, but luckily when witty dialogue comes back into the frame, its drags you straight back where you should be.

Kurt Russell who plays Ego, the main villain of this piece, is another slap together generic comic book villain with a god complex. I would have loved to see James Gunn go even bolder when it came to the villain’s characteristic, especially when you have an actor of such calibre as Kurt Russell. The narrative of the film demands that we spend time with his character so we can see Ego and Star-Lord together, in the meantime, there are other stories that are just as interesting that we’d much rather follow because of their interest and the amount of action in those separate stories.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a bit of an oddball however I believe this conclusion will suffice the most hardcore of Marvel fans. If you are planning to have a chilled time at the cinema, chances are you’ll be more open to the films comedy and therefore have a pleasant viewing experience, however, if you’re expecting this to be as good as the first film, there will be a hint of disappointment by the time the film has finished its fifth and final post credit scene because there just something about the film that makes it feel as if the charm has worn away over time, nevertheless, this film is still very funny to watch and I’m sure that fans of Guardians of the Galaxy will still very much remain hooked on its loose comedic feeling.

Final Result: 6/10 – Above Average

(For comedic element ONLY)

Have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? What did you think? Please let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.

Next Time: A Dog’s Purpose