For the record, the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY has somewhat faltered in my estimation since I first saw it. It’s still good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the type of film that after you see it a couple of times, the corporate soul of the thing slowly starts to leak from behind the badass music and beautiful candy-colored visuals. It’s a fine film, maybe slightly compromised by the fact that it goes weird...but not too weird. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. is really, REALLY, weird, and it’s all the better for it. Seriously, guys GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. feels like a full length film of James Gunn taking all the good will that he has banked from the first film being such a gigantic hit and making a movie that pushes the Troma energy that he started with back into it. If one thing helps Guardians succeed where some of the other Marvel movies seem to fail, it is this particular energy, summarized best as what happens to a homogenized Marvel movie when the energy of a grindhouse 80’s film is peppered throughout the film just enough to turn funny but forgettable into, Holy Shit! That’s a lot of dead people and a tiny tree man holding a severed toe. If there’s one moment of the first movie that describes the tone here, it’s the scene when Groot skewers a row of guys and slams them all about. It’s a moment of hilarity, but also one where you’re left thinking about how all of those guys just got brutally killed. Vol. 2 is full of moments like that which benefits the film which actually focuses less on the banter this time and actually telling a story that is pretty interesting and dark when you get down to it. The Guardians themselves aren’t as excessively bantering, but we still know more about them by just the way that they react to situations like, intentionally, but not technically intentionally declaring war on a race of beings who believe themselves to be the perfect race in the universe. What often made the first film though, that returns in a big way are the use of music and the way these cues could support the tone and here that comes back in a big and better way. The first moments that we spend on a foreign planet just about drops the best use of a song in the entire series, until it is all but topped by an escape scene later in the movie. If there’s one thing that the creative team of these films understand, it’s the intertextual weight that each of these classic tunes can bring to each audience member and the way that can manipulate the tone of a given scene. There’s joy to be found within the chords of “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Lake Shore Drive,” and as shamelessly manipulative as they are, each of these cues, much like in the first film, work better than you could ever imagine. Of course, the returning cast and added ones are all brilliant. One hesitates to really call the acting in Marvel movies great, but performance is a huge aspect of making these movies tonally work out as multiple different genres start to compete for the spotlight. The core is great, much like the last time, but the inclusion of Kurt Russell is just incredible. Having just watched ESCAPE FROM NEW YORKfor the first time a few days ago, it’s nice to see Russell embrace the same powerful presence, but with a little bit of mania behind it rather than bravado. New addition, Pom Klementieff, as Mantis also fits well into the series, showing a character that is not jaded like the rest of them, but more innocent and trusting. It’s interesting to see her contrast alongside the rest of the cast. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. is certainly the movie to see this summer. WONDER WOMAN nor JUSTICE LEAGUE nor SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING look of the quality on display here, so I don’t think it’s too far to say that this may be the best superhero movie we get all year. Then again, if we do get a better one...well that would be great because this movie is a wonderful experience. I give GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. an 8.5 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |