WARNING: CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS.
Ladies, dudes and movie-goers, Last night I saw the follow up to 2014’s surprise blockbuster based on Marvel’s comics formerly less popular comic of the same name; Guardians of the Galaxy (GoG) via special screening, the highly anticipated sequel has been a long time coming and so naturally I’m writing about it to give you a free and fair view (I hope) as I always do. I’ll attempt to make this short so I don’t stray into spoiler territory.
Anybody who knows me knows I love Sci-fi movies, name it and I’ve probably seen it (if it was worth watching), I’ve also never considered the Guardians of the Galaxy to be a super hero movie, for me it’s a space adventure pretty much like Star Wars, Firefly or Lost in Space etc. though not as dark, the premise of a traditional superhero exists where the protagonists are somewhat more special than the regular joe (usually super powered, tech powered) and use that edge to fight the good fight or villains on the same scale, GoG on the other hand is pretty much like the Wild West where the 2nd amendment is fully embraced - super powered people who exist in a world where everyone is just as super powered. Peter Quill reminds me of Han Solo or even Malcom Reynolds from the firefly series, so for me GoG is a western space Odyssey.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (GoG2) was expectedly another fun, comedic, action romp full of one liners, tongue in cheek humour and beautiful visuals. It had me laughing most of the time and with a grin on my face when I wasn’t doing the latter. This did have me quite worried though to be honest, Marvel seem to have embraced the funny side of storytelling for their films even when the source material is generally more serious but based on its cinematic success if any Marvel movie should get away with it, it should be GoG, it’s the 5th most successful Marvel film from 14 entries and achieved that despite being relatively little known.
My biggest worry is more upcoming Marvel releases taking this well-trodden path, Thor: Ragnarok already seems to be taking the cue (trying not to take itself serious) if the trailer is anything to go by with its humour-centric and psychedelic theme. I sure hope upcoming releases like Avengers; Infinity War, Captain Marvel and Black panther keep it more grounded. Saying GoG2 isn’t a comedy first before anything else would be hard to defend, it thrives on this though and I couldn’t help but notice that it reminded me of comedic space adventures like Galaxy Quest or The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy.
GoG2 picks off with our heroes still reeling from their galaxy saving feats , Peter Quill or Star-Lord as he prefers to be called and his motley crew are doing what Guardians of the Galaxy do best; still saving the galaxy, albeit for a fee now; the guardians defeat a space octopus for a race of aristocratic snobbish golden skinned humanoids called the Sovereign, after which Rocket steals the same things they were charged with protecting (you gotta admit, that is funny), however as a repercussion for the transgressions of Rocket’s sticky fingers the Sovereign fleet chase down and attack the Guardians’ ship until they are saved by a man surfing on an egg (I shit you not) and that is how we meet Star Lord’s Dad (Ego the living planet), this literally happens under 20 minutes into the movie, don’t worry I was also like ‘well that was quick, totally not the synopsis I was promised'.
Well without getting more into the movie and its quite unexpected plot I will say I didn’t think it was as good as its predecessor, funnier yes, definitely funnier but not better. There was a depth to the first movie that GoG2 is just unable to recreate, we are introduced to some new characters but none of them memorable. The former cast still holds sway in this movie. Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Baby Groot, Drax, Nebula and Yondu are still the glue that holds this film together. Baby Groot is probably the cutest thing you will see on television this year, there’s even a joke about how he is so cute they can’t kill him. New cast like Ego (Kurt Russell), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) don’t rise above being support for the plot (they failed to get me involved or to care), cameos by Sylvester Stallone and Michelle Yeoh seemed just as pointless as Stan Lee's (No offense Stan).
At this point I’ve more or less given up on Marvel villains after another disappointing show, I didn't find the Ego the living planet compelling in anyway and his misguided desire to destroy other worlds and dominate the universe didn’t just take, it felt like lazy story telling to me, Galactus might be a destroyer of worlds but he’s just just got a large appetite! Thanos wants to destroy the universe so he can meet his crush-Mistress Death! I mean these guys have better (albeit ridiculous) motivation going for them. I would have preferred J’son (His father from the comics) to be the villain they used here (picture a space Tywin Lannister who hates his son, except his son is Star-Lord). Marvel have dropped the ball so much already I wonder if it’s intentional.
It wasn’t the space adventure I thought it would be, what with the upcoming infinity wars, I had assumed the guardians were going to cross paths with other civilizations of the Marvel universe; The Kree, the Shiar Empire, The Skrulls, The Badoons etc. I thought it was going to be a fucking epic space field trip! The value of family is strong in this one and relationships between characters are well explored to this effect, there are so many messages to highlight- and the one that we sometimes travel across the galaxy to find what was right beside us all along was relatable, as well as the fact that family goes beyond sharing the same genetic make-up.
With all that being said, GoG2 is still a great watch it’s not in any way hampered by any of my observations and will still guarantee you your money’s worth, it certainly didn’t live up to my expectations and definitely did not surpass its prequel. Unfortunately I didn’t get to view this in all its glory but it still looked amazing and I would say if you’re thinking of seeing this one perhaps check it out on IMAX 3D. As for my epic space adventure maybe Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets might be the medicine I need.
Imagine asking some random dude how the movie was and he replies..'funny". Lol. That makes a mockery of the whole superhero idea. If this twist to Fantasy/Acvtion/Comedy genre is anything to go by, I guess Marvel kinda thinks people are superhero fatigued. Cutting down on action and violence might ultimately play to their bottom line and would suck for blood thirsty,action loving diehards.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I don't remember picking up many DC or Marvel comic titles and laughing all through, they had humour (mostly dry) but they had way more than that; a real essence, great art and storytelling that intrigued you. There's nothing wrong in a light-hearted superhero movie but Marvel or should I say Disney are taking it too far in my opinion, GoG2 feels more like a parody of the source material, the humour felt misplaced in many moments, even when you find out Ego is a bad guy and how big of a threat he supposedly is, I couldn't take him serious, it reminded me of Saturday morning cartoons to be honest. I understand they wanna make PG-13 movies and make more money but the superhero genre is being lost in these neo comedies. The evil Mickey Mouse Organisation will end up ruining the genre for everyone. Unfortunately DC might be swayed to make their movies more like Marvel just to compete in the box office (so sad).
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