Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Naturally, after the success of that first film, Marvel decided to attempt a repeat, bringing back the same cast, the same writer and director, and the same talking tree and raccoon. Marvel's sequels have usually at least in some ways improved on the originals, and sometimes they have struck gold, so I was quite hopeful for Vol. 2.
In some ways, this film does quite well, mostly due to the clever humor. Part of this is because of the writing and how fast and furious the jokes come, but I feel a majority of the humor's success comes from the chemistry of the cast and how everyone has different comedic slants. Every character seems to complement the others, with Drax having a more dry and ironic sense of humor, Rocket and Peter Quill having crassy wit, and Baby Groot having...well, epically adorable cuteness and innocence. Like, the opening credits. I won't spoil it, but the opening credits might have been my favorite sequence of the entire film.
The performances of Vol. 2 also have a lot to offer. Most of this has to do with the comedic side of things, but there are some good dramatic efforts as well, centered primarily around Zoe Saldana's Gamora, Chris Pratt's Peter Quill, and Michael Rooker's Yondu. Rooker in particular stands out, with his character getting a lot of extra heft and depth and therefore increasing what he gets to work with in the film. My favorite parts of the film (those that weren't just about Baby Groot, that is) all were a part of his storyline in the film, and I can't help but feel that it's mostly due to his performance that they were so effective.
That being said, there's things this film that don't work terribly well, and from what I can tell it boils down to two things: the overall plot structure and James Gunn's direction. The plot is quite muddled with multiple storylines, multiple antagonists, and in general just way too much going on. From what I can tell, there isn't a whole lot of focus cast on to any single one of the subplots, making the film seem really messy at times, especially in its second act. The competition for screen time between the various story arcs involving the Sovereign (those gold people in the trailer), the Ravagers, Nebula, and Ego all seem to make the whole film feel less developed than it could be, with the Ravagers subplot getting the most development of the four. They do all converge to some extent at the film's conclusion, but that doesn't completely make up for its muddy midsection.
With regard to James Gunn's direction, I actually have very few complaints in the area of the visuals. Things are kept exciting and colorful just like the first film, and the action sequences are helmed very adequately. I feel like the problem here mostly stems from an stricter adherence to the "Marvel formula" than the first Guardians film. The previous film had so much originality and spark, and this second installment tries so hard to straddle originality while being more "normal," and it just doesn't work nearly as well. The fact is the first Guardians film had characters that were easy to fall in love with, and the direction Gunn and the rest of his team take in this one doesn't necessarily change how we feel about any of them a whole lot, which makes the film feel a bit stale in comparison to the first.
That lack of an original spark makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 an inferior product to its predecessor. Is it an entertaining film? Of course it is. It has the Marvel name in front of it, so by this point you either know what you're getting or you've been living under a rock for the past few years. I wouldn't say it's a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but if you love these characters and just want to spend a couple hours being purely entertained by their shenanigans, Vol. 2 might just be your piece of cake.
My recommendation: Go see it if you want a fun time at the movies. Just know that it's not the greatest thing since sliced bread like the original.
My grade: 72
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