Review: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 
(ACTION-COMEDY/SCI-FI) 
★★★
Directed by James Gunn
Screenplay by James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Kurt Russell, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper (voice), Vin Diesel (voice), Elizabeth Debicki, Sylvester Stallone, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language, and brief suggestive content.
135 minutes
Verdict: The Guardians of the Galaxy return in an unexpectedly character-driven and moody (but funny) adventure that's a bit shaggier and less defined than the original, but arguably more interesting.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 IF YOU LIKED:
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY  (2014)
DOCTOR STRANGE  (2016)
STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK  (1980)
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM  (1984)
X2: X-MEN UNITED  (2002)

In a lot of ways, and especially during the first half of the film, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 seems to be lacking the spontaneous zest of the original.  And yet, it's looser and freer this time around, less defined, and at least within the context of typically very restrained and formulaic Marvel Cinematic Universe, it isn't afraid to take risks.  Sometimes they pay off, and sometimes they don't.  While a popular criticism of the MCU holds that the film franchise plays too much like television, for most of the movie, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 actually does seem like a television episode in terms of narrative, until things come together in the final act.  Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, has made no secret of his admiration for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (all of the movies in Marvel's "Phase 2" including IRON MAN 3, THOR: THE DARK WORLD, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, have scenes of a character losing a hand in homage to Darth Vader cutting off Luke's hand), and that's definitely an influence here (although that's likely as much or more James Gunn's own approach with or without Feige) with the separation of characters and storylines, a more methodical, meandering flow and darker tone, but there also seems to be a healthy dose of INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM in there, with the fewer locations and slightly horror-inspired elements.  As with the first movie though, VOL. 2 plays around a lot with '80s nostalgia, and if that's the sandbox you're playing in, EMPIRE and TEMPLE are the second installments you'll want to be pulling from.

You might have noticed that there's not a lot of plot or a clear villain in any of the nonetheless extensive marketing campaign for this movie, and of course, that stuff would be spoilers, but also, part of that is just that VOL. 2 isn't particularly plot-heavy.  It's kind of like trying to explain the plot of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (let's see, the Empire attacks the Rebels who then escape, Han and Leia spend a lot of time avoiding Imperial ships in an asteroid field until they go to Cloud City where the Empire finally catches them, meanwhile, Luke is training on a planet called Dagobah, and then they all meet up at the end for fighting and freezing people and stuff; it isn't quite as solid as "farm boy teams ups with an old warrior and an outlaw to rescue a princess and blow up the Death Star"), a sequel that turns its attentions away from plot for a while to focus on character-building and themes.  That's all fine, even though, let's admit it, EMPIRE is overrated, but that's beside the point.  Former outlaws Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka "Star-Lord", Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel for some reason, even though as a Baby Groot now, his voice recording of the "I am Groot" line is even further modified past recognition) are now the famous "Guardians of the Galaxy", and they're up for hire.  They're on the run from the forces of an entire race after Rockets steals from them, they've got Gamora's malicious and estranged sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) in tow, and Quill's former crew of Ravagers is after them when suddenly Quill's mysterious and powerful father (Kurt Russell) comes back into his life.

There's a lot going on at the margins, but at the core of the story, it's mostly characters evolving and getting to know themselves better, with some intrigue, action and plenty of irreverent, occasionally coarse comedy mixed in.  It's nice that writer-director James Gunn was given even more leash to spice up the language within the PG-13 rating this time around.  The approach to humor heavily involves undercutting the cliched self-seriousness and manufactured emotion of superhero blockbusters with goofy commentary and one-liners, similar to DEADPOOL but without the obnoxious "self-awareness".  Ironically, this becomes rote early on, but the character interactions and escalating weirdness continue to work.  The Guardians are a family this time around (like Vin Diesel's other franchise, but better), with Quill as the immature sitcom-style dad, Rocket is the obnoxious wise-ass brother, Drax is the weird kind of dumbass brother, Groot is the baby of the family, and Gamora is the no-nonsense mom stuck with this fraternity idiots that she cares about.  A new entry is Mantis (Pom Klementieff), a young woman with empathic abilities who bonds with Drax over their shared odd innocence mixed with a stark lack of social understanding.  The action is secondary to the character development, which is fine, because action isn't exactly one of Gunn's strengths, although he sometimes brings inventive concepts to the table, and the climactic action is pretty fun.

VOL. 2 is unexpectedly different from the first movie as it charts its own course rather than simply replaying the hits, but it's an imperfect method.  The first movie was weird in that it wasn't really as original or weird as it seemed, but it's sense of humor and characters were that weird, and that's what really stuck with people.  VOL. 2 knows what worked about the first movie and runs in a completely different direction with it, which makes me curious how audiences will react to it, but either way, it's pretty fun with another solid oldies soundtrack.

                                                                                                                                                                        Images via Marvel