Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2.5 Palms trees out of 4
by Manuel Reynoso
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a 2017 superhero film based on superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios. The film is written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker.
When tasked by The Sovereignty to protect an energy source from an intergalactic terror, the team finds themselves being hunted down by the same group when Rocket decides to steal the energy source for himself. After being rescued by a mysterious man, Peter Quill, Drax, and Gamora travel with this man to learn more about Peter’s origins.
School’s out, the days are getting longer, and Hollywood is starting to pump out their quarter of a billion dollar movies again. It’s summer blockbuster time and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is ready to print money like it’s nobody’s business, but if you were to ask me if it was worth your money, I would say… maybe. The movie checks all the boxes of a good summer blockbuster: huge set pieces, great acting performances, and some genuinely good laughs. But there was also a lot of missteps along the way. From overly expository dialogue, some questionable green screen work, and just way, way too many jokes. However, you are bound to have a great time with GotG 2. It really is one of those movies that makes you want to have Home Cinema Installers in your house so you can sit down and witness this kind of epic action we’ve come to expect from Marvel whenever we please.
Don’t get me wrong, I had lot of genuine laughs throughout the film, I can’t take that away from the film. But Guardians 2 went overboard with the amount of jokes they threw at you. For every good joke, at least 2 fell flat. It’s pretty painful when a movie makes a joke that you can tell they really banked on being funny, and the crowd just stays dead silent from start to finish. But the main issue is how badly it clashes with the rest of the films dialogue.
Guardians 2 was pretty good at poking jabs even at itself, but the film was painfully unaware of how expository it gets. I could feel the movie’s writers really want me to care about the emotional turmoil these characters are experiencing on the inside. But when you have a cast of 6 or 7 characters and every single member just has to have their somber, emotional scene, it gets a little old. I’m sorry wise cracking raccoon, but when I just had to sit through 20 minutes of your friends “opening up”, I kinda stopped caring about all of your feelings and just want to see things blow up.
But I have to say, The Guardians definitely know how to blow stuff up. Huge battles, unique fight scenes, and a great soundtrack did not disappoint. This movie is fun. The action made up for any downtime I felt during the movie’s slower moments. Battles ranged from hand to raccoon-paw combat, huge space battles, and everything in-between. This is what will likely be the deciding factor on whether you think it’s worth your money. If you’re in the mood to start your summer with a bit of action, then I think Guardians is worth the watch in theaters. But if you are looking for something a bit more rounded and well written, you really aren’t missing anything too special. You’ll get some laughs. You’ll have some fun. You won’t get anything more than that.
PG-13 2h 18m
