Spoilers Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Grading & Discussion
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Loved it. Picked up on the Browder cameo when I heard him speak, as it sounded similar to when he pretending to be peacekeeper on Farscape.
Fun Romp.
Laughed a lot.
A bit slower in the middle where Star-Lord kinda disappears, but still no dragging.
It gave the other Guardians a chance to shine.
I probably missed a lot of inside jokes.
Did I get that correctly that the Ravager Reunion at the end was a reference to the original Guardians?
Laughed a lot.
A bit slower in the middle where Star-Lord kinda disappears, but still no dragging.
It gave the other Guardians a chance to shine.
I probably missed a lot of inside jokes.
Did I get that correctly that the Ravager Reunion at the end was a reference to the original Guardians?
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Yep. Stakar (aka Starhawk), Martinex, Charlie-27, and Aleta. Not sure on the other two, but then it's been a long while since I've gone back to classic Guardians.
Fun movie. Great SFX. This one was certainly BIGGER, but I think I still like the first one better. Vol. 2 felt a little less plot-driven and more character-driven, which is fine, but there were so many *cue the orchestra music* dramatic monologues that they then had to break the tension with a joke (most which worked, some that were quite contrived). Some amazing lines but I like the writing better in the first.
Points for the Browder cameo and crazy-strong supporting cast (where the hell has Ving Rhames been??).
Points for the Browder cameo and crazy-strong supporting cast (where the hell has Ving Rhames been??).
Just got back from it, in conjunction with a screening of the first one. Some good stuff in it, but I don't think it's quite as good as the first one. Some good set pieces and moments in it, but it also feels a bit bloated in trying to do too much with too many characters (Yondu, Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Nebula primarily) and I feel the "Baby Groot" stuff was overused a bit, almost felt like they were outright trying to sell you Baby Groot-related products, in particularly one of those stuffed toys you stick to your car windows with suction cups.
The use of the soundtrack was a little more.... "obvious" this time. In the first movie we might see Quill, or someone else, listening to the Walkman and then the song playing over the soundtrack, usually over a series of cuts and a montage of sorts. This time around people pretty much straight-up say, "Hey! Play that song!"
Underuse of Stallone, great use of Kirk Douglas and good use of Michael Rooker.
Overall, not bad. But it I think it was trying too hard. I'd probably give it a B.
The use of the soundtrack was a little more.... "obvious" this time. In the first movie we might see Quill, or someone else, listening to the Walkman and then the song playing over the soundtrack, usually over a series of cuts and a montage of sorts. This time around people pretty much straight-up say, "Hey! Play that song!"
Underuse of Stallone, great use of Kirk Douglas and good use of Michael Rooker.
Overall, not bad. But it I think it was trying too hard. I'd probably give it a B.
I must have missed her when I went to the bathroom. She sounds like a fun character.
I had just witnessed in the news pure unadulterated malice by a prominent group of people. I was experiencing depression and terrible anxiety attacks. As the film unfolded, I became immersed in this fictional universe. The real world receded into the background. It was swell when the film's malice got its comeuppance. I am thinking about seeing it again this weekend.
We saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, though I agree with my wife that the first one had just a bit more charm. But Vol. 2 was totally entertaining and the scenes with Baby Groot fetching Yondu's stuff were hilarious.
Loved Stan's cameo as well.
I'm surprised that no one has made mention yet of the new 'birthing pod' and the name associated with it.
Loved Stan's cameo as well.
I'm surprised that no one has made mention yet of the new 'birthing pod' and the name associated with it.
I thought it was good. Funny and with a great amount of character development, which is always appreciated. I did think the movie was very aimless in the middle though and they overdid some of their attempts at humor. It's not as good as the first one.
Thought Kurt Russell was great as Ego and loved Yondu's storyline. I liked the whole backstory with Ego. A lot of really awesome cameos.
Thought Kurt Russell was great as Ego and loved Yondu's storyline. I liked the whole backstory with Ego. A lot of really awesome cameos.
Yeah, Ego's storyline was really good. I thought it'd be hard for me to stretch into the "living planet" thing but the way it was presented and explained it made sense and really worked. The movie *did* seem aimless in the middle it's like the characters were just hanging around their various locations doing nothing, there was no sense of forward progress like there was in the first one where they go from the Xandar, to The Kyln, to Knowwhere, to Yandu's ship back Xandar there was motion and progress.
Here we have Quill separated from everyone else with his father, Ego, Drax with the empathic alien, and Gamora who eventually goes off on her own and then has a little encounter with Nebula after she gets away from Rocket, Yandu and Groot stuck on the Raveger ship.
The stuff with Quill and his father was interesting but not quite as interesting as seeing him interact with the rest of the gang, the "sexual tension" between him and Gamora mostly set aside, the dick-measuring with Rocket sort of dismissed and then solved, the movie had so much going on at the same time yet, somehow, nothing was really happening and then everything seems to happen at once.
Oh, what are Rocket and Yandu up to? Uhhhh show them yelling and with goofy CGI faces going through the portals? Ok we;re caught up, back to Drax being kind-of-a-jerk (unknowingly) to this alien chick, Gamora angsting over everything, and the goofy scene with Quill and Ego playing "catch" with the ethereal ball.
Some parts of this movie felt like it was trying too hard to be "different" and "edgy" to the point it almost feels out of place in this MCU universe. The stuff with Baby Groot, the "catch" scene, Quill's "retro"-references (for being a kid on Earth for a relatively short time with conscious memory compared to his age he sure seems pretty embedded and dedicated to a culture he's not experienced for 30 years.
The stuff with the "superior" aliens and their drones was funny but the movie tried to hard with the likening it to video arcade kiosks. The sound effects, the "kill screens", the cheering the lone player outlasting everyone it, again, felt like it was trying too hard for this "retro-feel." And by doing so it stands out a lot more than it did in the first one.
Quill's "Footloose" story to Gamora as they await The Collector at Knowwhere is a nice little scene backed by a great song and showing Quill's growing attraction/feelings for Gamora and even hers and how she fears them.
In this movie we go a bit overboard with Quill's story about claiming David Hasselhoff was his father, the Cheers reference re: him and Gamora's "on again/off again"/"will they/won't they" relationship. (Which as big fan of Cheers I'm not sure I entirely "got." Sam and Diane were "on again and off again" but it wasn't a will they or won't they it was that they were incompatible but kept trying to make it work anyway. With Rebecca there was some touch of "will they/won't they" but the show didn't push that nearly as hard as Sam/Diane and was more focused on Rebecca's various gold-digging relationships and Sam's usual womanizing.)
So I dunno, I still come out having really liked the movie, but some of these things it seemed like it was trying too capture that lightning in a bottle again but it was being obvious about it so not catching anything. (Sort of like a hunter in a blind but he's wearing very loud, bright, colors rendering the blind useless.)
And the music in this really disappointed me. The first one had great music and made we want to buy the soundtrack right away, I can't even say if I really recall any of the songs in this one or if any of them stood out as staging the feel and look of the scene like the music in the first one did.
Oh, and it was funny that Quill was told the Zune with 200 songs on it was the "latest" in Earth technology and Quill was impressed with it but.... Quill? You're living in space, using FTL-capable travel, and your ships' memory cores and capacities are likely in the yottobyte range and beyond. You're really impressed with a Zune that can hold a couple dozen gigabytes?
Here we have Quill separated from everyone else with his father, Ego, Drax with the empathic alien, and Gamora who eventually goes off on her own and then has a little encounter with Nebula after she gets away from Rocket, Yandu and Groot stuck on the Raveger ship.
The stuff with Quill and his father was interesting but not quite as interesting as seeing him interact with the rest of the gang, the "sexual tension" between him and Gamora mostly set aside, the dick-measuring with Rocket sort of dismissed and then solved, the movie had so much going on at the same time yet, somehow, nothing was really happening and then everything seems to happen at once.
Oh, what are Rocket and Yandu up to? Uhhhh show them yelling and with goofy CGI faces going through the portals? Ok we;re caught up, back to Drax being kind-of-a-jerk (unknowingly) to this alien chick, Gamora angsting over everything, and the goofy scene with Quill and Ego playing "catch" with the ethereal ball.
Some parts of this movie felt like it was trying too hard to be "different" and "edgy" to the point it almost feels out of place in this MCU universe. The stuff with Baby Groot, the "catch" scene, Quill's "retro"-references (for being a kid on Earth for a relatively short time with conscious memory compared to his age he sure seems pretty embedded and dedicated to a culture he's not experienced for 30 years.
The stuff with the "superior" aliens and their drones was funny but the movie tried to hard with the likening it to video arcade kiosks. The sound effects, the "kill screens", the cheering the lone player outlasting everyone it, again, felt like it was trying too hard for this "retro-feel." And by doing so it stands out a lot more than it did in the first one.
Quill's "Footloose" story to Gamora as they await The Collector at Knowwhere is a nice little scene backed by a great song and showing Quill's growing attraction/feelings for Gamora and even hers and how she fears them.
In this movie we go a bit overboard with Quill's story about claiming David Hasselhoff was his father, the Cheers reference re: him and Gamora's "on again/off again"/"will they/won't they" relationship. (Which as big fan of Cheers I'm not sure I entirely "got." Sam and Diane were "on again and off again" but it wasn't a will they or won't they it was that they were incompatible but kept trying to make it work anyway. With Rebecca there was some touch of "will they/won't they" but the show didn't push that nearly as hard as Sam/Diane and was more focused on Rebecca's various gold-digging relationships and Sam's usual womanizing.)
So I dunno, I still come out having really liked the movie, but some of these things it seemed like it was trying too capture that lightning in a bottle again but it was being obvious about it so not catching anything. (Sort of like a hunter in a blind but he's wearing very loud, bright, colors rendering the blind useless.)
And the music in this really disappointed me. The first one had great music and made we want to buy the soundtrack right away, I can't even say if I really recall any of the songs in this one or if any of them stood out as staging the feel and look of the scene like the music in the first one did.
Oh, and it was funny that Quill was told the Zune with 200 songs on it was the "latest" in Earth technology and Quill was impressed with it but.... Quill? You're living in space, using FTL-capable travel, and your ships' memory cores and capacities are likely in the yottobyte range and beyond. You're really impressed with a Zune that can hold a couple dozen gigabytes?
...of Earth songs? Hell yes.
"Can we put the bickering on hold till AFTER we survive the massive space battle?"
"Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 is even more fun, heartfelt, absurd, colorful, and musically on point than the first volume. Seriously, I really loved how eye-popping and striking the colors were in this film, even more so than its predecessor. It felt like I walked into a Luc Besson film, which was freshly in the forefront in my mind because of the Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets trailer prior to the film).
I agree with others that it was a little sluggish in the middle but not to the determent of the film, in fact, as soon as I noted the sluggishness, the film kicked into high gear.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Yondu in the first film (largely because of the whole "trying to kill Peter" thing), but this film did a very good job building on his relationship with Peter and making him a sympathetic character in time for his noble sacrifice. "I may not be your father, but I am your daddy!" indeed.
Of course, baby Groot is awesome and I will not hear any nay saying that there was too much!
I absolutely loved all of the great cameos, but there was one cameo that completely caught me off guard: Ben Frelling Bowder! I had no idea he was going to be in the film, but it's too bad that he was only in a couple of scenes at the beginning. Considering how much more we saw of The Sovereign, it's a shame they couldn't utilize his character more. His cameo is appropriate considering Peter Quill is cut from the same cloth as John Crichton. Nathan Fillion recorded another voice cameo (as SImon Williams), but alas it was cut. So close to getting the space cowboy with the heart of gold leading a ragtag team of misfits hat trick! Maybe they'll get it in volume 3.
Stan Lee's two scens as an "astronaut" being observed by The Watchers was hysterical. And this pretty much confirms he's indeed a Watcher (albeit in another form, possibly amnesiac).
And did anyone else catch Jeff Goldblum's cameo in the credits, dancing in a bubble?
Lastly, I'm glad they've finally set up Adam Warlock. Hopefully we'll hear casting news for him shortly...
"Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 is even more fun, heartfelt, absurd, colorful, and musically on point than the first volume. Seriously, I really loved how eye-popping and striking the colors were in this film, even more so than its predecessor. It felt like I walked into a Luc Besson film, which was freshly in the forefront in my mind because of the Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets trailer prior to the film).
I agree with others that it was a little sluggish in the middle but not to the determent of the film, in fact, as soon as I noted the sluggishness, the film kicked into high gear.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Yondu in the first film (largely because of the whole "trying to kill Peter" thing), but this film did a very good job building on his relationship with Peter and making him a sympathetic character in time for his noble sacrifice. "I may not be your father, but I am your daddy!" indeed.
Of course, baby Groot is awesome and I will not hear any nay saying that there was too much!
I absolutely loved all of the great cameos, but there was one cameo that completely caught me off guard: Ben Frelling Bowder! I had no idea he was going to be in the film, but it's too bad that he was only in a couple of scenes at the beginning. Considering how much more we saw of The Sovereign, it's a shame they couldn't utilize his character more. His cameo is appropriate considering Peter Quill is cut from the same cloth as John Crichton. Nathan Fillion recorded another voice cameo (as SImon Williams), but alas it was cut. So close to getting the space cowboy with the heart of gold leading a ragtag team of misfits hat trick! Maybe they'll get it in volume 3.
Stan Lee's two scens as an "astronaut" being observed by The Watchers was hysterical. And this pretty much confirms he's indeed a Watcher (albeit in another form, possibly amnesiac).
And did anyone else catch Jeff Goldblum's cameo in the credits, dancing in a bubble?
Lastly, I'm glad they've finally set up Adam Warlock. Hopefully we'll hear casting news for him shortly...
I thought it was a fun movie. If it suffered from anything it's probably trying too hard to have something for everyone sometimes trying too hard to push a joke (or overexplain it) or the music or moments being a little forced and so on. Its heart seemed in the right place and it work more often than it doesn't but there were some places that could've dialed back a little (For example on the humor side: The space jumps bit just seemed more silly than funny. I think Groot's retrieval of the prototype would've worked better with a couple less mishaps. Then again, kids might eat that up.) The story ends up being planetbound (egobound?) and another set piece/location may have helped a little to open it up.
Where it works though is just giving us lots and lots of sci-fi stuff which is great. This wasn't like some shows or movies where it's like a 2017 workplace with a ray gun or video wall thrown in, this was flat-out. While I was saying it could have used some restraint in places there's something to be said for going balls out with the rest.
It's funny, I watched all of Doctor Who and I really don't see Karen Gillan in Nebula. Not just the makeup but the performance, I was impressed that she delivers such a different persona.
The Valerian trailer looked really good in 3D by the way.
Where it works though is just giving us lots and lots of sci-fi stuff which is great. This wasn't like some shows or movies where it's like a 2017 workplace with a ray gun or video wall thrown in, this was flat-out. While I was saying it could have used some restraint in places there's something to be said for going balls out with the rest.
It's funny, I watched all of Doctor Who and I really don't see Karen Gillan in Nebula. Not just the makeup but the performance, I was impressed that she delivers such a different persona.
The Valerian trailer looked really good in 3D by the way.
Anyone catch Michelle Yeoh there at the end? She managed to get a ship before Discovery it seems. I was finding myself wanting to see a movie with Stallone's squad. Speaking of Doctor Who, was that a tribute to "Handles" there or is that from the comics?
That dynamic I liked, but it seemed to fly in the face with what happens in the first movie, which I saw in the double feature. Okay, we'll accept that Yondu's threats to eat Peter or feed him to his crew was just him bullshitting, but in the first movie he does put a bounty out on Peter (granted a "bring 'em in alive" one) and when he recollects Peter outside Knowhere and he genuinely seems a second away from killing Peter with his arrow before they tempt him with saving Xandar.
*cough*The One Above All*cough*
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Not really. He IS a pirate. A fairly bloodthirsty one, at that. There was money on the line, and Peter made off with the goods. And he absolutely does give Peter every chance. Even in the scene with the arrow, the offer they make to get Yondu to save Xandar doesn't go over well with his crew. But it lets him save face, because he really doesn't want to hurt Quill. He clearly has a soft spot for the human throughout the first film. Up to and including finding a troll doll in his orb, and finding it funny.
Even here, it can be argued that Yondu takes the initial contract not to hunt Peter, but to ultimately help him slip the hook. Taserface's rebellion just gives Yondu an excuse to put his pirate mask away and actually do what he wanted to do all along. Especially once he learns about Ego's involvement.
Having multiple post credits scenes plus the characters/cast pictures and dancing made the end credits really enjoyable to sit through. And no tree creatures or raccoons were hurt making this picture.
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