I watched it, I watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and having loved the first film, I was understandably excited to see the sequel. Having watched the sequel however, I found my expectations being, how do we say, challenged, that nebulous enough? cool, let's go.
Like the First film, Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens with a flashback to the 1980's showing us a bit more of Quill's mum, and introducing us to Ego. This intro however has nowhere near the emotional weight of her death in the first film, in fact it doesn't really have any emotional weight, it does nothing more than set up a bit of Ego. Fortunately we are then treated to a much, much better intro with the Guardians taking on a squid monster thing, while Groot dances adorably to Mr. Blue Sky, before we are treated to a very entertaining Ship battle. The Guardians get a very good reintroduction in this film; now closer together than in the first film, they're still shooting shit at each other, and bickering about petty things during life or death situations. Quill is still the reckless, shit talking pirate he was in the first film, Rocket hasn't changed much either, which is good, while Drax and Gamora are just as likable as they became in the first film, and get a lot more laughs in this film, Drax in particular, who went from a kind of wooden character in the first film, to a character who's consistently funny for most of this film. The only character who's seen any massive change is of course Groot, who's now a baby, and he's every bit as adorable as you'd hope, perhaps more so, as he's not just small, he literally is a baby, and the rest of the Guardians are all trying to be good parents for him, while also killing baddies and causing trouble. Something I was very happy to see was the new emotional layers put on the characters in this film, Nebula is much more prominent in this film, and her hatred of Gamora is explored extensively, and it's actually really interesting, and pretty heart wrenching, even if Nebula is still a cheesy character, just like before. Drax also gets some serious development in this film, one scene in particular, where he's talking to Mantis, that's some really hard hitting shit, and it's fantastic. Yondu also returns, as does his Ravager underling Kraglin, and they are one of the film's best changes. Yondu is much more important to the film, and to Quill as a character, and as the film goes on, and his history and relationship with Quill is explored, he becomes a truly fantastic character. He also has some fantastic scenes with Rocket and Groot, and like the end of the first one, you can truly feel Rocket's sadness, as his character also gets the treatment, and there's a few times in this film where Rocket just looks broken, it's horrible, but in the best way it could be. Ego is a tricky one to describe, since the trailers don't really give you that much on him, but he's certainly more developed and interesting than Ronan was, and the conflict he brings in this film is some top notch stuff. And while he's Kurt Russell for most of the film, when the film's finale kicks in, and he takes on his larger forms, it's really cool to look at. New players provide descent supporting roles, Mantis has a cute thing going on with Drax, while a Ravager with the best name ever has the best name ever, Kraglin also has some good scenes, especially in the film's second half. The Gold people all over the film's trailers however aren't really in the film that much, very much like the Ravagers in the first film, they're just a faction that keeps getting in the way at certain points in the film, sad thing is genetically perfect golden pricks lose to space pirates every time.
So far all good, but now we get into flaws, sadly, this might take a while. After the fantastic ship chase in the film's opening, the film slows right down; in the first Guardians they were never on a planet too long, before hopping to the next planet or having a battle, that kept the plot moving at a great pace, and made the film really fun, Guardians 2 however has done the complete opposite. After the ship chase, the majority of the crew spend the rest of the film on one planet, and don't get into any major action until the finale, sure that gives time for development, but the sad truth is sections of the film are just boring, the film has lost the sense of adventure in the first one, and it's not as fun. While Quill, Gamora and Drax are chilling with Ego, things actually do happen with Rocket and Groot, and for a lot of the film, that's really where the enjoyment lies, as Yondu and Rocket stage a daring breakout, and bond in a very enjoyable and sombre way. A lot of the film's humour is also largely in these sequences with Rocket and Yondu, which is really entertaining, but by comparison, the slow, dramatic character building with Ego is just boring. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 is only fifteen minutes longer than the first film, but it definitely feels longer than that, and that's really not good. Fortunately the film picks back up in the final act, as the Guardians reunite and save the Galaxy again, while it's not a Star Wars esque ship battle like the first film, the final showdown is still really entertaining, and actually funnier than the first one, and I'd reckon it's actually a bit more epic than the first one too, on a side note, there's a scene in the final battle that reminded me so much of Shin Godzilla, only it was done better in my opinion. Easily the best part of the final battle, and the best part of the film in fact, is the feels, because when shit goes down, and everyone's having a really bad day, it's genuinely fantastic, again, Rocket is a standout in this film, and, no specifics of course, the last shot of this film is one of the most heart destroying things I've seen in a film, definitely the most heart destroying thing I've seen this year. Like the first film, while being emotionally wrecking, it's also funny, though maybe not as funny as the first one overall; Rocket and Yondu are great, Drax actually gets a lot of humour, and Rocket and Star Lord are still shit heads, but overall, when the film gets so slow and, honestly, dull, with Ego, it detracts from the film in terms of how funny it is. Somewhere where the film is on par is of course the visual effects, this is a beautiful film, Rocket and Groot look as convincing as they did before, and like the first one, the film is stunningly colourful, there's literally never a dull moment, as the film is always popping with vibrant colours. The action is still really fun, the throw down in the forest with Rocket and the Ravagers is great, and the massacre on the Ravager ship is fantastically violent, and a lot of fun. And, same as before, the film has a stellar collection of songs that always seem to fire up during the more intense scenes, usually because of Rocket or Groot, which is really funny. The song list however isn't as memorable as the first film, but it still has its shining moments, Southern Nights and Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang in particular.
That's actually a good way to describe Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it has its good moments, and they're great, but it's just not as memorable as the first film. Its characters are considerably more developed than before, and when the film wants to be emotional, it's even better than the first one, while the comedy is about on par overall. The problem is that the film lacks the epic space adventure story of the first one; with a huge section of the film taking place on a single planet, and having considerably less humour than the actual space adventure shit with Rocket and Yondu, which is where the film's enjoyment comes from for a considerable while. I still love what works in this film, but not all of it works. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 still has its moments, and for them, I'd recommend it, but it's not as good as the first one.
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