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Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)  

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  1. 1. Grade it



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Sets out to be a character-centric movie, which is fine, preferable even, but fails to make any impression on that front. Key reason for that is that Guardians tries to juggle a wide variety of characters, developing them and giving them backstories, which makes it collapse under its own weight. Moments of bonding, strengthening of relationships ring hollow because not enough time is devoted to any of them as the movie feels obliged to cover so many characters. 

 

The story is razor thin as a direct result of the approach adopted, making the experience even more unsatisfying. The annoying Marvel's brand of humor and extremely tacky Tyler Bates score completes the package. 

Edited by Goffe
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I dug it a lot. It's grown on me a lot last couple of days. James Gunn indulges himself a bit too much at some points but overall I really liked what he did with it. Definitely the most stylish MCU film.

 

B+ from me.

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Just got back from my screening. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it a fair bit. I will say it's not as narratively tight as the first one and there definitely a lot more rougher edges, but it also has a lot of really great moments that more than live up to the first movie's quality. There are flaws, yes, and they're relatively noticeable, but I think the high points more than make up for it. 

 

One of the things I liked most about the movie was how it managed to give satisfying character arcs and moments to pretty much everyone on the team, especially Nebula and Yondu. One of my bigger problems with Age of Ultron as a sequel was that, due to limited screentime, some of the team either ended up getting sidelined or stuck with lousy plotlines (like Thor or the Hulk/Widow romance). Guardians 2, on the other hand, has a good character moment for pretty much everyone (except probably Groot but it's difficult for him) and nearly each moment really hit home. I've always said that characterisation is probably one of Marvel's biggest strong points and it's clear that James Gunn gets these characters and knows how to use them. As a result, it's little surprise that the characters are probably the best thing about the movie for me.

 

The visuals were also a strong point. The movie has such a great, psychedelic colour pallet and visual imagination that really sets it apart from most sci-fi films these days. Even when it's doing MoS-style super brawls or large space battles, it's still fantastic and gorgeous to look at. Now, I'm not going to name names here, but it really makes you think that another certain superhero studio should consider adding a little more visual brightness to- Ah, who am I kidding, ZACK SNYDER, PUT SOME ACTUAL COLOUR IN YOUR GODDAMN FILMS! ...Ahem. Anyway, as I was saying, the movie looks great and the visuals really match the light fun attitude it has going for it. Also, I don't know what it is with Marvel and de-aging their characters, but damned if they haven't gotten really good at it. Young Kurt Russell looked great.

 

Now, I have been hearing a lot of complaints about the movie having no/little story and, while I think that's wrong, I do kinda understand the sentiment because there's not really a solid story for the first third or so. There's no major driving motivation for the Guardians compared to, say, the first movie where they were trying to keep/sell the orb and that's what drove their actions. In this one, however, they're just reactive characters, reacting to what's going on around them for about the first half or so. And that can feel a little meandering and narratively unsatisfying. I don't think it ruins the movie, but it's something to keep in mind. Also, I initially thought Rocket was a bit too jerkass-ish/annoying to begin with in the first third or so, but that ended up having a great payoff, so I'm okay with it.

 

Also, this is the first Marvel movie where I think the claim 'Too much humour' actually holds some weight. Admittedly, I don't think it's too much humour that's the problem so much as poorly placed humour, but it is noticeable. Don't get me wrong, the movie is funny. Very very funny. There were a lot of moments that had me cackling in my seat. But there are also times when the movie takes a scene or a moment with a relatively serious tone and shoves in a cheap gag that really doesn't feel fitting and takes you out of the moment. Compare to the dance-off in the first movie, where the serious atmosphere and build-up of a Ronan as a no-nonsense antagonist was what actually made the joke so funny, by being a completely unexpected subversion of expectations (while still being completely in character for Quill). Here, they take a serious moment and interrupt it with just cheap gags, with little build up and, rather than working off the serious atmosphere, just undermines it and the joke in the process. (The Pac-Man moment in particular was guilty of this).

 

That said, I really did like this movie. It was colourful, exciting, hilarious at times, touching at others and never really left me bored throughout its running. Ego was fine as an antagonist. Not exceptional, but he had some really good moments to shine. Yondu was definitely my MVP and had some of the best scenes with Rocket. But overall yeah. It's a movie with clear flaws, but more than enough really great high points to make up for it, I think. Currently wavering towards an A-/B+ but I'll see how it holds up with time/repeat viewings.

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A-, 8/10

Considered as a superhero movie, this is about as good as we will ever get - popping colours, simple messages, fun action and recognisable characters. As a SciFi movie, there's room for improvement - exploring the cosmological or philosophical foundations of the Marvel space universe would be fun (I'm still hoping for a Silver Surfer TV or even movie series somewhere in the future) but GotG is clearly the wrong vehicle for that.

 

What I liked best:

- music

- colours

- Gamora

- Rocket

- Drax and Groot

- and the fact that this doesn't tie into the MCU - no infinity stones, no superhero cameos, no SHIELD ... this movie is perfectly able to stand on its own (resp. on the shoulders of part 1)

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(Star)Lord have Mercy, I think I'm turning into Goffe.

 

Jeebus Christ, all that loud noise and fluo jizz all over the screen for...f*cking "batteries"?! (I can't find what strong motivation all those characters had to be agitated so damn much until the third act turning into a CG firework after tunnels of exposition) but "FAMILY MATTERS!", right! Got it, Dom! I mean Groot or the walking toy ad passing as an adorable character­­™. Whatever.

 

I'm getting too old for these disposable amusement park giggles shit I can't even pretend I'm feeling any genuine involvement character-wise (I don't care about the main protagonist) nor story-wise (main protagonist's daddy issues) so it's real hard to feel concerned and be entertained by constant inside jokes after inside jokes on top of winking jokes about winking while telling an inside joke that falls flat anyway (*Next Inside Joke incoming*) when you're standing on the outside of the self-indulging party...

 

Taika, My Man, You Are My Only Hope...

Edited by dashrendar44
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a good fun movie. Nothing more nothing less. Very funny. Probably the funniest Marvel movie for me, though at times the jokes did fall flat. I didn't like Drax too much in the first movie but he was better here. Although his interactions with Mantis were priceless, some of his jokes with the others were cringe.

 

Story was kinda meh to be honest. I don't know why Marvel likes killing villains with potential for multiple arcs. But anyhow i wasn't a fan of them changing J'son to Ego being his father anyway so good riddance. Yondu's arc was good.

 

A planet with billions of years of experience in using the light vs a newbie and he still lost lol.

 

Too many jokes about penis' and sex to show this to my little nephew.

 

Anyways i still enjoyed it. It was fun and i wanna see more of these characters. 

 

B

Edited by Omario
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This a fun, funny and flashy blockbuster with some really good moments/scenes and another great soundtrack, altough its a bit overused. My main problems are the tone which is very uneven and the messy plot, the movie is sometimes all over the place. But its still good. Not as great as the first one, but as a sequel, it could have been way worse.

 

B.

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  • Community Manager

MVP: Drax

Ego is best MCU villain? Absolutely.

Very funny. Sometimes just wanted to watch the crew interact more.

I really want to meet the scientist who made Rocket now.

 

A-

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On 4/28/2017 at 7:45 AM, rukaio101 said:

 (The Pac-Man moment in particular was guilty of this).

 

Obviously mileage might vary on whether the joke works or not (I thought it was funny) but I wouldn't say that joke in particular was guilty of not having build-up. It's actually paying off a line Peter said earlier in the movie when discusses what he plans to build with the light with his dad.

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6 minutes ago, Water Bottle said:

 

Obviously mileage might vary on whether the joke works or not (I thought it was funny) but I wouldn't say that joke in particular was guilty of not having build-up. It's actually paying off a line Peter said earlier in the movie when discusses what he plans to build with the light with his dad.

To be fair, I said 'little' build-up, not zero. The Pac-man joke was foreshadowed, yeah, but only in a single throwaway one-liner.

 

But, honestly, the major issue with that moment was less foreshadowing and more it really didn't fit with the tone of the scene. The fight in question was a dramatic, emotional conflict for both characters. Throwing in Pac-man at a key climactic moment only served to undermine that and felt a little bit out of character for Quill. Not specifically that he'd make a Pac-man construct (which is totally in character for Quill), but that he'd do it at that exact moment while in an emotionally charged, life-or-death struggle with his father. It's not like the dance-off in the first movie, where Quill had no real emotional connection to Ronan, thus it wasn't out of character for him to do something so goofy and unexpected in desperation. That moment worked because it created a deliberate shift in tone (from 'serious/dramatic' to 'wait WTF?'), rather than just undermining it. In that movie we get to see logical in-character reactions to Quill's... unique distraction and it's given the focus, time and attention needed to make the joke work. Pac-man is literally on-screen for about 2 seconds, nobody reacts to it or mentions it and the scene goes straight back to being emotional/dramatic again. The very definition of a out-of-place, cheap throwaway gag.

 

I agree that it ultimately comes down to personal opinion on how funny the Pac-man joke is, and I do think the idea of it was definitely hilarious. The execution just didn't work for me.

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2 minutes ago, rukaio101 said:

I agree that it ultimately comes down to personal opinion on how funny the Pac-man joke is, and I do think the idea of it was definitely hilarious. The execution just didn't work for me.

 

I think I would have liked it more if it didn't make the actual Pac-Man sound effect. I think that part took it a little too far for me.

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I saw this as a double feature with the first film, so it was interesting to see it in contrast.

 

GotG 1 is a film that has a whole lot of potential, but it squanders a lot of it on poor storytelling choices. It was the film that served to introduce the richness of Cosmic Marvel, but instead it watered down the Kree, Nova Corps, and so forth to pretty generic alien groups. Compared to how good a lot of the stuff in the Abnett and Lanning comics were ten years ago, it was a let down. Ronan, in particular, is a paper thin villain built on what is a rather intriguing and captivating character in the comics. If you want a nearly pitch-perfect antagonist who's a Lawful Good Paladin, Ronan is your guy. The generic religious purity zealot in the film is just so boring. Lee Pace was wasted.

 

But I digress. In short: GotG 1 is a fun movie that doesn't live up to its potential.

 

GotG 2? Well, it's a hell of a lot hokier. There isn't as much potential built into the framework, and they've weirdly decided not to expand on some of the things shown in the first film. (No Kree, Nova Corps, or Knowhere to be found.) Still, despite that, they seem to have pretty well maximized on their potential.

 

Two things particularly stand out. First, Ego (played by Kurt Russell acting as the Kurt Russell-iest that he possibly could) is probably the first Marvel villain since Loki to actually reach his potential. Much like Loki, his character is intertwined into a hero, so that there's personal, emotional stake to what happens. Now, he's not a great villain, but all things considered, he's a hell of a lot better than we could expect.

 

Of course, Marvel being Marvel, they promptly killed him in the film, so that we won't see any further development. 

 

Second, this is the first Marvel film since, I think, Thor 2 where the third act didn't suck. So many Marvel films blow their wad in the second act and then don't seem to have any clear ideal how to keep the film going for another half an hour. Not so, here. GotG 2 keeps trucking along nicely. The stakes are escalated sufficiently, without completely removing the impetus for character involvement. But it's still hokey: the big danger is a gelatinous ooze growing on each planet, which doesn't really strike to the core of cool or scary.

 

(Personal beef: the shots of the ooze on Earth, they could have sold them a bit better with a very brief Avengers cameo. Iron Man or someone showing up, taking a few shots, and then going "Yeah, I'm going to call in the team for this one." Thirty seconds and you only need one line and perhaps no actual shots from RDJ.)

 

In the negative region, there are a lot of moments where the humor undermines the film and characters. The MCU is a quippy franchise, and that happens in spades here. And while just about every joke lands (there were a lot of laughs, even from me), I couldn't help but wonder if Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha would have been better served if the Sovereigns weren't a bunch of video game pilots complete with arcade sounds.

 

Also, as is often the case for the MCU, the direction is strictly journeyman level. Gunn isn't a bad director, but there's nothing great here, either. 

 

Overall, it's a fun way to spend a couple hours. It doesn't really break any new ground (indeed, one could argue that this is the most deliberately nostalgic of the overwhelmingly nostalgic MCU), but it delivers well on what it has. 

 

3/5? 4/5? Somewhere in there.

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It's average and safe in every way. Actions beats and gags that's it. No flow or trust of a story or any sort of tension in any way shape or form in any action beat.  It's not an adventure movie it's a comedy. That's fine, but it doesn't ask anything of the viewer. 

 

Also while the colors are great and so are he effects, however the blocking and shot selection is actually super standard

 

Plus while the soundtrack is great, the score outside the main theme which is ok the music is kinda poor and super generic

 

Oh and god I could not fucking care less about Nebula. What a bore, get her out of this movie, she drops the ball on on every single oner liner, it's awkward. 

 

Honestly every time a character opened up it felt just a tad heavy handed too. It's a C+ movie with fantastic characters that you do want to hang out with though and for that's it's fun. The cast is perfect of course and Pom/mantis  is smoking hot. 

 

B- (81)

 

 

Lots more to say so the podcast this week is gonna be a lot of fun

 

Edited by Jay Hollywood
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When I left the theater a week ago I left feeling that this one was just as good as the first one but a week later I'm actually starting to think it's even better than the first one. I really loved this one, it struck a chord or two with me. It wasn't just a fun ride with great characters but it also felt like an emotional one to me and, perhaps in part for some personal reasons, it just really worked for me.

 

It really felt like the director's movie as well, which is nice and rare considering the franchise.

 

A

 

Edited by Arlborn
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4 hours ago, Arlborn said:

When I left the theater a week ago I left feeling that this one was just as good as the first one but a week later I'm actually starting to think it's even better than the first one. I really loved this one, it struck a chord or two with me. It wasn't just a fun ride with great characters but it also felt like an emotional one to me and, perhaps in part for some personal reasons, it just really worked for me.

 

It really felt like the director's movie as well, which is nice and rare considering the franchise.

 

A

 

 

 

In terms of tone sure, but that has already been established, Its his humor too, he did a good job but , personally I judge that a lot more so by how people shoot dialogue scenes, all the same, lots of close ups, no pans, no dollys, no revels, not a lot of two shots, not really any dynamic angels in conversation. Just lots of single mediums on each character so they could improv it felt. 

 

Lots of people standing and talking too, that what I mean by blocking, character should be moving more and be action when they talk. For example the intro, why are they all PERFECTLY standing waiting for the monster ( in standard Tv framing)  Why cant they all be getting prepared?

 

Having the same dialogue while setting things up, moving around, being on different ends of the platform  or solving a quick problem before the monster makes it down to the platform. Let the humor come from the actually tension and energy of the sequence. Instead they all are just standing there each having to get there one liner gag in. and they all go without a cool character revel besides root really. 

 

Plus plenty of moments I felt people were under acting or not quite selling/pacing out the emotional beats. But I'm glad you enjoyed it and had a good time. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Jay Hollywood
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10 hours ago, Jay Hollywood said:

It's average and safe in every way. Actions beats and gags that's it. No flow or trust of a story or any sort of tension in any way shape or form in any action beat.  It's not an adventure movie it's a comedy. That's fine, but it doesn't ask anything of the viewer. 

 

Also while the colors are great and so are he effects, however the blocking and shot selection is actually super standard

 

Plus while the soundtrack is great, the score outside the main theme which is ok the music is kinda poor and super generic

 

Oh and god I could not fucking care less about Nebula. What a bore, get her out of this movie, she drops the ball on on every single oner liner, it's awkward. 

 

Honestly every time a character opened up it felt just a tad heavy handed too. It's a C+ movie with fantastic characters that you do want to hang out with though and for that's it's fun. The cast is perfect of course and Pom/mantis  is smoking hot. 

 

B- (81)

 

 

Lots more to say so the podcast this week is gonna be a lot of fun

 

 

She is hideous.

 

On the outside

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30 minutes ago, MrPink said:

 

She is hideous.

 

On the outside

That's the joke though(she's actually hot but Drax is weird). Is that what you meant when you said to Sam that you weren't sure about the Asian representation? These jokes?

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