Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (2017) | Movie News & Review

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017) movie

Genre | Science Fiction

Classification | M

Running time | 138 minutes

Released | 25 April 2017

cast

Chris Pratt ... Peter Quill
Zoe Saldana ... Gamora
Dave Bautista ... Drax
Vin Diesel ... Baby Groot (voice)
Bradley Cooper ... Rocket (voice)
Michael Rooker ... Yondu
Karen Gillan ... Nebula
Pom Klementieff ... Mantis
Sylvester Stallone ... Stakar Ogord
Kurt Russell ... Ego
Elizabeth Debicki ... Ayesha
Sean Gunn ... Kraglin

director

James Gunn

writer

James Gunn ... (written by)

Dan Abnett ... (based on the Marvel comics by) &
Andy Lanning ... (based on the Marvel comics by)

Steve Englehart ... (Star-lord created by) and
Steve Gan ... (Star-lord created by)

Jim Starlin ... (Gamora and Drax created by)

Stan Lee ... (Groot created by) &
Larry Lieber ... (Groot created by) and
Jack Kirby ... (Groot created by)

Bill Mantlo ... (Rocket Raccoon created by) and
Keith Giffen ... (Rocket Raccoon created by)

Steve Gerber ... (Howard the Duck created by) and
Val Mayerik ... (Howard the Duck created by)

cinematographer

Henry Braham

music

Tyler Bates

film editor

Fred Raskin ... (edited by)
Craig Wood ... (edited by)

box office result

Worldwide $863,756,051

Australia $24,606,483

North America $389,813,101

the best dialogue

Yondu: He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy.

Drax: This gross bug lady is my new friend.

Peter Quill: Showtime, a-holes!

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017) MOVIE IMAGES

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

Peter Quill and his fellow Guardians are hired by a powerful alien race, the Sovereign, to protect their precious batteries from invaders. When it is discovered that Rocket has stolen the items they were sent to guard, the Sovereign dispatch their armada to search for vengeance. As the Guardians try to escape, the mystery of Peter's parentage is revealed.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 24 April 2017
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐½

Mix Tapes are a tricky thing to keep getting right; especially after you’ve done the first one. When you do your first Mix Tape, you tend to put all the best songs on it. It’s crammed full of music that you’d want to have with you if you happened to find yourself stranded on a deserted island. Depending on the length of the cassette you’ve used, you could cram up to 90 minutes of your absolute favourite tracks on the tape to keep you, or whoever the tape is intended for, going for four or even five consecutive plays. After that, you need some clear air, just to make sure the tape doesn’t wear out its welcome. That’s where a second Mix Tape might come in handy. The problem with the second Mix Tape is that it’s never quite as good because it’s got all of your second choice options on it. Perhaps, there’s some 12 inch remixes of originals from your first tape. There might even be a cover song or two of contemporary acts playing out their childhood Rock Band fantasy. There’s no doubt, it’s hard to get the second Mix Tape as good as the first.

James Gunn’s second Marvel Mix Tape - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 - has all of the issues that tend to challenge any follow-up adventure to a hugely successful movie. 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was Marvel Studios first genuine “suck it and see” effort and there was no guarantee it would succeed. As they say, the victor writes History and the first film’s quirky characters, off-beat humour and good-natured “Save the Universe” plot went on to dominate the global Box Office. Success breeds expectation and Vol.2 has a much larger weight upon it than its predecessor. The Guardians are now part of the Marvel “Big League” and will play an integral role in next year’s Infinity War story. With that in mind, “Chief Guardian” Gunn has taken the opportunity for a dose of introspection before allowing his troupe to dive headlong into Marvel’s expanded character roster. What may come as a disappointment to fans of the first film is that Vol.2 is almost entirely about how “Family” is what matters most. It’s as if Vin Diesel’s presence has, through some kind of unexplained osmosis, seeped into James Gunn’s story, plot and dialogue, as the “Family” stuff feels like it’s been dragged kicking and screaming straight out of the Fast & Furious franchise.

Anyone who’s been paying attention to Vol.2’s trailers will know that Kurt Russell is the big addition for this outing, playing Peter Quill’s father, Ego. The character certainly lives up to his name, but Gunn’s script never quite pulls off the trick of convincing the viewer that there’s enough in the relationship between Quill and Ego to justify an entire film. The upside is that he takes the opportunity to develop Dave Bautista’s Drax, despite a fair amount of forced humour. Michael Rooker’s Yondu also benefits and Vol.2 provides him with the single biggest arc of any character in the movie. Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan have one big set-piece together, but their relationship as sisters Gamora and Nebula don’t progress to far from what had been established by the end of Vol.1. Unfortunately, Rocket and Groot take something of a back seat in this film and there’s a sense, especially with Bradley Cooper’s irritable Space Raccoon, that Gunn had some challenges integrating them into the story without serving a rehash of comic relief from the first film. There’s a crazy sub-plot with Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha and her quest to hunt the Guardians down after they’ve saved the planet she rules, but her appearance, and that of her starfighter armada, seems designed to add some bulk to an otherwise skinny climax.

This second Mix Tape doesn’t improve on the first but it’s certainly no Galaxy killer. It’s clear James Gunn cares deeply about his characters, but Vol.2 feels a little bit like it’s marking time. The presence of five credit stinger scenes speaks volumes about the number of dangling plot points that have been left by this second outing. As expected, the visuals are first-rate, but it’s what viewers now regard as the benchmark and there’s no amount of style that can be put up on the screen to compensate for a collection of characters who don’t grow as much as anticipated given the film’s level of introspection. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 certainly proves that with every new Mix Tape that’s made, the back-catalogue of material is ever-diminishing and where “Great” first existed, now, there is just “Excellent” or “Very Good”. The time has come for Star-Lord to have a listen to music post-1980 and embrace all the MP3 has to offer!