GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2Director: James GunnStarring: Chris Pratt, Kurt Russell, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel Rating: ★★★½
FILM REVIEW
By JAMES MANTON
It's difficult to see a movie from Marvel and not to make a mental comparison to those offered by the studios of DC.
Major comic book companies, massive backlogs of characters, seemingly endless throngs of people willing to make the trip to the cinemas to see whichever character has been brought to the big screen this time.
However, in the long run, it is likely that one single characteristic will be the reason why the spandex-clad adventures from Marvel will be remembered with a much greater degree of fondness – and that's enjoyment.
At its worst over the past decade, Marvel has been able to produce large, silly, but ultimately enjoyable movies that are inoffensive and easy to digest.
This is in stark contrast to DC and its current attempt at building a cinematic universe which has offered, for the most part, visually darker, more serious, yet significantly less fun movies.
Even in its sole attempt at creating a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque story (Suicide Squad), it is a jumbled mess with dire thematic, plot, and editing issues that leave it a near-unwatchable mess.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a fine example of what currently separates the movies produced by both companies.
Guardians 2 isn't quite the movie that Guardians 1 is, though it's difficult to determine whether that's because the unique spark that made the first so fresh and invigorating shines just a little less brightly, or if it's because the sequel just can't stand up to the original.
Despite that, it is still one of the most enjoyable films likely to come out this year. The humour feels slightly more forced this time around, and it has a much greater reliance on the drama between the protagonists, but the film still maintains a fine balance between comedy, action, and drama that doesn't allow for many – if any – low-points.
Fresh from their conquests of the first film, the eponymous Guardians of the Galaxy find themselves in the employment of the self-proclaimed "perfect" Sovereign race, protecting valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional beast.
After claiming their reward and leaving the planet, the Guardians are set up by the Sovereign's space fleet as Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) secretly stole some of the batteries for himself.
Barely evading the fleet after some help from a mysterious stranger, they crash-land on a nearby planet and are confronted by their saviour, Ego (Kurt Russell), who claims that he is the estranged father of Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt).
Explaining that he is actually a godlike being called a Celestial – and therefore, so is Peter – Ego takes the group to his planet, which seems like a paradise.
However, Ego has an ulterior motive underneath his benevolent exterior and, as is so often the case in these kinds of movies, the very existence of the galaxy is under threat.
While it can be ham-fisted and overly assertive at times, the movie runs a consistent theme of who and what constitutes family: is it those we are biologically related to or does it require a deeper bond?
It's not exactly a groundbreaking theme to rival the likes of Harper Lee or George Orwell but, with this type of movie, that's to be expected.
While the first movie primarily involves the team coming to terms with each other and becoming a "family" of sorts, Guardians 2 drops the audience into the middle of an established dynamic which, despite being the obvious progression for a sequel, lessens it in comparison to its predecessor.
The score can also at times be somewhat jarring.
In the first movie, popular songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s are used to great effect, either by juxtaposing the visuals and audio, perfectly encapsulating a moment, or by highlighting the absurdity of what is happening.
However in the second, song use makes the same mistake Suicide Squad does, that is, playing them far too often to decreasing effect.
Having these songs play so regularly throughout dims their effectiveness or ability to highlight something the director wants the audience to recognise, all for the simple reason that the people watching will recognise what it is and nothing more.
Despite the relatively minor downsides, the film holds up and is in much the same range of enjoyment as most of the other Marvel movies.
Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) steals each scene he is in, despite having roughly a dozen sentences throughout (all of which are merely "I am Groot"), and the jokes seem to be more generously applied throughout in this second outing.
Pom Klementieff proves a welcome addition to the cast as the socially stunted yet innocent empath Mantis, while Karen Gillan's Nebula is allowed more screentime and a greater understanding of her relationship with Gamora (Zoe Saldana).
It also has to be noted that David Hasselhoff makes more than one cameo. That alone should be reason enough for nearly anyone to enjoy the film.
Not many people will head into the cinema expecting a thought-provoking deconstruction of humanity or families or whatever the topic may be, and nor should they.
At this point in time, Marvel movies are very much a known quantity, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 holds true to that standard.
It's a big, dumb action movie that is an enjoyable experience, and that's all it's trying to be.
Nothing more, nothing less.