Director: James Gunn
Notable Cast: Chris
Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker,
Kurt Russell, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan,
Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone
After the disappointing leap into the mystic and psychedelic
realms of Marvel with last year’s uninspired (but still fun) run at Doctor Strange, it is a much needed
boost for my moral for this shared cinematic universe to be returning to James
Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy for Vol. 2. Initial reviews and reports
seemed generally favorable, but with my sheer delight in the Ice Pirates-esque
humor, heart, and spectacle of the film first film I was ready for whatever this
film was going to throw at me. Truthfully, it throws A LOT at the audience too.
Not only does this film attempt to rekindle the kind of action, drama, and
silliness that made the first one a sleeper hit for Marvel, but it also goes by
it in the classic blockbuster sequel approach: more is more. More jokes, more
drama, more plots, and more characters. It even adds in more than that. It runs
with the psychedelic nature that Doctor
Strange used and gives it grounding, being bombastic in its designs and
color schemes all the while delivering the fun movie that people want to see.
The execution is not quite as efficient as the original Guardians was, but for a sequel that was attempting to find the
same balance and figure out why the original one worked so well, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is still
a major Marvel success and one that pushes the franchise within the franchise
into new territory while still retaining its core.