"SKumm's Thoughts" - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2

"SKumm's Thoughts"

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (2017, PG-13, 136 minutes, MARVEL STUDIOS/WALT DISNEY PICTURES)

Sometimes, a film can really use a Xanax.  GUARDIANS V2 made me feel like I needed a Xanax.

The follow-up to the 2014 classic, which changed the game where Marvel movies are concerned, is a loud, brash, CGI action extravaganza that only gives you a few moments to breathe.  It loses some of the charming bits of the original along the way: the humor, the chemistry of the main characters, the evil bad guy.  An example of this, halfway through, I was wondering why Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt) hated each other so much.  Their banter seemed more acidic and spiteful this time around, and the narrative suffers for it.  There was no sense of building situational angst between them, it was just there, and only later indirectly addressed… poorly.

This time around, Peter finds his daddy, played with the usual charm and swagger of one legendary, Kurt Russell.  His dad is an actual planet, which you would think would garner more jokes from the crew, but despite Drax (Dave Bautista, who owns every scene he is in) pondering how Peter was conceived, the subject is pretty much left alone.  Not something that would have been done with the attention to detail to the comedic elements of the first film.  Shots would have been fired.

Director Peter Gunn has said that the first film was about this ragtag bunch off criminals becoming a family, and this sequel is about them being a family.  And while family is a strong element in this film, it almost isn’t enough to keep it afloat.  While Peter and his daddy issue is the predominant storyline, you get more on the Gamora/Nebula history, (Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillian, respectively) and a few nuggets pertaining to the other characters.  But those nuggets just aren’t enough.  Instead of more backstory on Rocket and/or Groot (Vin Diesel, who not only does his “I am Groot” bit, but also gets to growl this time around), we get more CGI.

Like, WAY MORE CGI.

It all looks pretty, but at times I felt like I was watching a Michael Bay confusing-as-hell-to-watch TRANSFORMERS flick.  No, I’m not too freaking old to enjoy an actioner or Marvel film.  I loved DEADPOOL, fer cryin’ out loud.  But too much can get a bit overwhelming, and leave you feeling exhausted.  This is one film that may look better on a smaller screen—no insult to Mr. Gunn & Company, of course.  I’m just some geek that writes for a website.

One other thing I absolutely have to gripe about: music from THE AVENGERS.  It happens a few times during the film, and it irritated the Baby Groot outta me.  I understand that the studio is looking to cross all of the films over during The Infinity War storyline, but really, I don’t need any not-so-subtle hints while I’m watching the Guardians in action.  Stick with the same type of soundtrack you did the first time around—it helped set this style of storytelling apart from what has become almost typical of other Marvel films.

I sincerely hope that the next GUARDIANS film gets back to its (g)roots (the ‘g’ is silent).  Splitting up the team makes for less of a good time, and you should never have to trade excessive CGI action sequences for time with a family that is fun to watch being dysfunctional.

Grade: B-

-- T.S. Kummelman