Hello degenerates,
heathens, weirdos, deviants, rebels, and defected Imperial officers. I am
the Rock Otaku, and I’m here to show you worlds such as hard rock, metal, punk,
alternative rock, movies, TV, anime, video games, and anything that makes us
scream, shout, and save the galaxy again.
Today, I review a
movie that I’ve recently seen that both fits my interests alongside my
standards of high-octane, high-caliber blockbusters: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Before I get to the
movie itself, let’s talk Marvel. Back in
2008, Marvel set up a studio that would make their own movies, all of them set
in a single cinematic universe all based on their massive library of
characters. During this time, they
managed to get the rights to a large chunk of their properties back from other
studios while also setting up for this style of filmmaking that would take
thematically from comic books in a structure never before attempted
seriously. Their first movie, Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. as
the titular superhero, was a critical and commercial success, and while The Incredible Hulk wasn’t as big, it
had enough elements from the other film woven into its world, confirming Marvel’s
and producer Kevin Feige’s big plan.
After Iron Man 2 (which was
arguably the weakest of Phase 1), Thor
(which is considered to be good overall), and Captain America: The First Avenger (which kicks ass), we got the
big masterstroke of this mega-franchise: The
Avengers, a sci-fi action ensemble movie that is both a sequel to and a
crossover of the other movies while also being its own series.
After that, and three
follow-ups involving Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America in that specific
order, Marvel decided to gamble on their more cosmic characters and make a
movie, written and directed by cult-favorite filmmaker James Gunn, around
them. The resulting movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, was a fast,
fun, energetic, and funny entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where the
stakes may have involved the entire MCU, but we were focusing on characters
that could not give less of a crap unless the threat was personal or likely to
haunt them if they let it happen. Or if
money was involved. Yeah, the heroes are
among the most morally bankrupt of the Marvel protagonists, but their charm,
sense of humor, and tragic backstories all made them interesting, fun to hang
around, and, ultimately, engaging. And
as a result, we were anticipating the inevitable sequel while also realizing
that this kind of filmmaking could break barriers within the MCU, which
ultimately happened as Ant-Man and Doctor Strange came out after it and
proved just how far Marvel was willing to go, with particle physics for the
former and actual sorcery and interdimensional science for the latter. And now we have the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy, which is
subtitled Vol. 2 in reference to Star
Lord’s mix tapes.
So how was it? It was a lot of fun.
First, the story. From the get-go, the movie deals with the
titular team on the run from a group called the Sovereign after Rocket (voiced
by Bradley Cooper) does something to tick them off. However, things are complicated when Peter
Quill/Star Lord’s (Chris Pratt) father, Ego (Kurt Russell) reveals himself to
him and Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) hires the Ravagers, led by Peter’s adoptive
father Yondu (Michael Rooker), to hunt them down, leading to a mutiny led by
Taserface (Chris Sullivan) after Yondu’s stumbles. Also, there’s something about Gamora (Zoe
Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) still having their sibling rivalry and how
it affects them in this movie. But if I
went further, I’d go into some massive spoilers that I’ll leave for later.
So how was the
story? Not giving anything else away,
this was a great story that managed to provide some great character motivations,
stellar action, well-placed humor, and moments where the movie really tugged on
my heartstrings. A big part of that is
that this is less of a repeat of the first movie and more of a continuation of
the first movie. What do I mean? None of the characters are in the same
position they were in the first film, their changes in character reflect that
and the cast manage to show their growth from then and add to that. That and it explains on plot details that
came up in the character arcs of the first film but not important to the
conflict with Ronan, and somehow gives them the necessary answers that we didn’t
know we needed, such as Peter’s heritage, the relationship between Gamora and
Nebula as well as how much of a crappy father Thanos is, Yondu dealing with the
ramifications of kidnapping and adopting Peter in the first place, the bond
between Rocket and Groot (Vin Diesel), even when the latter is now a baby, and
Drax (Dave Bautista) understanding the concept of friendship, family, and close
bonds after losing his family to Ronan before the first film (though he claims
his revenge will be complete when he kills Thanos, which may happen in a
massive crossover coming out in a year or two).
Plus we now have new and background characters, such as Mantis (Pom
Klementieff) and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) who have very interesting characters and
arcs from this film while having some emotional moments and push in the
story. And the film really does aim for
a focus on family as the big overarching theme, from the relationships Peter has
with Ego, Yondu, and his own team, Gamora and Nebula, Rocket and Groot, and
Yondu’s set of Ravagers plus the Ravager community as a whole (which I’ll
explain in the spoilers).
And it ultimately
works because this movie is very character-driven and the arcs are interesting
for each one. We learn more about Peter
in this movie the most, and definitely the main character here from a
structural and emotional standpoint, and his arc is built off of the first film
and deals with his heritage and his place in the galaxy, with his resolution
being based on his choices and bonds he never realized. Drax, while more of the comic relief here and
rightfully so, is engaging since he’s still dealing with the fact that he has a
new group of people he calls a family as well as his newly-found bond with the
innocent Mantis, who’s definitely one of the more interesting characters
here. Gamora’s arc is more about her
relationship with both Peter and Nebula, with the latter having an interesting
resolution that I’ll discuss later.
Rocket and Groot are here as father and son, rather than two bounty
hunters with the big one protecting the smaller one, and the former’s is about
being less of a jackass and more of a team member, and it ties with Yondu. For Groot, or Baby Groot here, he’s a baby,
so his arc is more about relearning what the original Groot learned while being
distinctive himself. Now for Yondu, who’s
arc is more about redemption and sacrifice, as his part of the narrative deals
with aspects of his personality that got him in trouble and what ultimately
made him effectively Peter’s adoptive dad, and why he thinks Peter’s biological
father, Ego, is “a jackass” in his terms, and the resolution may have you
teary-eyed if you get where it’s going.
For Nebula, this is the movie where she goes from a total badass into
the broken bird that makes us realize that Thanos may be, if not will be, the
Avengers’ (and the Guardians’) greatest foe, one that’d make Loki, Ronan, and
Ultron soil themselves in fear, as her arc reflects the pain she went through
being the WEAKER sister to Gamora, who’s badassery is ultimately a factor in
this plot. Plus Mantis has a fun arc
about learning more about the universe outside of Ego’s perspective through
Drax and the others. And Kraglin, while
not having the best arc, is a more interesting and engaging character here than
in the first.
For the villain here,
I can mention that the Sovereigns and the Ravagers (that turn on Yondu and his
supporters, including Kraglin) definitely fit this role at first, but then we
arguably get a character that becomes such a despicable bastard that he ends up
being arguably one of Marvel’s best, if not darkest, villains to date. Explaining who this is would spoil the movie,
and it’s arguably one of the better twists I’ve seen, even if its build-up
makes it more obvious when you think about it.
Plus it gives a reason why Thanos is not to be taken lightly.
Plus the acting is
well-rounded across the board, with fantastic performances from each actor,
even with the voice portrayals for certain characters. That and you have actors known for their
limited range being casted and used effectively. Plus there are several cameos that will have
you floored in that they casted this/that actor or actress here, including
arguably one of the best Stan Lee cameos ever, especially if you’re familiar
with Marvel Comics and fan theores.
Now for the action and
visuals. The former is awesome, with
some well-crafted action sequences, all in space, on various planets, and
within spaceships and even planets that are well placed, full of energy, loaded
with great moments of intensity, awesomeness, tension, and even humor, and some
of them are very creative for this world, the MCU, and even the superhero genre
as a whole. If you thought the initial
fight with the interdimensional monster that was shown in the trailers and
marketing was great, especially with how it was shot and set up, alongside the
space battle with the Sovereign chasing the Guardians, alongside a few other
shots, then you are in for a treat, as some of the sequences are staged really
well with great music choices (with two of them using Peter’s music to score
them, and leading to some funny juxtaposition between the happy, poppy songs
and the carnage occurring). And they are
done extremely well. And the visuals are
extremely great, with a lot of color and various uses of it, fantastic CGI,
which, while looking obvious, fits the world to a tee, making it more like a
comic book come to life. And that’s the
beauty with Marvel’s use of CGI; their visual style requires it to bring their
comic’s visuals to the big screen accurately or aesthetically pleasing to all
audiences, and the resulting digital effects match the insanity and/or rules of
the environments and stories, leading to their charm.
But this movie’s charm
and appeal not just comes from the action, colors, and CGI to create talking raccoons,
tree creatures, and alien ducks (oh come on, we saw the stinger with Howard in
the first film), but from its soundtrack.
And like with the first film, each song chosen fits the mood, spirit,
theme, and even humor of the scenes they’re used, with both “Brandy (You’re A
Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass and “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac being two of the
more important ones story-wise. But to
explain the former would go into more spoilers.
Plus the use of “Southern Nights” by Glen Campbell, “Come A Little
Closer” by Jay & The Americans, and even “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison,
which has not aged that well, are done extremely well, with the first two being
used in very funny ways and the latter setting up the atmosphere for a certain
character’s home world. That and the
score, while serviceable, is well done with some drive and energy for most of
the action. Like with the first movie,
the pop tunes they used are used properly, and it allows for some great
moments. And I do wonder what the
inevitable third movie alongside Avengers:
Infinity War will do for their soundtracks (since the Guardians are going
to be in the latter, and Peter has to have his tunes), though it’ll be
interesting if they have Quill, through Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, or even
Steve Rogers, discover new styles from the 80s onward like new wave, hip hop,
grunge, death metal, dubstep, and so on, and what his reaction would be to
Nickelback (if Gunn or the Russos felt like placing a take-that towards 00s
post-grunge). Either way, this
soundtrack rocks, and they even use Cat Stevens well.
If there’s a flaw
here, this movie is fantastic, but it isn’t as, well, fresh as the first. What I mean is that whereas most superhero
movies beforehand were entirely Earth-set or had their major moments on Earth
(even the Thor movies did this, and so does Doctor
Strange, though that was to set up magic in the MCU on Earth), the first Guardians barely involved Earth in its
plot. The only time we were on our
planet was at the depressing opening of that film; everything about it was set
in the cosmos, a.la. Star Wars. When you get down to it, the movie felt like a
mix of Star Wars and an excessive
action movie of the 80s than it did a traditional comic book movie, even if it
was still one, and that was even reflected in the characters. The morally-good characters were antagonists
until the true villain made his motives clear and forced them together with our
rogue, law-breaking, hard-partying, crass, and morally-bankrupt main characters
(they all had criminal records or were in prison in the first film before they
united to defeat a Kree zealot with an Infinity Stone) in the climax. And this was in direct contrast with recent
comic book movies where even the good guys did questionable things yet were
somehow seen as heroes, even Superman for God’s sake. That and the clear focus on fun despite the
stakes and epic storytelling, with a great integration of humor and 60s/70s
pop, rock, and soul music being a factor.
And it does all of this, despite having a stronger focus on why these
characters are such screw-ups and, as Peter Serafinowicz’s Garthan Sall would
say, a bunch of a-holes. So as a result,
what blew us away and was part of an engaging story the first time is a lot
more commonplace, with Suicide Squad,
Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange, with Thor
Ragnarok in the future from what it looks like, taking from it to varying
degrees of success as a result of how great the first film was (in the humor,
soundtrack use, and even weirder story decisions). As a result, while this is a well-put
together movie, it isn’t as fresh, and the humor may get in the way of more serious
moments, even when the film stops trying to be funny.
But why do I forgive
this? This movie, somehow, manages to be
really funny and really touching. The
former is mostly due to Drax, but there are several moments involving Baby
Groot and Mantis, who are the two cutest characters in this film, where one
will burst into laughter, and even the cast have some great zingers. But Drax is the main comic relief here,
despite his tragic backstory, and manages to have the movies biggest laughs,
even when he is the one laughing and explaining the joke, and he somehow has a
bond with Mantis that’s both cute and hilarious. But for the latter, the theme of family plays
to a head in several moments, specifically with the relationship between Gamora
and Nebula, but especially with Peter’s heritage and upbringing leading to some
revelations that may leave you teary-eyed, which the movie had me at during the
movie; this film not just have me laugh, but cry. And I thought Groot’s sacrifice and regeneration
from the first film as sad but uplifting, this does that again but with another
major character, and that involves spoilers.
To sum up, this is a
rocking and rolling good time in the theaters.
With an engaging story, interesting characters, the same charm that made
the first film so fun, and some of Marvel’s best visuals to date, this movie is
definitely a must see. No seriously, the
visual design and cinematography here is gorgeous, and it’s in the same summer
that we’re getting ANOTHER Transformers
movie which looks mediocre in comparison.
But regardless, you will be laughing, on the edge of your seat, and
possibly on the verge of crying watching this.
This hits every emotional core I can think of when it comes to
blockbuster action cinema, and it excels because of that. Despite this, I can agree that this isn’t as
fresh as the first, but regardless, this is still an A movie for me, following
up on what is definitely an A+ movie, even if I feel that, with some time, this
might go up to A+ as well.
Final Rating (Spoilers
below included): 9/10 (A righteous, fun joyride though the cosmos with some
emotional weight)
Now for the
spoilers.
In the comics, Ego,
Peter’s father, is called Ego the Living Planet. And the film decides to make him the father
of Star Lord rather than J’son of Spartax, and while this move may anger some
comic purists, the first film can be trashed for the same reasons due to some
aspects (like Drax’s skin and Gamora’s clothes, plus Ayesha’s clothes here) not
being like the source material. But for
me, this works in regards to the story, as it allows for the theme of family
and fatherhood to play a major part in Peter’s character arc. Specifically, the character of Ego is also
made a Celestial in the MCU, which makes him practically an immortal god and
capable of creating a physical avatar, he’s a planet here as well, with the
appearance of Kurt Russell (with every aspect of human male anatomy, including
the part you’re thinking of) to travel the universe, due to his interest in
life and taking part in it. That
includes traveling to earth and falling in love with Peter’s mother and
fathering Peter, gaining some affection for Earth’s pop music circa the late
70s to the early 80s. Ultimately, this
makes Peter half-Celestial (what Nova Corps called the part of him that was “ancient”
in the first film), and thus immortal, plus giving him the ability to create
energy balls and anything his mind is set to, including recreations of Pac-Man,
Skeletor, and Heather Locklear as statues of awesomeness. But he is one of many children Ego fathered.
That brings us to
Yondu, who was kicked out of the main Ravager corps for abducting and trafficking
children while being sold into slavery by his parents as well, and he still
deals with the ramifications of that, even when confronting his former boss and
father figure Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone, who is good here). And among the kids he kidnapped was Peter
himself, as part of a deal with Ego that is later confirmed to be the reason
for Yondu’s actions, and, fearing what Ego would do to him, Yondu decided to
raise him as a son, with the threat of eating him being ultimately a dark joke
by the disgraced Ravager, instead of giving him to the “jackass” that is his
real father. And this is ultimately why
Taserface stages a mutiny against him, after he captured Rocket and Baby Groot
for the Sovereigns (with Nebula joining with the Ravagers and getting her own
ship to hunt down Gamora and later Thanos as part of her revenge). But this leads to Yondu and Rocket bonding,
with the former later explaining just how alike the two are, and a great scene
where Yondu, with his original fin, kills all the mutinous crewmembers with Rocket
and Baby Groot to Peter’s music (for extra hilarity), while Kraglin shows his
devotion to the blue-skinned badass.
And Nebula explains
that, due to Gamora being a natural ace, she was continuously mutilated into a
cyborg by their adoptive father, felt the pain of being physically violated and
mutilated over and over again until she joined Ronan’s side in defiance to
Thanos. A big part of her pain was just
how alone she felt when she would continuously lose to her sister (who was just
as scared and determined to survive the Mad Titan’s cruelty), and desiring some
sort of bond with her, which would lead to hatred and anger towards her,
blaming her for her pain and suffering.
It isn’t until the two sister talk it out, and discover the remains of
various creatures within Ego that are revealed to be Star Lord’s half siblings
after they were unable to help dear father with his plan of turning the
universe into extensions of himself.
That is why Yondu
calls Ego, his employer for a time and the reason he was disgraced from the
core Ravagers, a jackass. Ego IS the
villain of the film, having such a disinterest in mortality, a part of life
that is essential to it despite him not seeing it as such, that he put parts of
him across multiple worlds, including Earth, to terraform them all into
extensions of himself and essentially control the universe, even if it means
the extinction of several life forms (imagine how that’ll play into Avengers: Infinity War when Tony meets
Quill and considering the formers arc into a paranoid, broken man who will do
ANYTHING to protect the people close to him after dealing with the
ramifications of creating a murderous A.I. and possibly Stephen Strange meeting
with Stark to mention Quill’s heritage and how Ego nearly turned Earth into an
extension of him). That and he fathered
SEVERAL children to serve as a second being to live by his side when the
universe is nothing but him and his child, killing any of them that doesn’t
have the potential to access his power and perform his murderous actions until
Peter showed that he can. Too bad he revealed
that, to complete his goals and not get bogged down by genuine love, he put the
brain tumor in Peter’s mother, effectively killing her, causing Peter to not
hesitate and attack him, which leads to Ego destroying his Sony Walkman,
leading Peter to be 100% against him, even when the two use their Celestial
powers to fight within Ego’s core, where Baby Groot is in charge of a
planet-killing bomb created by Rocket (using batteries he stole from the
Sovereign, explaining their role as co-antagonists to Ego in the film, which
even Yondu did, confirming their similarities) while Mantis tries to keep Ego
asleep, which has been her role from the very beginning.
Plus the Sovereign
travel into Ego’s core to kill the Guardians thank’s to Rocket, with their
ships being piloted in a control base away from the fight (effectively making
them similar in personality to gamers in an arcade, which is both interesting
plot-wise and very, very funny considering how they react every time a ship is
destroyed). And they are a complete nuisance
throughout the climax, while Ego uses his powers to nearly kill the characters
(he’s the planet, so he alters his true physical form to trap or harm the
characters, even Baby Groot) until Peter uses his Celestial powers to fight Ego’s
human avatar, anime-style with a moment where he creates a giant Pac-Man to
attack Ego. Then Yondu, who’s with the
main characters in the core fighting Ego, stays behind to rescue Peter after
Groot sets the bomb off, with Rocket carrying the baby tree creature to safety,
killing Ego, then sacrifices himself to save Peter, using his thrusters to get
him out and giving his adopted son the last space suit, dying from asphyxiation
in the cold reaches of space.
And this is where the
film got me. With his last words, “He
may have been your father, but he wasn’t your daddy,” referencing Ego, Yondu
dies right in front of Quill. And during
his funeral, which is a makeshift Ravager funeral done by our heroes honoring
him, Quill makes a speech, showing that he realized that Yondu was the closest
thing to a father to him, with him getting his Zune, while the fin goes to Kraglin. And, with Cat Steven’s “Father and Son”
playing in the background, the deceased Ravager, thanks to a transmission from
Rocket explaining his sacrifice, gets a true Ravager funeral, which was
beautiful and got me welling up, even after Stakar explained that his action,
under Ego, would not get him one when he dies.
And even Stakar was there saluting his comrade, and being influenced to
get his team back together, which includes Martinex T’Naga (Michael Rosenbaum),
Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh), Krugarr, and Mainframe
(Miley Cyrus, which is a little weird, even if you don’t initially hear it) in a
post-credits scene. Talk about an
emotional way to end the film, and it does remind me of The Empire Strikes Back, where the main characters are looking into
space at the climax after going through some intense moments.
And the end credits
scenes, which also include Kraglin trying to master the fan, Groot growing into
his teenage phase, including a messy room and giving Quill grief, playing video
games, Ayesha planning on using her latest creation on the Guardians, Adam
Warlock, and finally Stan Lee’s cameo being expanded upon from the movie (which
was him as an astronaut explaining his adventures in the framing of his earlier
cameos from the other films to Watchers), and the Watchers him leaving as he
tries to tell him about other stories, including the FedEx employee story he
has (which is a funny tie in to Civil War,
and may be the way that the Avengers meet the Guardians in Infinity War. Plus you have
the credits, which are done in an 80s-style retro cut-out style, all including
a few more tunes as well as the original disco track made for the film (with
contributions by David Hasselhoff, whom Peter told his classmates was his
father before he was kidnapped) And yes,
that was awesome. And let us remember
this: WE ARE GROOT!
Oh, and Jeff Goldblum
makes a cameo in the credits as Grandmaster, who will appear in Thor Ragnarok.
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