Filmland - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

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It’s good, but then again you probably already knew that.  This is a Marvel movie, after all, they’ve ALL been good even the ones that aren’t very good like Iron Man 2 and Incredible Hulk.  Thankfully, the evolving experiment that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as the auteur career of director James Gunn give me plenty more to dig into with this sequel than just “is it an enjoyable film.”  The whole cast fits naturally and easily back into their roles, and the script manages to find a lot more stuff to do with them beyond the anarchic, rapid-fire comedy of the first film.  

The new/elevated characters like Yondu, Nebula, and Mantis all do a great job and are honestly some of the best parts of the movie, even outshining old favorites like Starlord and Groot at times.  Kurt Russell absolutely steals the show as Peter’s dad and is one of the best new additions to the MCU.  Finally, the more deliberate pacing and smaller, more intimate story-telling may eschew the high octane comedy and novelty of the original but never lose site of the cheeky and subversive spirit the first film had.  All that being said, let’s really get into this beast- spoilers to follow. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Update

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Despite the vastness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the concept of sequels is a strangely sparse and foreign one.  Where this becomes the clearest is that even though the common working knowledge is that Marvel sequels are mostly poor, the actual breakdown is exactly even.  Iron Man 2 was a rush job that did little more than jog in place and remind people of upcoming films, Thor: The Dark World was about on par with its predecessor only with slightly sloppier editing and a more derivative climax, and Age of Ultron had plenty of ambition but lost a good chunk of it in the editing. 

Meanwhile, Iron Man 3 is a thoughtful and well-made revisit of the series core themes in a new context, Winter Soldier complete shake-ups the genre and style of the franchise in an adventurous way, and Civil War stands as one of the best entries in the series.  Now it’s coming time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and amid the slew of trailers, posters, TV spots, and advertising tie-ins I can’t shake the feeling the brown, drippy lightning that is the lackluster Marvel sequel is gearing up to strike for a fourth time. 

The Belko Experiment Trailer Analysis

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Let’s talk about James Gunn.  Before 2014’s smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy Gunn was a bit of an unknown.  He had made a few good movies, most notably Super and Slither which undoubtedly endeared him to the film geek in everyone’s life, but he wasn’t necessarily a sought after auteur filmmaker.  That’s been true of a lot of Marvel’s collection of misfit and maverick directors, with the most common thread being a cult success like Joss Whedon’s Firefly or the Russo Brother’s work on Community. 

Now, however, Gunn is a name in Hollywood, and that means he’s got the kind of clout to do what he wants now.  Most Marvel directors go through this period, some coming out stronger like Jon Favreau giving us Chef and The Jungle Book while others squander the chance, like Alan Taylor following up Thor: The Dark World with Terminator Genisys.  As for Gunn, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is on his plate, his real follow-up effort has taken the form of a grimy horror flick called The Belko Experiment. 

Kurt Russell to play Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy 2

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Edited by Robert Beach 

And so another San Diego Comic Con comes to a close.  At this point, the SDCC exists as a trade expo, showcasing the various upcoming film and television projects the nerds of the Internet can obsess over for the next year.  

SDCC has made Marvel Studios king of the castle for the last several years, but, if we’re honest, this year and last year Marvel has been pretty underwhelming in their SDCC presentation. This year, Marvel’s heightened security and strike prohibition of filming makes it hard to get on board with a lot of their announcements. 

At the same time, pretty much all of their announcements were casting news, mainly revolving around Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther. While I’m looking forward to those films, the roles announced have all been small.  

It’s a neat fact that Michael B. Jordan is playing Killmonger or that Tom Rivolo is Flash Thompson. Those aren’t barn burner announcements.  Thankfully, there were two pretty big casting announcements made: the first being Kurt Russell will be playing Ego, the living planet, in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.