Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: The Groot Strikes Back

[red snow]

26 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

Well no one thinks they're going to make a bad film, certainly not Marvel these days. I think the idea of it is buzz, critics can help with that but what really counts is lots and lots of regular cinemagoers talking about it.

Another factor is holidays. Europe had a bank holiday weekend just passed and traditionally more tickets are sold over holiday weekends. No idea if the US had a bank holiday yesterday or has one coming up but that could be a factor. I know some big releases in Europe take holidays into account or school holidays.

[Jon AS]

I think I liked what the film tried to do more than the actual execution on screen. A lot of it felt clunkier than the first one.

It was still overall enjoyable, but I was somewhat disappointed with it overall.

 

On 1.5.2017 at 3:14 PM, red snow said:

As for Stallone and co

Spoiler

The original Guardians were a team in the far future, yes (they also travelled through time, like everyone in the Marvel universe, during one of those trips inspiring Rocket Raccoon and Star Lord to name their new team the Guardians of the Galaxy...), but they already had Yondu in the first film, so throwing in the rest in the present day timeline doesn't seem that much of a leap.

Of course, Stallone's character seems to bear very little resemblance to the comic version of Starhawk, who is one of the odder figures out there (and apparently MIchelle Yeoh's character is Aleta, so he's not two people in one body...  at least for the moment; maybe the weirdness is still to come in future appearances).

We're also still missing Major Victory/Vance Astro from the original lineup, I think.

 

[john]

The tone was a bit too broadly comedic for my liking. Not everything has to be silly, flashy, frenetic. It got better in the second half of the film but it also got very cheesy. Some of the cheesy stuff was convincing - Nebula and Gamora - and other stuff wasn't - Rocket's angst didn't seem to make much sense.

The ending was a wash too. The trope of protagonist getting godlike powers and learning to use them only for them to disappear at the end is totally lame. And the action sequence was just boring - people turning into rock and pounding on each other, characters riding stone platforms rising upwards out of an infernal pit. These are the kinds of things that belong in the Star Wars prequels not in a film that has some amazing creative sequences like the baby groot dancing or Yondu's arrow zipping around.

None of that is to say I didn't enjoy the film. It was a fun two hours, it just seemed liked it could have had more weight to it.

other thoughts/issues/comments

- They kind of ruined Quill's parentage for me. Him being half a celestial does not sit well with the swashbuckling bad boy image they want to portray. The only plot plot it appears to be needed for (that he can hold an infinity stone) could surely have been dealt with by him being the Prince of Spartax.

- Quill's 80s schtick would not be endearing, it would be incredibly annoying. If somebody came up to me and said "Hey man, you remind me of this guy from the Japanese anime ToykoLizardGo!Fight!" and then went on about it for another five minutes, I would definitely not be as impressed as everyone seems to be with his weird references that they've never heard of. Does none of the ravagers or guardians have any of their own music to play or tv shows to talk about?

- the slight ravager retcon to make them some kind of brigade of heroes seems weird. They're bad guys. And no way would you spend your childhood genuinely in fear of being eaten and later come to realize your love for the slaver that raised you in this horrific environment.

- Pretty sure I said this after the last film too but Yondu's arrow is ridiculous. He should be one of the most powerful beings in the universe with that offensive capability.

- The Stan Lee thing was cute but doesn't make any sense. He's not really a Watcher because they clearly have no time for him so he's supposed to be some other kind of omnipotent being who spends his time in various guises in random areas of NY or in billboards/posters which have none or very little connection to the super heroics around?

- it had 5 post credit scenes, none of which were important to the wider MCU in any way which seems to be the new norm for these things.

- eh, that's all I think

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

26 minutes ago, john said:

snip

I agree that making one of the characters half God should have been an incredible game changing revelation, and instead it was like a minor bump in the road that was completely rubbed out at the end so that everything could return to normal. These revelations about his father should have been a huge moment for Peter, but he just kind of looked a bit sad for a bit, then confused and then happy, then sad. Basically it goes back to my original post that too much is going on in these movies and so they can't do any one plot point justice. 

I agree about the action sequences, the baby groot one at the beginning was absolutely joyous! I had a huge grin on my face. The problem is that, a bit like the big battle at the end of the first movie, they sacrificed that humour for large scale CGI flashiness. (Baby Groot and the bomb was funny however, even if the joke went on too long)
 

[RumHam]

Another minor question that I guess some people might consider a spoiler:

 

this tweet seems to suggest that this movie takes places in 2014. Does it pick up right after the last one? Or is it an effort to avoid the question of "why did Peter not check out his homeworld in three years?"

 

[DaveSumm]

Spoiler

It bothered me a bit how many people must have died when his dad briefly had the power to expand all the plants on the other planets. I don't think they put a number on it, but it was implied he wanted everything to be 'him', so potentially every inhabited planet? And most looked like they swallowed up whole towns. Not inconceivable that millions of people died during that bit. But it didn't get that baby and mother so I guess it's fine. That would have been prime material for AoS a few years back.

 

[Bastard of Boston]

Keep in mind, I view the first GotG as middle of the road in my MCU rankings. When I saw all the "decent, but not as good as Vol 1" reviews, I was apprehensive.

I should've known that I'd like Vol 2 more than 1, seeing as how I had the disconnect with everyone regarding Vol 1. I thought the arc of this movie was stronger. The antagonist of this movie was utilized better -- I'll never forgive them for fucking up Ronan.

I continue to think all of the characters, but for Gamora and Nebula, get strong treatment. But, after how fucking drab and bland Gamora and Nebula were in Vol 1, I expected Gunn to make more of an effort with them in 2...no such luck.

They still haven't gotten Gamora right. Gamora is a fierce warrior, daughter of Thanos. Why she is continually portrayed as this mother hen is beyond my ability to comprehend. She grew up with the universe's WORST father -- she should not be as warm as she is in these movies. How is it possible for someone who had no mother and a sadistic father to exert so many motherly characteristics? I'm expecting to see her packing lunches for the Guardians in Vol 3. It's a huge issue for me.

I think Drax and Yondu were the characters most expanded upon since Vol 1. Yondu is the MVP of this movie, in more ways than one -- no spoilers. There was also lots of great easter eggs (literally), and I'm looking forward to seeing them hatch. The Stan Lee scene in this one was the BEST of any Marvel film. Don't believe the naysayers. Vol 2 is better than Vol 1, IMO.

[john]

I think the reason it's in 2014 is more so they can use Baby Groot in this film and then have him fully grown for the Avengers Infinity movies, which the GotG are also in.  Although you'd think this killer blue foam emerging from a forest in Missouri might have been mentioned in Agents of Shield or something.

 

Another couple of things I meant to say but forgot -

- Yondu with the red fin clearly supposed to look like Gladiator of the Shi'ar race.  Does that mean that they're not using actual Gladiator ever?  Is he licensed to Fox or something?

- Starlord shirtless compared to Andy Dwyer shirtless remains an incredible sight.  Really makes you want to go to the gym.

[mormont]

Comics Yondu originally had that fin, in fact. So it's a nod to that, not Gladiator.

http://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Yondu-Marvel-Comics-Guardians-Galaxy.jpg

 

[Denvek]

Aren't the Shi'ar X-Men antagonists and thus with Fox anyway?

[The Mother of The Others]

Hopefully the earth gets blown up at the end of phase 3 so we can stop these incipid human- centric stories and introduce the viewer to the spacefaring alien civilizations as the setting of phase 4 .

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

38 minutes ago, The Mother of The Others said:

Hopefully the earth gets blown up at the end of phase 3 so we can stop these incipid human- centric stories and introduce the viewer to the spacefaring alien civilizations as the setting of phase 4 .

#allaliensmatter

[Martini Sigil]

That was fun....

Hardly a perfect film.... but I thought the good outweighed the bad... 8/10

 

[Kalbear]

That was fucking awesome. The opening credits were spot on perfect, the dynamics of the group are incredibly good, and none of the villains sucked. It laughed at itself and other things. Drax was amazing. Even Groot had time to shine. It was the best non Edgar Wright action comedy I've seen, and my favorite marvel movie so far.

[john]

20 hours ago, mormont said:

Comics Yondu originally had that fin, in fact. So it's a nod to that, not Gladiator.

http://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Yondu-Marvel-Comics-Guardians-Galaxy.jpg

 

Ah, thanks. Really should have looked that up myself.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

3 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Just a question: going to see this tonight and wondering if it's worth it going to see it in IMAX. We're trying to decide between IMAX or going to a theater that serves alcohol and food during the movie.

I dunno if you specifically mean 3D but my opinion is that 3D is pretty bad ironically when it comes to action. It ends up being blurry and hard to follow. It would also be a shame to miss out on the bright visuals because of the glasses.

id always go for a regular screen if I had the choice 

[The BlackBear]

5 hours ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Yeah IMAX 3d...I've only seen two movies I thought that the extra price of the IMAX was worth it...Avatar and Gravity.

I didn't really notice anything in IMAX positive or Negative. They didn't do anything special with it, but it didn't damage any scenes for me.

[Corvinus85]

I liked the movie, however I did not have the best of theater experiences, and I missed stuff. So I need to watch it again, to really determine how much I enjoy it. 

I liked that they weaved a character driven plot with them still doing their jobs as Guardians and saving the galaxy. The humor was fantastic, but that is where I missed stuff, so I spent part of my viewing annoyed. The movie is excellent enough that it merits repeat viewings. I'll probably end up getting it on Amazon, as I did with the first one. 

[Myrddin]

Stan Lee being a Watcher = the Ultimate No-Prize

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

Just watched the RLM review and they on the whole very much liked it. I generally tend to agree with them, and though I did like the movie as well, most of the things they said the movie did well I just can't say I agree with. 

Their assertion that the movie doesn't just 'give characters stuff to do' (like a lot of other movies do) but instead weaves their plots together.. well I can't say thats entirely true. In fact most of the characters storylines felt totally disconnected from each other. Gammora and Nebulas family tiff was mostly irrelevant, Yonda and Rocket were on a sort of side adventure for most of the plot. Draxx was just hanging around being funny. It didn't feel like it was hugely coherent. 

The movie also has an enormous, too much CGI big bad battle at the end like all the other movies the RLM guys rip into, so I wasn't sure why they gave this one a pass.