12 May Nerdy for Thirty #20: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

dir. James Gunn, starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel

BLUF: Thanks, I (mostly) hate it…

Here’s a conundrum for you: this is a thematically superior sequel that is narratively terrible, which is why I can say that I recognize it as well-made, but still don’t like it very much at all. Here’s the real problem with GotGv2:

At the end of Volume 1, the Guardians met each other as group, worked out their problems, and coalesced into the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was awesome. It was a really fun, incredible ride, ending with some pretty disparate characters realizing they were stronger together and could do some good while doing a little bad at the same time. Great dynamic, and a raging triumph from a movie that nobody saw coming. It is James Gunn’s best film. But at the beginning of Volume 2, we start out with a level of disfunction that permeates the entire movie and seems to ignore the ending of the V1. And I really hate sequels that fail to give a reason for this unpleasant fracture in character arcs—it IMMEDIATELY reminded of of Alien 3, where the opening credits undermined and eliminated the emotional and thematic climax of Aliens. And honestly, as soon as Volume 2 reminded me of Alien 3, it had lost me. And throughout the rest of the movie, the estrangement is exacerbated by dumb, forced character decisions within the story. For example, Peter REALLY wants to find out about his dad, which is fine, but he overtly and constantly makes decisions that compromise the relationship he has with the other Guardians, often needlessly. It forces me, as the viewer, to ask “Is he genuinely stupid, or just a genuinely terrible person/friend?” Because those emerge as the two most likely possibilities, and it’s a massive step back for someone who seemed to make real progress as a person in Volume 1.

So…rewatching it has simply reaffirmed all of these things. I still don’t like this movie very much because it took what I considered a GREAT movie and followed it up with something incredibly unsatisfying for the vast majority of its runtime.

All of that said, I also recognize that there are some things Volume 2 that are genuinely great. Yondu’s transition from cruel kidnapper to adopted “daddy” is emotionally and narratively satisfying on levels many MCU films don’t even strive for, much less approach. And Michael Rooker’s performance is maybe my favorite, as he navigates the difficult path of an excommunicated Ravager whose exile is the result of keeping a secret to protect Peter.

I also really enjoyed virtually everything about Rocket, who is the only character in the entire MCU I actually want an origin story for (and that seems to be in the cards based on the Volume 3 trailer). Kurt Russell brings great screen presence to his role, even if it is not entirely pleasant well written. And there are some great character moments between Nebula and Gamorrah, even though they feel shoe-horned into a movie that seems to be over-reaching for emotional triggers.

All in all, even bad MCU movies are totally watchable, and I don’t regret revisiting Volume 2 one bit. I also think that in retrospect, later appearances of the Guardians make up for all of my complaints, making this movie more palatable. And after Phase 4, I don’t think GotGv2 is in my bottom five MCU movies anymore, so it has that going for it…

Pros:
Great special effects and action set-pieces, with a few iconic MCU moments (“I’m Marry Poppins, y’all!”)
A lot of good performances, with actors giving everything they have to a too-busy script
As always, an incredible soundtrack form James Gunn

Cons:
Emotionally scattershot, with the narrative seemingly structured around a rote checklist of “What if this character had a fight with this character” spanning the entire cast—too much, too shallow
Reminding me of the worst narrative decision of Alien 3 right off the bat undermined the entire movie

Rating: 2/5
In trying to be an emotional matrix of character interactions, this movie forgot to be fun, consistent, or enticing for a revisit.

Review by Jim Washburn