Rating: 2/5 When I watched Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, I thought it was a poor spoof of The Avengers that took place in space. Nonetheless, I found it different from any other MCU film and I appreciated its jokes. Sadly, I can't say the same of James Gunn's second instalment. It's clear from the start that Volume II is trying to ride the wave of success of its predecessor. Accompanying the opening credits, Baby Groot dances to Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra, while the Guardians are busy fighting an alien octopus in the background. This sequence reveals the abysmal difference between the two films. The Guardians seem tired; their initial jokes, which should be a warming up session before the real fun kicks in, will turn out to be the only jokes, repeated over and over; and the debatable quality of the visual effects makes the battle painful to watch, if not to fight. However, it can't be said that the beginning doesn't do its job, as it effectively sets the tone for the entire film: '80s music, pointless action, and forced humour. The story progresses with the introduction of the Sovereign, a race of golden-skinned nerds whose greatest achievement is any gamer's wet dream: a spaceship full of gaming stations to pilot remotely controlled spaceships. One would expect the Sovereign and their golden empress Ayesha to be a subplot, but in the end they play the same role as wallpaper in a rather messy room. No one really sees them. At last, the Guardians encounter Ego, an all-powerful being who announces he's Quill's father. Quill decides to follow him on a quest to discover his origins, causing the team to split and therefore establishing the underlying theme: the separation and reunion of a family. Then we have to sit through more than an hour of Quill, Gamora, Drax, and their new friend Mantis sitting around and chatting. Like a sitcom, but with less action. In the meantime, Baby Groot, Rocket, and Yondu have to escape Yondu's former pirate crew in order to save their fellow team members from Ego's megalomaniac tendencies. Of the two storylines, the latter is at least eventful, whereas the former just drags on, filled with expositional dialogue and the same one-liners about Rocket's rodent nature, Quill's inadequacy, and Mantis's alleged lack of visual appeal. When the much anticipated Heroes versus Villains final showdown takes place, it's difficult to enjoy it: too many characters compete for our attention, already exhausted by a cocktail of CGI evoking sad memories of Suicide Squad. Even the Sovereign make a comeback, which is just as absurd as their introduction and ends when their video game platforms break down. If anything, Gunn nailed the emotional impact of that particular scene on an audience of geeks. Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy - Vol. II has a simplistic plot that stretches out for two hours and a half for no better reason than "we really like to make these characters talk to each other." Except the Guardians seem to have left their humour and bite back in Vol. I.
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October 2017
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