Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Kurt Russell
Director: James Gunn
Lightning in a bottle doesn’t strike twice. Innovative movies beget innovative sayings. The first Guardians of the Galaxy blew our minds. We were psyched for the sequel. How would the adventures of Star-Lord and his ragtag bunch be the second time round? How original would the now-familiar troupe be? Unfortunately, the answer was: not so much.
The beginning was fun. A hilarious fight with a monster over some batteries, while more of the 80s playlist was going on in the background. Beautifully choreographed in bright snazzy colours with a completely tongue-so-much-in-cheek-it-is-stupid vibe, this gives viewers a sense of déjà vu. In the first movie we were given heavy hints about Peter Quill’s (Pratt) dad. We meet him, the hilariously named Ego (Russell), who is a Celestial being. However, there is a reason he is named thus.
The big disadvantage a sequel has is the lack of freshness compares to its predecessor. You find out how much a breath of fresh air the first movie was. That is when a good story helps a sequel. Unfortunately, Vol 2 is a mess. Daddy issues continue to be popular in movies. They also continue to be tedious. You cannot have a movie-length of them. At least not a popular movie. Throwing in sister issues, kleptomaniac tendencies and disobedient servants don’t quite solve it. A dragging send-off to a character we didn’t know was that much of a fan-favourite was perplexing, to say the least.
Kurt Russell does great with whatever silly lines he has to say. (Note: I didn’t think even one sentence was silly in the original movie.) The Guardians do their jobs without any missteps. Nebula (Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) are the new additions to the team. Sylvester Stallone makes a surprising appearance.
Director James Gunn seems to have exhausted all his creativity. The background songs are carefully selected, evident to even tone-deaf me. But the plot shows the lack of effort. The special effects get tiresome after a point. Vol 2 seems to exist for the worst of reasons – cash grab.
Stan Lee cameo: This was a smart one. Stan is a Watcher who sees everything and has had many adventures.
Post-credits scene: There are five! Come on! Two of them may be nods to the comics and nerds. Two are attempts at humour and the fifth one is actually an extension of the Stan Lee cameo. It is not very good. But then Stan passed away and it changed. Here he says, “I’ve got so many more stories to tell.” How can a fan not tear up?
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