Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review
The first movie was such a fantastic surprise. I still remember exactly how my thought process went: WTF is this? It's so weird! But also looks funny? I was curious about it, and it blew me away. I wasn't a Star Wars fan when I was young, so the thing GotG reminded me of was when I was absolutely obsessed with The Lion King for a couple years. I rewatched that movie all the time, I played the soundtrack over and over again, I reenacted the "Long Live THE KING" scene with my friends (I've always been weird), I sat in total awe and watched the behind the scenes footage... It felt like that, watching GotG for the first time. It opened up a new world for me and I was enthralled with it, its atmosphere, music, and characters.
It couldn't have happened at a better time, because 2014 was one of the shittiest years I've ever endured. I got in a car accident at the beginning of the year, which was very taxing on me. I interned at a school that year as well, and while it was a great learning experience, it was utterly draining, and made me realize that I'm not cut out for that career. I spent about 4 months getting 5 hours of sleep and spending every waking moment thinking of lessons, grading, and basically fearing that I wouldn't graduate. Thankfully, I did, but I didn't want to teach, so I found a part-time job that paid ok, but wasn't enough. My parents supported me through grad school, for which I was very grateful, but in 2014 they went through a huge financial crisis of their own and, rightfully, couldn't help me out anymore. So 2014 was just a blur of anxiety, money problems, and feeling like I wasn't going anywhere.
But, on my birthday, I was able to splurge and go see a movie - sure, it was 'just a movie,' but it was, without a doubt, the greatest experience I'd had that entire year. I laughed harder than I had in a while, I cried, I danced in my seat, and I connected to a group of new characters that I never thought would have such a major impact on me. Everything just came together so wonderfully, during those 2 hours, that made me forget about all my problems - and I got inspired to write again, because of those characters! Guardians of the Galaxy, on the surface, is a fun, silly, blockbuster movie, but it means a lot more to me than just that. It told me "Everything's going to be okay," and it was. It's not only my favorite MCU movie, it's one of my favorite movies of all time.
Fastforward three years, I've got a good paying, full time job. I don't get as much sleep as I should, but that's my own doing. I'm not in love with what I do, but it's not as gutwrenchingly stressful as teaching was, and the benefits help. I don't have to worry about money, I haven't gotten in a car accident since that one time in 2014 (*knocks on wood*), and generally, I have a far more stable life. I hadn't forgotten about the Guardians, but I hadn't thought about them as much, especially since I had gotten into some new favorite fandoms/canons in the meantime. But when I saw the trailers and interviews, I got excited again - then I remembered to temper my excitement.
First canon installments that are pretty damn close to perfect raise the bar so high, that anything coming afterward could pale in comparison - look at the first season of Heroes and what came after it (I still think Heroes Vol. 2 was shaping up to be great toward the end, it just suffered from the Writer's Strike and then started oscillating between good to terrible. I still think Toy Story 2 was decent, but it didn't wow me as much as the first one did. The Lion King 2 is a solid movie, but I can't remember much from it. Chamber of Secrets is fine, but it's not as fresh as Sorcerer's Stone. Iron Man 2 really disappointed me, I still remember coming out of the theater and thinking about the things I had problems with (villains + Tony's daddy issues), more than what I enjoyed (Black Widow fight scene). The only times sequels are better than their predecessors is when the first thing is average, see Captain America: The First Avenger (it got better on re-watch but it's still 'okay' to me) and Terminator. Pretty much the only situation I can think of where I vastly preferred the sequel over the very good original, is Virtue's Last Reward - but that's because I cared about the characters and plot way more than I did in 999.
So, with all of that in mind, I went into Vol 2 trying not to have sky high expectations and just wanted to see another fun silly movie with weird, interesting characters. And I got pretty much what I wanted.
I've been sitting on my thoughts about this for a few weeks, because I changed my mind a few times on what worked and what didn't work for me in this sequel. I wasn't even going to write a post about it, but the more I think about this movie, the more I really, really like the ideas it explores. I like to think of these movies as a complete mixtape; each side has its own story, and strengths, and flaws.
The Good
+ Characters. It's very, very clear James Gunn cares about these characters, and I think he did the right thing in focusing on them, rather than introducing another MacGuffin. That simple plot worked very well for the first story, because it needed to be a simple story in order to ground all the weird whackiness around it. But this story is all about the characters, and it serves most of them very well. It juggles 8 FREAKING CHARACTERS and gives each of them an important scene, a vice, a virtue, and various relationships. I feel for each of these characters even more than I did in the first movie, because Gunn had a clear vision of how he wanted to present them. (For example, cynics can snark all they want about Baby Groot being kept a baby because of merchandise, but I sincerely believe Gunn when he said in an interview that he wrote Vol. 2 with adult Groot originally, but it felt like a retread while Baby Groot made his writing flow better. And it did. It's endearing to see how each of the Guardians interacts with Baby Groot, and I hadn't even realized Peter's or Drax's relationships with Baby Groot and how they changed throughout the movie, until Gunn pointed them out and I went back and rewatched.) Nearly each of the characters has an arc, they have a quality I can point to and go "They went through a change, and came out of the experience learning something." The only character I think who didn't have as clear of an arc as everyone else was Drax, but I don't think he needed one. Dave Bautista is amazing at delivering deadpan one-liners and adding levity to scenes to keep them fun. He also had a great burgeoning friendship with Mantis and supported her awesome moment, so I don't have a problem with him being relegated to comic relief/supporting role.
I also see the character writing as an improvement over the first one. Remember how, in the first movie, everyone suddenly starts saving each other for no reason other than "I saw something... heroic?" Groot saves Drax despite them having fought just 20 minutes ago, and Groot wants to save Peter and Gamora because... he likes them, suddenly? Peter snapped at him and Gamora chopped off his arms! Why did Rocket suddenly start listening to Groot and go save Peter and Gamora? Wait, why DID Gamora have a change of heart at the beginning? I know she said she couldn't watch Ronan destroy a planet, but where did that motivation come from? We didn't see it. There was a lot more tell than show in the first movie. Which was fine, the group's sudden bond had to be given a shorthand and I did buy it, but I buy it much more in the sequel, because this group has clearly spent months together and I buy that they get on each other's nerves, that they snap at each other and have tensions, but in the end, especially after Xandar, they know they're better together than apart. And I buy that they really do care about each other, they just have difficulty expressing their feelings. They proved their love for each other again in the sequel - which seems repetitive on paper, but I like how Gunn worded it: the first movie is about them becoming a family, and Vol. 2 is about them being a family. It's easy to fall in love, but it's much more challenging to stay in a relationship.
And each of the characters has something they're working through. Peter realizes who his real father was, Gamora realizes - as do we - that she was the bad sibling, Drax is content with his new family while missing his old one and connects with someone who reminds him of his daughter, Rocket realizes he pushes others away and that they won't leave him, Baby Groot fails at helping at first to end up saving THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, Mantis realizes how horrible her abuser was and uses her powers to control him and help the Guardians, Nebula forgives Gamora and realizes that it's Thanos who caused all of her grief, and Yondu realizes how he treated Peter, he owns up to his mistakes, and he does what a truly loving parent would do for their child. Secondary and tertiary characters also come to terms with their own internal conflicts, such as Kraglin and Stakar.
I'm going to be incredibly petty and compare this movie to Captain America: Civil War. If you asked me a month ago what I remember from the movie, what I liked about it, my answers would be "the airport fight is fun," "RDJ's acting was fantastic," and "Black Panther is awesome." That's literally it. I watched half of it again the other day and it is a goddamn slog. It's a bunch of punching, political theater, more punching, people looking at each other dourly, a lot of brooding, and everything is so grey, except for the airport scene. The airport scene is still my favorite part of that movie, but in the context of the rest of it, it feels really out of place. It's fun, but Civil War wasn't supposed to be fun. And the rest of it was supposed to be Civil War, it got the technical stuff down very well with the fighting and politics and 'what if this were real life?' exploration, but all that stuff bored me.
And yeah there was some character stuff - I thought it mostly went to Tony, but I think that's because, while Cap's argument makes more sense, Tony got the better writing, and RDJ pulled it off so well. And I'm still baffled that people hail it as the best MCU film. How? I barely cared about any of the characters except for Tony and Rhodey (Rhodey crashing to the ground and Tony comforting him was the most emotional I felt during the entire movie. I did like a couple Steve and Bucky shots, but.... I didn't think they had the same well-written dialogue, or spark, as they did in the previous films. Bucky and Sam had more chemistry to me.) The Steve/Sharon subplot was a mess, the only saving grace was the reaction shot of Bucky and Sam. I went from going 'wow I actually care about Steve and Peggy's relationship now' in Winter Soldier to going 'uh what? zzzz' during her funeral. I like Tom Holland after watching a couple interviews of him, he's a sweet kid, but I wasn't enamored with Spider-Man. My point in all of this is, I enjoyed watching Civil War in the moment, but the more I thought about it, the more problems I ended up having with it, and the more it underwhelmed me. Because of the characters and my disconnect to their motivations and 'arcs'. Why should I care about the characters who show up at the fight and randomly help out Steve or Tony (Ant-man was great but.... huh?) Why does Clint come out of retirement and leave his family to shoot a bunch of arrows at Iron Man? Why does a high school kid need to help web up Captain America? WHY DIDN'T VISION JUST TRAP EVERYONE AT THE AIRPORT AND PUT THEM IN TIME OUT? Why wasn't the third Captain America movie Up All Night to Get Bucky? Why wasn't Civil War the third Avengers movie?
Whyyyyy
And see, I'm getting worked up and irritated over freaking Civil War. That movie just bothers me so much. Age of Ultron had problems too, but it at least had motivations and character arcs I could understand (except for Bruce and Natasha's, I don't get that pairing). Civil War felt like two dudes getting all their action figures together and crashing them into each other. I do think the fights looked cool - the Russo Bros have a damn good team to choreograph fights - but after a while, the punching all ran together and desensitized me. The reason why Winter Soldier was so amazing is because of its focus on the characters, it balanced the emotions and fighting very well, while having a brilliantly written plot.
And that's the big difference between the Avengers and Guardians, for me. I like the Avengers, they're cool and they have good fight scenes. But I don't care about them the same way I care about the Guardians, and all their interpersonal relationships. And sure, I can completely understand why Vol. 2 would turn some people off, it's way more earnest, and sometimes earnestness can be a turn off while cool punching scenes look good and give you more visual stimulation than watching two characters sit around talking about their feelings. But I would happily watch a four-hour movie of the Guardians trading barbs, or crying about their personal issues, than watching Steve and Tony punch each other, or listening about the Accords, or accountability, or how NATO should zzzz oh, I fell asleep again.
This is where Guardians Vol. 2 excels at: feelings. It shows us it's okay to feel feelings, and hash out our shit with the people we love. It's okay to feel bitter about past transgressions, to fuck up in our relationships with others, so long as we realize it was wrong and we strive to make things better. It's okay to laugh at stupid shit, and above all, the movie shows us that it's okay to cry. Hell, it actively encourages that. It's a very cathartic film. The first punch comes at the initial climax of Peter using the memories of his friends to use the Light in his favor and keep the consuming blob at bay. Then the follow up emotional punch comes at the funeral, where the humor is lightly sprinkled throughout, and we're allowed to just be in the moment, to grieve, and to celebrate our lost loved ones. This movie, especially the third act, is just so delightfully iddy and gratifying, and I was very pleasantly surprised with it.
I've kind of lost track of my review format, so I'll just add on random things I loved:
+ Drax's deadpan one-liners: "I don't know why they're after us, what a mystery this is." "I too am extraordinarily humble." "If he's a planet, how could he have a baby with your mother? He would smush her!" "They're called harpulary batteries." (This joke grew on me a lot after my first watch. It's in his delivery.) "Yes, and so are you... On the inside." I'll say it again: Bautista knocked it out of the park
+ It's dumb and won't age well (and doesn't make sense in that Peter wouldn't know this meme), but I loooove the Starmunch/Trash Panda exchange. Just the way it's shot, with the beat afterward of "Is that bad?" "I don't know" and Chris Pratt making a very Chris Pratt face... I've rewatched that clip dozens of times. It's just one of those stoner skits that crack me up like "Dude!" "Sweet!" And I love Gamora's line of "A little one inch man saved us?" looking almost amused :D I can't wait for them to meet Ant-Man! Seriously, it's scenes like these that make me want to just.... watch them talk for hours
+ Peter and Rocket's rivalry in the beginning, to Peter's surprisingly serious 'come to Jesus' moment to Rocket (I mean, Peter was being an ass to Rocket as well, but it seemed to me like Peter did want to reconcile with him before leaving to Ego's planet), and then their subtle bonding moments throughout the climax and at the end. I really like how their relationship was handled; it's hilarious to see them butting heads, but I appreciate that it wasn't just about that, it had a deeper layer
+ Looove that Rocket kept playing Peter's music, hummed along to it, and insisted on playing it. He clearly likes Quill and I think Rocket wants validation from him (which he gets at the end of the movie), but Rocket hides behind his bristly demeanor, and the whole thing with the music was a great way of showing Rocket's affection
+ Gamora's sweet interaction with Baby Groot! How she said "Hi!" when he waved to her during their first battle and then wiped his tear away when she left. That scene of the team separating is one of my favorites, it's so subtle but builds up to that kickass Chain montage (which I wish was a little longer, Idk why Gunn cut a couple of the extra shots that were in the trailer). I really love the interplay between all the characters in that moment: Gamora telling Nebula that Rocket's not a fox (and Gamora said that again later! Showing how her opinion of him changed from the first movie when she called him 'rodent'), Gamora telling Rocket to shoot Nebula, Peter and Drax's exchange of "God, you're like an old woman!" "Because I'm wise?" And Gamora asking why Drax packed so much, and him saying "I don't want Groot playing with my things." It's just so natural, I love their little conversations with each other.
+ Ego was a MUCH better villain than Ronan. I like Lee Pace and I feel like he gave it his all in that role, it's not his fault, but Ronan was very 1-D and boring, aside from the climax. Kurt Russell was phenomenal in his role, he was charming up until the reveal, and then he was SO evil, but in a deliciously good way where I hated him and cheered on Peter shooting the shit out of him, but I also admired Russell's scenery chewing. He clearly had a blast on set, and he was so animated during the press junket, which was really nice to see. I also like the effects of him rebuilding his body, the 3D dioramas, and the 'stop-motion' like sequence of him collapsing in Peter's arms.
+ PETER HELD ONTO ALL OF HIS PARENTS AS THEY DIED AND HE SCREAMED NO FOR HIS REAL PARENTS fuck me up
+ Baby Groot was utilized very smartly, for the most part. The beginning dance, while not being as classic as Peter's dance in GotG, was incredibly fun and such a nice surprise during my first watch - I especially love Baby Groot's angry little face and pose during the title drop, then Rocket immediately flying to him and making him spit out a bug when he tried swallowing it. Also, I didn't notice until my second watch, but Baby Groot is in the background in a lot of scenes, he doesn't talk a lot, and there's just a generally good balance of his cuteness. Anyone else would've had him at the forefront in half the movie, saying "I am Groot" way more than he did, but I think his exposure was well done. The only time it got a bit too much for me was in the 'Groot fetches things' and 'set off the bomb' sequence, but that's because I saw the trailers a bunch of times. I still adore his little "yeah!" nod when Yondu asks if he wants to help, him silently putting the medallion on his head
(the 'hat' convo should've just been cut), and the medallion being tossed onto Taserface's bed amuses me. That moment felt very reminiscent ofl older movies where it's so obvious someone off-camera just threw the thing up there.
+ More beautiful graphics, with the lighting punched up to 200. Going back and watching GotG made me realize how dark a lot of scenes are, in comparison. I think the cinematography was overall better in the first one, because there were a lot more shots that felt more classic/iconic and were held on a lot more (for example, Knowhere's intro >>> Ego's intro), and I think GotG had more practical sets - but Vol. 2's electric eyecandy vibe helps set it apart from the first one, and it's one of the most visually stimulating and stunning MCU movies. The only ones that I think hit that same mark were Iron Man, parts of Thor, Doctor Strange, and of course, GotG.
+ I thought the arcade joke was fucking hilarious, it got one of my biggest laughs during my first viewing. And "You suck, Zarnak," or whatever his name was. Really captured that nostalgic vibe! And I like that we saw multiple women being gamers. That was a nice touch.
+ I didn't catch this until later, when, in an interview, Pratt pointed out the scene of Yondu standing at the window of the robot brothel, shirtless while the robot he had sex with shuts herself off. And he just stands there, looking at his crew, and Rooker does a great job conveying a sense of loneliness and regret in that shot. And even later, it was pointed out elsewhere that this scene came right after Ego said "I'm your dad, Peter." SUCH GOOD SCENE TRANSITIONING omg. The whole start of that scene was very reminiscent of the whole Knowhere tone; Contraxia captured that mixture of bizarre fascination with a streak of darkness, worldbulding, and adding characterization to it. I can't fully explain the feeling I get from it, but I get the same feeling from Don Bluth movies, especially All Dogs Go to Heaven, or The Secret of Nimh.
+ PETER AND GAMORA MY HEART
Drax thinks you’re not a dancer. IF YOU EVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, I WILL KILL YOU.
+ He's a scoundrel and a flirt, but apologizes to her about it! She checks him out and holds his hands, but looks away and pulls away from him, keeping herself at an emotional distance, and she has a reason to do so. He looks at her right away after Ego leaves the group in the woods (I appreciate that Peter was suspicious; he's not stupid), and her immediate response is, "Let's go take a walk." I get the feeling they've done that before, they go take walks to hash out a problem away from the others. They could have just sat there and talked in front of everyone else, but they go somewhere privately and have a heart-to-heart. Peter told her about his David Hasselhoff picture when he was drunk! Oh, that is so good. I don't even care that it was exposition, it's such a fun mental image to think of him blabbering about his life on Earth, drunk off his ass while Gamora enjoys listening to him, because he had a childhood, while she sadly didn't. And the way he looked at her on Ego's ship! So cute :D And when she helped him get up later and they bickered about her saying "I told you so," and carrying on the 'unspoken thing' line. Their last moment is where it all comes together for me: I'm fine with them hugging instead of kissing because it makes the anticipation of them finally getting together so much sweeter,, and it would have been very innappropriate for them to kiss during his dad's funeral. I'm all about the canon slow burn with them, and I love the 'unspoken thing' theme and how they looked at each other at the end. I love their Space Mom and Dad framing too, especially with Baby Groot. Super adorable :D
The one thing I was 'eh' on about them was when Peter pushed her to dance with him. I'd have preferred it if he'd extended his hand and she joined him, rather than him being like "no u dance with me" while tossing the comm link. The music in that scene is also, not as powerful as "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was, but what I do like about that scene is Peter nuzzling Gamora's hair I'm so weak how it transitions from fantasy romcom of them being outside, to them going inside and suddenly the tone changes, but it makes sense. They both call each other out on their shit, and their dialogue feels more real and like it gets to the root of them. Gamora changing her mind about Ego didn't make sense to me at first, but it did on rewatch. I think she did want Peter to connect with his dad, but as soon as Mantis started being weird, Gamora's guard came right back up and she started to realize this was too good to be true, but by then Peter had become swayed. So she tries to snap him out of it, but he's fixated on her not trusting him, much less anyone else. It's a really dynamic scene, and I like how the dialogue flows in it. Their verbal sparring hearkened back to their first fight when they met, and Gamora constantly moving around with Peter following her seemed like a different kind of dance, and Peter being a lovestruck puppy while Gamora is more like a cat.
In comparison, I've rewatched the Bruce/Natasha AoU bar and monster scenes a couple times in the past few days and they're just so... bland and awkward, and I still feel like the monster scene has that unfortunate implication of sterility = monstrous (I get what Joss was trying to do, but it wasn't framed well in the conversation.) And when I rewatched Civil War, I cringed again at the Steve/Sharon kiss. I like Sharon, and I don't think there was some MCU conspiracy to make Steve look straight, but it did look awkward when they kissed; Evans practically exudes resignation right before he kisses Sharon. Peter and Gamora's scene kind of strays toward that "oh here we go again" line during their dance, but Gunn gives it levity with the "Cheers" meta and Pratt's charm sells his obvious feelings, and then Gunn makes their relationship more interesting by shifting it into their friend/Guardian status and how it revolves around the plot, and each of their issues. It's also a short scene, so it doesn't drag. It's just one of those things that I think would have been handled in a pedestrian way by another writer: Gamora rejecting Peter's advances would make him upset solely about that and Gamora would walk away, and then the scene would shift to Rocket or Drax, or Ego would have walked in right away to talk to Peter, and we wouldn't see Gamora until she'd discover the cave of bones by herself
But the scene follows Gamora outside and holds on her fight with Nebula (btw, beautiful shot of Gamora sitting alone in the corner of the screen. This is one of the moments where the sequel did top the original. The color palette is stunning, while coming off as more aggressive and sharp with all the rocks and cliffs, as opposed to the bubbly Lisa Frank imagery we got before - I also think that Gamora slicing the reeds doubled as a funny moment of her showing how she deals with annoyance, AND how she feels about intimacy), and we realize that Gamora has a history of hurting people to survive - and I really appreciate that we follow Gamora into an action-heavy, angst-fueled battle ending on an emotional cap with her sister, then when we go back to Peter, he's lying around moping and listening to music, thinking about Gamora, and then Ego comes in to keep manipulating him. It's one of those things I didn't fully realize until I thought about it and saw other meta posts about it. Sure, people could be reaching, but I think Gunn does this stuff deliberately, and he did an excellent job with interconnecting themes, showing parallels, and doing things out of the box
+ It took me a couple of viewings to notice, but Zoe's performance improved from the first movie, and I feel like her abilities were better utilized in Vol. 2 than all three Star Trek movies combined. I love her Gamora, and I'm overall okay with her being the 'straight man' in the group - I even like that she's the Team Mom - but Zoe's delivery felt even more energetic, like she put more emotion into her lines and more range into her expressions than GotG. And it makes sense, narratively, for her to be more expressive. She doesn't have to be a cold-blodded killer anymore. And after reading my review for the first film, Gunn did make a marked improvement on writing her character. One of my biggest gripes with the first movie is how it glosses over Gamora and Nebula's backstory, and he did deliver on it here, which I appreciate. I think it could've been done a little better, but without flashbacks, idk how it could have been an A+ job. It's still an improvement, and I noticed that there wasn't any mentions of 'bitch,' 'whore,' etc. like in the first one. I'm glad Gunn took that criticism in mind and subtly incorporated that in the sequel
+ Really love Peter's reaction when Ego says to him "or the freedom you gave Gamora." It's very quick, but telling how Peter looks a bit uneasy at hearing that, like he's thinking "wait what did he say?" instead of agreeing with Ego like he agreed about 'Brandy,' and it's a subtle moment of foreshadowing Ego's villainy - like Ego's reaction to when Peter made the Light appear
+ "I'm gonna make some weird shit," with that patented Chris Pratt face xD I feel like there's stuff only he can pull off, like dancing in front of Ronan without making it cringey, and that line is one of them. It's one of my favorites in the movie, it never gets old. It's so relatable because anyone would be maniacally gleeful at getting to create anything. Very memeworthy!
+ That one bit of the Ravagers airlocking Yondu's supporters was extremely dark. I wasn't expecting it at all, and it still shocks me. But it was directed very well, and juxtaposed with the music and tone
+ Another interconnecting theme I didn't notice until a later watch was the motif of batteries. The Guardians protect them at the beginning, Rocket steals them, Peter gets turned into a battery, Yondu sold other 'batteries' to Ego, then he gave up his own life to save Peter, and Rocket says at the end "He didn't chase them away... even when he was always mean, and he stole batteries he didn't need." And Peter affirms that. Ugh it's so brilliant. I love that such a movie that seems so silly on the surface has so much depth. (And they needed a battery to escape the prison in GotG! I hope there's another battery in Vol. 3, it doesn't need to be a big thing, it can just be a mention and that'd be perfect)
+ Baby Groot puking. It's gross out humor, but that moment makes me at least chuckle every time I see it. It's the juxtaposition of his cute smile, and the timing of it - and I've seen a couple parents online confirm that yep, that's legit
+ Gamora's reaction to Ego saying his penis isn't half bad. omg I can't wait for the gif of that shot. I didn't notice it the first time, but her expression is amazing
+ One of my favorite scenes, not just in this movie, but in the entire MCU, is when Mantis feels Drax's grief. It is a perfect scene. It gets built up in that James Gunn way of being silly, then serious with Drax's inadvertent insults, but then he says the poignant line "When you're ugly, you know people love you for who you are. Beautiful people don't know who to trust." (Which kind of echoes Peter calling out Gamora for being a 'jerk who doesn't trust anyone," she stayed beautiful because she fought so harshly.) Then there's the one-two punch of "[My daughter] was just like you." "Disgusting? :D" "Innocent." And we get a quiet moment where Mantis feels the unspeakable pain of Drax's loss, and she's overwhelmed by it while Drax remains stoic, having buried his hurt. That moment is this movie's "We Are Groot" moment for me, I at least tear up every single time, and it's heartbreaking and beautifully done. And it kickstarts Mantis's realization to do the right thing, which comes back when Drax encourages her to make Ego sleep. SO GOOD ;___;
+ The 360 hero shot. Stunning visuals and combination with the instrumental track, and I especially love how it focuses on Peter and Gamora in the center as they look at each other, no words needed for their reunion (James Gunn ships them as much as I do and I love that). Then, of course, Mantis gets knocked out because this is Guardians, lol. Drax's "AHH MY NIPPLES" afterward was great
+ Love that, despite all of Drax's insults toward Mantis, he lifted her up while he was sinking into the sand
+ Gamora getting a gun and about to run back for Peter (she's ride or die <333) but then Rocket zaps her. I would be pissed about this, considering Gamora didn't contribute much to the final fight (if anything, she should have saved Nebula when they were falling), but I really really love this sequence because it shows that Gamora would do what Peter did for her in the first movie without hesitation, and there's development for Rocket. He was so gleeful about zapping Peter in GotG with his gun, but he took no pleasure in taking out Gamora to keep her from leaving. I really love his line of "I'm sorry, but I can only afford to lose one friend today." We're supposed to think he's referring to Peter, but he's talking about Yondu. And Drax's increasingly desperate pleas to Rocket about where Quill is, while Rocket watches the door close, just makes the scene perfect. The four main Guardians all interact with each other in that scene, I felt their pain and especially how Rocket knew he was making the hard, but right decision. I also appreciate Gamora tending to Mantis when Rocket and Baby Groot arrive. She was so averse to being touched, but I think she became more tapped into her emotions after Mantis felt her fear
+ I officially have A Thing about Chris Pratt's eyes changing color, thank you Gunn for sharing my id and mashing it multiple times in the third act. Peter's galaxy eyes, his faaace when he says "My friends :(", him immediately blowing holes into Ego right after Ego said the tumor line (I'm okay with Ego letting it slip out, he wouldn't care about how it sounds.) Peter crying multiple times, Peter being impaled with tentacles of light, Peter thinking about his family, the ones he truly loves before leaping out to punch Ego while "The Chain" plays... Gunn gets me, man. He really gets me. I was in absolute heaven during all those sequences, especially The Chain part. It's so ridiculously cheesy and it rips off of the Order of the Phoenix scene where Harry remembers his friends, but I don't care, it's fucking amazing, and gives me such a good feeling :D :D
+ Big ups for Chris here; I think this features the best acting I've ever seen him do. Well, I admittedly haven't watched much of what he's done aside from Guardians and Parks and Rec, but in the clips I've seen of Passengers, Jurassic World, and Magnificent 7, his range stands out the most to me in Vol. 2. Yes, Peter = Pratt like Tony = RDJ, but I think Chris's delivery felt more natural in Vol. 2 (the way he interacts with all the CGI comes off as MUCH more fluid and focused, and there are a bunch of lines he gives in GotG that feel rehearsed or like he's trying too hard to be funny, like his FU finger machine, his Kiln walking dialogue, when he convinces Drax not to kill Gamora, "Yeah, I'll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on that one," etc.) He's gotten so much better at reacting to stuff, when in GotG there are shots where he's kind of mildly curious, lol. I really bought his rage toward Ego, and his grief for Yondu at the end of Vol. 2. Peter just looks so wrecked in the whole funeral sequence, and I feel for him so much and really appreciate that maturation. Gunn said in his Facebook chat post-movie that he had to ask Chris to come back in and reshoot the eulogy, because it wasn't as emotional the first time he shot it, and I'm very glad he did that. Pratt stepped up his game in a big way, and I think he has the most charm and relatability with Gunn's direction
+ Yondu's death scene - worth the price of admission by itself. I paid to go see it a second time, mostly to watch that scene (the whole third act, really) on the big screen again. It could've gone wrong, but it went so perfectly, from "He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your Daddy," to the fade out. The instrumental music elevated it, just like it did in the "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy" scene from the first movie, and the look of it was so simple, that it's just empty space all around them with blue lighting and Peter desperately screaming as he holds onto Yondu. And then Yondu, as he dies, pats Peter's face reassuringly - it's such good acting and directing, everything comes together so well for that scene, and it's really powerful. I also like how the Guardians' instrumental theme is teased multiple times in GotG to lead up to 'Black Tears,' but in Vol. 2, the 'Dad' theme' is teased in that ball-throwing scene. Anyway, Yondu's death is, I think, the best in the MCU. I was sad about Quicksilver dying... but I had honestly forgotten about it. Like I had forgotten about Frigga's death. And Coulson's - except wait, he didn't die. And Fury didn't die. And Loki didn't die - twice. And no one important died in Civil War (I still think it should've been Steve, sacrificing himself to save Bucky at the end.) Yondu's death is so powerful because we haven't gotten one with that kind of weight before
+ (I had to say it again) THE END PETER/GAMORA HUG <3<3<3 SO FUCKING PERFECT. That is what I wanted to see. I do want them to get together, and they are my OTP of the entire MCU (especially now that Thor/Jane is dead ;__;) - but their development in this movie will make it mean more if they do get together, or are official, later
+ Just the entire last 10 minutes, with Peter's eulogy (THAT'S the perfect balance of humor and heart that felt very reminiscent of the first movie), Gamora's hand on his shoulder, then his inspiring line goading her to make amends with Nebula - I did tear up a couple times during their hug, it was such a good touch having Nebula raise her fist like she was expecting Gamora to fight her, then looking skittish because she's never been hugged before, to accepting it), the Zune joke!!, Baby Groot climbing onto Peter's lap and Peter sharing his music, the beautiful fireworks and lineup of Ravagers/OG Guardians, Rocket's realization, the HUG, Baby Groot hopping from parent to parent and ending up sleeping on Drax's shoulder, the song... it was incredibly well done, and it ended the movie on a high note.
+ The credits are so much fun! I think they really match the feel of the movie, and I adore the disco version of the Guardians' theme (I really, really love their theme, it's my favorite in the MCU and I feel like it's the most memorable. Would love to hear it during their intro in Infinity War, and then get mixed with the Avengers' theme during their epic fight in Avengers 4). Omg I can't believe they got David Hasselhoff! That was such a great surprise, I've seen people say they hate that cameo but I loved it. I really want to see Kevin Bacon in Vol. 3!)
So, all in all, did Vol. 2 blow me away like the first one did? It had moments that did, but overall, it didn't consistently land like the first movie did. But I didn't think that it would. Gotg was a one-of-a-kind experience. GotG was a space opera with some comedy, Vol. 2 was a modern-day family sitcom in space. I like that they each told different stories, and I like that Gunn didn't do some paint-by-numbers story of the Guardians fighting the Sovereign for 2+ hours while making quips, or the group having a big fight and splitting up individually. Well, I might have liked that idea if only to see the others' pasts, except we got a 'entire group splits up' story in Civil War, so that would've felt repetitive in Vol. 2.
The Not So Good
The only thing that I think dragged Vol. 2 down was the, well, sheer volume of jokes. There were a lot more laugh-out-loud jokes during my first viewing, but some of them didn't age well and went on for too long ('it's not ripe," the tape scene, Taserface, Rocket messing around with the Ravagers. I laughed at first at the Looney Tunes 'jump' scene, but during rewatch it comes off as more disturbing than funny)
The Yaka arrow + Come A Little Bit Closer scene was very well done, probably some of the best directorial work Gunn has done, but I'm not as impressed with it as a bunch of other people are. I would've probably been more into it if I hadn't seen a very similar scene with a very similar song in The Belko Experiment. So, the arrow massacre felt like a bit of a retread. And I do like parts of Rocket and Yondu's storyline, technically I think it works, but those scenes are kind of like Ronan's scenes in GotG, I just don't feel the urge to rewatch them
The pacing was also much tighter in the first movie. GotG feels so timeless and classic, while Vol. 2 feels more like it could be dated in a few years. So the only way I think James could have tightened up the sequel and made it go from B quality to A, like the first one, would be to lift a lot of jokes
For comparison's sake: 'I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!' - Perfect. That whole exchange was quick, it didn't feel forced, it was heartwarming, it did have a pop culture mention but it worked so well with the triumphant mood, building up Yondu's character to get us to like him so his death is felt a lot more, and showing us his camaraderie with Peter. But the Taserface running joke, "Maybe get a nice hat," "Groot bringing things," "push this button," and "tape" bits felt played out by my second viewing. That final 10 minutes with the funeral? Perfect. It hearkened back to the feel of GotG while being fresh and new. The characters had learned things, went through changes, and the reason why it worked so well and was so poignant? Because the humor was dialed way back down and was much more subtle. Peter's eulogy was very sincere in how raw and sort of... stream of consciousness it was, with the light touch of the David Hasselhoff mention and "fought robots." The Zune joke wasn't harped on for two minutes, it was merely presented and just fits the tone of the movies so well in how out of left field it is, while having an emotional connection with Yondu, subverting product placement, and giving us an extra kick of seeing Peter's awe at 300 songs (such advanced technology!) and it feels like it's for that small group of people who know about Zune, but it's quick so if people don't know it, they'll at least know it has tons of new songs. And lastly, there's Drax's last line of "And so are you... on the inside." No booming Drax laugh, just a very well-timed joke with Bautista's flawless delivery. This whole sequence is where the writing, acting, directing, and cinematography truly shines. It had a simple, bittersweet scene with the eulogy, but I felt the characters' emotions as it pans to each of them watching Peter. I felt the gravitas of the fireworks, and felt like a kid again, like I did during the first movie
So I really, really hope Gunn takes note of reactions to those scenes, and Mantis and Drax's scene, and incorporates those kind of moments, that perfect balance of downplayed humor + characterization + powerful music choice + soberness. I want him to take what worked in the first movie (worldbuilding, dry humor, bombastic songs, practical effects) and in the second movie (character development, genuine relationship development, brighter color palettes, actors' improved talents) and combine them into Vol. 3. I'm glad Gunn's going to have more time to work on Vol. 3 while the Avengers movies are filming; hopefully that time will help him revert back to the dry, subtle humor rather than doubling down on juvenile/gross-out/OTT humor with Drax as a laugh track. I think that really is the core issue of Vol. 2, and if he can do that while writing a streamlined 3-act script while focusing on character development and interaction, then Vol. 3 will be as well-received as Vol. 1.
This isn't to say I hate Vol. 2, or think it sucks. I get just as defensive of it as I did with the first Guardians and it got a bit of backlash. While I think GotG is the better movie, I look back at everything I wrote about Vol. 2 and there's 10x more content for me to talk about. GotG is a classic, but Vol. 2 makes me think a lot more - ironically, considering it feels sillier and more scattered. I even like seeing that some people prefer Vol. 2 over GotG, because it shows that people have different types of humor and story preferences, and what they respond to, and it shows how different both movies are, even though they share similarities. I would've been disappointed if this was "the gang shoots a planet for 1 hour," like I've seen a reviewer suggest it should've done. I would've been extremely disappointed if it was just them facing off against the Sovereign for 2 hours while quipping constantly and not having any character arcs. Both movies have strengths and flaws, and I love them both for different reasons.
Really quick, I wanted to talk about my hopes and concerns about the next couple installments:
I'm very pleased that the Guardians will be in Infinity War, and what I assume will be Infinity Gauntlet (aka Avengers 4). James is a producer, and the Guardians will only be in a scene or two (I get the feeling Peter will be in more scenes, which makes sense), so what I'm hoping for is a fun scene that is reminiscent of the airport scene in Civil War, but that it's not too slapstick or makes the Guardians look completely incompetent or cartoonish. I want it to be the scene where the audience comes away talking about a lot, like the airport scene in Civil War, hopefully not souring people on them - basically, I want for the Guardians to steal the scene, and for more people to like them. But if people think they're too OTT or annoying or whatever, we could chalk it up to the writing team not knowing how to nail that tone, or on the Russo Brothers, rather than James. But James said he was always on set with the Guardians, and I'm sure if he had an issue with the writing or how they were portrayed, he'd be the first to speak up. They're his bbs, he wouldn't let others mess with them. And the cast (at least the ladies) trusts that it will be good, so I'm really crossing my fingers in hopes that the Guardians scene will be well received and considered one of the best moments in the movie. Despite popular opinion that Vol. 2 wasn't as good as GotG, people still seem to really like these guys, so I'm hoping there's no major backlash. I'll be fine with the Guardians being introduced in Infinity War, but I REALLY want to see them kick ass in Gauntlet (or whatever it'll be called.)
As for Peter/Gamora, I'm a little anxious to see how that will be dealt with in IW/IG. I want the writers and directors to make them like Steve and Natasha were in Winter Soldier, rather than how Steve/Sharon was in Civil War. But we'll get caught up with the Guardians since they'll have been together for 4 years, so there's 4 ways P/G could be handled:
1) They're dating and it's obvious - could probably get some laughs from the Avengers' reactions to them kissing/holding hands/flirting, or from the other Guardians mocking them
2) They dated but broke up - could get some laughs from them bickering and a line like "This is why we/you two broke up" and then Peter hits on Natasha and Wanda
3) They haven't officially gotten together but are still teased - could get a bit of sexual tension/bickering and other Guardians mocking them, or Tony asking "Sooo are you two a thing?" and Peter's like "I dunno"
4) It's not addressed at all
Please Dear God, NO to 2. That is the absolute last thing I want. I'd be ok with 1, but I kinda want their first kiss to be in Vol. 3, it would make more sense and there's already going to be a canon main pairing in IW, with Vision/Wanda (bleghh), and (ETA) I saw a quote by ScarJo that hints to a Bruce/Nat breakup (which, thank goodness), and Natasha might get close to Bucky (noooo). Either way, I don't want the movie to get bogged down by romance, but if it has to, it makes sense for the main romance to be about the pairing that will likely get the most angst because of Thanos. Even though I NOTP Wanda/Vision (I don't see ANY chemistry whatsoever and their scenes in Civil War creeped me out), I get its importance, and who knows, maybe the writers and Russo Brothers will finally make it somewhat tolerable - especially when Vision gets his gem yanked out and Wanda hopefully goes into full on wrath mode, I'd like to see her given a focus. If there's more Starmora ship teasing but they're not officially dating, I'd be okay with that, but it'd be kind of weird to me, character-wise, if Peter and Gamora hadn't officially gotten together in FOUR YEARS. It would be okay to me, but just... weird if they hadn't even kissed, at all, in that amount of time. So, I would like for Option 4 to happen. The focus would be on the Guardians as a group, and I would LOVE for Peter and Gamora to have a couple moments, like she's being protective of him, or if he goes off to talk with the Avengers she says "Be careful" and they share a Look which is commented on by someone, and that's it. And then in IW I would die of happiness if they fight against enemies back to back, or share a moment, or a hug, or something if they have to separate.
One thing I've started to worry about is Gamora dying in IG. I don't think any Guardians has danger of biting the dust in IW unless Thanos snaps his finger and kills everyone, but since there will be a Vol. 3 following that aftermath, obviously they're not gonna stay dead. But I'm really worried due to the assertion that Gunn can't really write Vol. 3 until IW/IG are finished, because those movies will affect the Guardians. That, plus Gunn's comments on the team getting a shake-up in Vol. 3, plus him saying Vol. 3 will be the last iteration of this team, makes me a bit worried. I should trust him, but I get the feeling that Marvel might want to raise its stakes and kill a Guardian for maximum impact.
I'm not at all worried about any of the other four, or Mantis, because there'd be no point to killing her. It would be incredibly fucking stupid to kill Rocket, Groot, or Peter for good. I could see Drax dying in IG while going after Thanos, but he's a fan fave, so I think he's safe. That leaves Gamora, who's the least popular Guardian. It sucks because she's my fave along with Peter, but it's true. Not many fans would really miss her, plus I think Zoe's going to get really busy with Avatar 2. I'm hoping that Gunn has talked Feige into sparing the core 5 Guardians, because even though the group has Mantis now, I think it would be a huge bummer if they killed Gamora off for Peter's manpain. He already has enough, let the dude rest. I would absolutely love it if the IW/IG writers and directors instead give Gamora cool fight scenes (I can see Zoe rocking the shit out of an awesome fight scene, especially with the Russo Brothers' talent for filming combat), and a couple of funny lines, like going "It's Kevin Bacon!" in awe when she sees Captain America and Peter says "No, that's not him" (I also pettily want a scene where Tony tries hitting on her, Peter says "Bad idea," and Tony goes "Why, is she your girlfriend?" and Gamora flips him over or something and he goes "Ow," like in the comic.) I think that would make her a lot more likable to the audience. But if they do that, they might build up her character arc to kill her off, and then Vol. 3 introduces a new female character to the roster, wich aughh, would be so frustrating to me.
So, while I'd be sad to see Nebula go, I think she would make the most sense as a Guardian death in IG. She kills Thanos in the comics, and her arc's been built up on her going after Thanos, so I would love to see her pretending to cozy up to Thanos, then donning the Gauntlet and killing him, maybe aided with Drax (and, probably, Tony and Steve. But I want her and Wanda to be the focus, if possible.) I want a powerful, emotional scene of her dying in Gamora's arms, I think it would be a great send off while affirming less character bloat in Vol. 3 (so it can focus on Adam + the 6 Guardians), and it would give Gamora some much-needed time to shine in the spotlight, as well as giving her an arc in Vol. 3 (her grief leading to her acceptance, letting Peter be her emotional support, seeing how the other react to her stages of grief.) Ugh, I just want the best for my bbs, especially Gamora.
Vol. 3 wishes: I want the Guardians to share the whole movie together, not get split up. More world hopping and universe building. More subtle, spaced out banter than long gags and juvenile/gross-out humor. More bombastic, exciting songs - a couple can be slow, and some of Vol. 2's tracks grew on me (Lake Shore Drive is a current fave), but I want Vol. 3's soundtrack to be as iconic as the first one. Focus on Rocket and Gamora, and give Drax kickass combat scenes. I want a scene in either Avengers movies or Vol. 3 of Groot getting REALLY huge and protecting all the Guardians by shielding them, or becoming a bridge for them. Give Gamora funny lines and awesome fight scenes. Let Pratt do some more improv; he's amazing at that. Please please make Gamora/Peter a well-written couple with a satisfying conclusion, if they're just friends, DON'T give either of them another love interest. Make Adam a villain-turned-hero, I think that would be perfect. I don't know if I even want a villain in Vol. 3, aside from maybe Ayesha in the beginning, but I'd be cool with Adam doing something to threaten the Galaxy, but the Guardians stop him and he becomes a hero. (ETA: I've been thinking about a plot for Vol. 3 after watching Doctor Strange, and I think it would be kinda neat if it explored different dimensions like in DS - like, Adam starts opening portals or something and the Guardians have to close them, maybe going into one to save the galaxy and sacrificing themselves, but ending up in a different timeline. It would be very comicbooky and it would have that mixture of bigass space event + big damn hero moment for Guardians + emotional moment if they think they might die + incentive for Adam to start his own Guardian team in the timeline proper.) I don't think there should be an opening credits dance scene. I think it should open with a sad or serious scene with the Guardians on a more serious mission, or they're still reeling from the aftermath of dealing with Thanos - especially if Nebula dies. My dream ending would be 'September' by Earth, Wind and Fire playing over Peter and Gamora's wedding, or end credits dance party *___* Oh, and lastly, I noticed that Gamora and Peter gave the last lines in GotG, Mantis and Drax gave the last lines in Vol. 2, so I want Rocket and Groot to give the last lines in Vol. 3, specifically Groot giving the last line of the trilogy, so we can interpret it however we want. That'd be pretty cool.
Okay, I'm done with this novel lol. I really do love Vol. 2 and am really looking forward to seeing more Guardians. Can't get enough of these guys :D
Oh, and just because, I've decided to update my MCU ranking:
Best MCU movies:
Iron Man
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Iron Man 3
Doctor Strange
Captain America: Civil War
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Ant-Man
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man 2
Thor: The Dark World
The Incredible Hulk
Favorite MCU movies:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Iron Man
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man 3
The Avengers
Thor
Ant-Man
Thor: The Dark World
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: The First Avenger
Doctor Strange
Captain America: Civil War
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk
I might do an MCU marathon before Infinity War to revisit my list!
It couldn't have happened at a better time, because 2014 was one of the shittiest years I've ever endured. I got in a car accident at the beginning of the year, which was very taxing on me. I interned at a school that year as well, and while it was a great learning experience, it was utterly draining, and made me realize that I'm not cut out for that career. I spent about 4 months getting 5 hours of sleep and spending every waking moment thinking of lessons, grading, and basically fearing that I wouldn't graduate. Thankfully, I did, but I didn't want to teach, so I found a part-time job that paid ok, but wasn't enough. My parents supported me through grad school, for which I was very grateful, but in 2014 they went through a huge financial crisis of their own and, rightfully, couldn't help me out anymore. So 2014 was just a blur of anxiety, money problems, and feeling like I wasn't going anywhere.
But, on my birthday, I was able to splurge and go see a movie - sure, it was 'just a movie,' but it was, without a doubt, the greatest experience I'd had that entire year. I laughed harder than I had in a while, I cried, I danced in my seat, and I connected to a group of new characters that I never thought would have such a major impact on me. Everything just came together so wonderfully, during those 2 hours, that made me forget about all my problems - and I got inspired to write again, because of those characters! Guardians of the Galaxy, on the surface, is a fun, silly, blockbuster movie, but it means a lot more to me than just that. It told me "Everything's going to be okay," and it was. It's not only my favorite MCU movie, it's one of my favorite movies of all time.
Fastforward three years, I've got a good paying, full time job. I don't get as much sleep as I should, but that's my own doing. I'm not in love with what I do, but it's not as gutwrenchingly stressful as teaching was, and the benefits help. I don't have to worry about money, I haven't gotten in a car accident since that one time in 2014 (*knocks on wood*), and generally, I have a far more stable life. I hadn't forgotten about the Guardians, but I hadn't thought about them as much, especially since I had gotten into some new favorite fandoms/canons in the meantime. But when I saw the trailers and interviews, I got excited again - then I remembered to temper my excitement.
First canon installments that are pretty damn close to perfect raise the bar so high, that anything coming afterward could pale in comparison - look at the first season of Heroes and what came after it (I still think Heroes Vol. 2 was shaping up to be great toward the end, it just suffered from the Writer's Strike and then started oscillating between good to terrible. I still think Toy Story 2 was decent, but it didn't wow me as much as the first one did. The Lion King 2 is a solid movie, but I can't remember much from it. Chamber of Secrets is fine, but it's not as fresh as Sorcerer's Stone. Iron Man 2 really disappointed me, I still remember coming out of the theater and thinking about the things I had problems with (villains + Tony's daddy issues), more than what I enjoyed (Black Widow fight scene). The only times sequels are better than their predecessors is when the first thing is average, see Captain America: The First Avenger (it got better on re-watch but it's still 'okay' to me) and Terminator. Pretty much the only situation I can think of where I vastly preferred the sequel over the very good original, is Virtue's Last Reward - but that's because I cared about the characters and plot way more than I did in 999.
So, with all of that in mind, I went into Vol 2 trying not to have sky high expectations and just wanted to see another fun silly movie with weird, interesting characters. And I got pretty much what I wanted.
I've been sitting on my thoughts about this for a few weeks, because I changed my mind a few times on what worked and what didn't work for me in this sequel. I wasn't even going to write a post about it, but the more I think about this movie, the more I really, really like the ideas it explores. I like to think of these movies as a complete mixtape; each side has its own story, and strengths, and flaws.
The Good
+ Characters. It's very, very clear James Gunn cares about these characters, and I think he did the right thing in focusing on them, rather than introducing another MacGuffin. That simple plot worked very well for the first story, because it needed to be a simple story in order to ground all the weird whackiness around it. But this story is all about the characters, and it serves most of them very well. It juggles 8 FREAKING CHARACTERS and gives each of them an important scene, a vice, a virtue, and various relationships. I feel for each of these characters even more than I did in the first movie, because Gunn had a clear vision of how he wanted to present them. (For example, cynics can snark all they want about Baby Groot being kept a baby because of merchandise, but I sincerely believe Gunn when he said in an interview that he wrote Vol. 2 with adult Groot originally, but it felt like a retread while Baby Groot made his writing flow better. And it did. It's endearing to see how each of the Guardians interacts with Baby Groot, and I hadn't even realized Peter's or Drax's relationships with Baby Groot and how they changed throughout the movie, until Gunn pointed them out and I went back and rewatched.) Nearly each of the characters has an arc, they have a quality I can point to and go "They went through a change, and came out of the experience learning something." The only character I think who didn't have as clear of an arc as everyone else was Drax, but I don't think he needed one. Dave Bautista is amazing at delivering deadpan one-liners and adding levity to scenes to keep them fun. He also had a great burgeoning friendship with Mantis and supported her awesome moment, so I don't have a problem with him being relegated to comic relief/supporting role.
I also see the character writing as an improvement over the first one. Remember how, in the first movie, everyone suddenly starts saving each other for no reason other than "I saw something... heroic?" Groot saves Drax despite them having fought just 20 minutes ago, and Groot wants to save Peter and Gamora because... he likes them, suddenly? Peter snapped at him and Gamora chopped off his arms! Why did Rocket suddenly start listening to Groot and go save Peter and Gamora? Wait, why DID Gamora have a change of heart at the beginning? I know she said she couldn't watch Ronan destroy a planet, but where did that motivation come from? We didn't see it. There was a lot more tell than show in the first movie. Which was fine, the group's sudden bond had to be given a shorthand and I did buy it, but I buy it much more in the sequel, because this group has clearly spent months together and I buy that they get on each other's nerves, that they snap at each other and have tensions, but in the end, especially after Xandar, they know they're better together than apart. And I buy that they really do care about each other, they just have difficulty expressing their feelings. They proved their love for each other again in the sequel - which seems repetitive on paper, but I like how Gunn worded it: the first movie is about them becoming a family, and Vol. 2 is about them being a family. It's easy to fall in love, but it's much more challenging to stay in a relationship.
And each of the characters has something they're working through. Peter realizes who his real father was, Gamora realizes - as do we - that she was the bad sibling, Drax is content with his new family while missing his old one and connects with someone who reminds him of his daughter, Rocket realizes he pushes others away and that they won't leave him, Baby Groot fails at helping at first to end up saving THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, Mantis realizes how horrible her abuser was and uses her powers to control him and help the Guardians, Nebula forgives Gamora and realizes that it's Thanos who caused all of her grief, and Yondu realizes how he treated Peter, he owns up to his mistakes, and he does what a truly loving parent would do for their child. Secondary and tertiary characters also come to terms with their own internal conflicts, such as Kraglin and Stakar.
I'm going to be incredibly petty and compare this movie to Captain America: Civil War. If you asked me a month ago what I remember from the movie, what I liked about it, my answers would be "the airport fight is fun," "RDJ's acting was fantastic," and "Black Panther is awesome." That's literally it. I watched half of it again the other day and it is a goddamn slog. It's a bunch of punching, political theater, more punching, people looking at each other dourly, a lot of brooding, and everything is so grey, except for the airport scene. The airport scene is still my favorite part of that movie, but in the context of the rest of it, it feels really out of place. It's fun, but Civil War wasn't supposed to be fun. And the rest of it was supposed to be Civil War, it got the technical stuff down very well with the fighting and politics and 'what if this were real life?' exploration, but all that stuff bored me.
And yeah there was some character stuff - I thought it mostly went to Tony, but I think that's because, while Cap's argument makes more sense, Tony got the better writing, and RDJ pulled it off so well. And I'm still baffled that people hail it as the best MCU film. How? I barely cared about any of the characters except for Tony and Rhodey (Rhodey crashing to the ground and Tony comforting him was the most emotional I felt during the entire movie. I did like a couple Steve and Bucky shots, but.... I didn't think they had the same well-written dialogue, or spark, as they did in the previous films. Bucky and Sam had more chemistry to me.) The Steve/Sharon subplot was a mess, the only saving grace was the reaction shot of Bucky and Sam. I went from going 'wow I actually care about Steve and Peggy's relationship now' in Winter Soldier to going 'uh what? zzzz' during her funeral. I like Tom Holland after watching a couple interviews of him, he's a sweet kid, but I wasn't enamored with Spider-Man. My point in all of this is, I enjoyed watching Civil War in the moment, but the more I thought about it, the more problems I ended up having with it, and the more it underwhelmed me. Because of the characters and my disconnect to their motivations and 'arcs'. Why should I care about the characters who show up at the fight and randomly help out Steve or Tony (Ant-man was great but.... huh?) Why does Clint come out of retirement and leave his family to shoot a bunch of arrows at Iron Man? Why does a high school kid need to help web up Captain America? WHY DIDN'T VISION JUST TRAP EVERYONE AT THE AIRPORT AND PUT THEM IN TIME OUT? Why wasn't the third Captain America movie Up All Night to Get Bucky? Why wasn't Civil War the third Avengers movie?
Whyyyyy
And see, I'm getting worked up and irritated over freaking Civil War. That movie just bothers me so much. Age of Ultron had problems too, but it at least had motivations and character arcs I could understand (except for Bruce and Natasha's, I don't get that pairing). Civil War felt like two dudes getting all their action figures together and crashing them into each other. I do think the fights looked cool - the Russo Bros have a damn good team to choreograph fights - but after a while, the punching all ran together and desensitized me. The reason why Winter Soldier was so amazing is because of its focus on the characters, it balanced the emotions and fighting very well, while having a brilliantly written plot.
And that's the big difference between the Avengers and Guardians, for me. I like the Avengers, they're cool and they have good fight scenes. But I don't care about them the same way I care about the Guardians, and all their interpersonal relationships. And sure, I can completely understand why Vol. 2 would turn some people off, it's way more earnest, and sometimes earnestness can be a turn off while cool punching scenes look good and give you more visual stimulation than watching two characters sit around talking about their feelings. But I would happily watch a four-hour movie of the Guardians trading barbs, or crying about their personal issues, than watching Steve and Tony punch each other, or listening about the Accords, or accountability, or how NATO should zzzz oh, I fell asleep again.
This is where Guardians Vol. 2 excels at: feelings. It shows us it's okay to feel feelings, and hash out our shit with the people we love. It's okay to feel bitter about past transgressions, to fuck up in our relationships with others, so long as we realize it was wrong and we strive to make things better. It's okay to laugh at stupid shit, and above all, the movie shows us that it's okay to cry. Hell, it actively encourages that. It's a very cathartic film. The first punch comes at the initial climax of Peter using the memories of his friends to use the Light in his favor and keep the consuming blob at bay. Then the follow up emotional punch comes at the funeral, where the humor is lightly sprinkled throughout, and we're allowed to just be in the moment, to grieve, and to celebrate our lost loved ones. This movie, especially the third act, is just so delightfully iddy and gratifying, and I was very pleasantly surprised with it.
I've kind of lost track of my review format, so I'll just add on random things I loved:
+ Drax's deadpan one-liners: "I don't know why they're after us, what a mystery this is." "I too am extraordinarily humble." "If he's a planet, how could he have a baby with your mother? He would smush her!" "They're called harpulary batteries." (This joke grew on me a lot after my first watch. It's in his delivery.) "Yes, and so are you... On the inside." I'll say it again: Bautista knocked it out of the park
+ It's dumb and won't age well (and doesn't make sense in that Peter wouldn't know this meme), but I loooove the Starmunch/Trash Panda exchange. Just the way it's shot, with the beat afterward of "Is that bad?" "I don't know" and Chris Pratt making a very Chris Pratt face... I've rewatched that clip dozens of times. It's just one of those stoner skits that crack me up like "Dude!" "Sweet!" And I love Gamora's line of "A little one inch man saved us?" looking almost amused :D I can't wait for them to meet Ant-Man! Seriously, it's scenes like these that make me want to just.... watch them talk for hours
+ Peter and Rocket's rivalry in the beginning, to Peter's surprisingly serious 'come to Jesus' moment to Rocket (I mean, Peter was being an ass to Rocket as well, but it seemed to me like Peter did want to reconcile with him before leaving to Ego's planet), and then their subtle bonding moments throughout the climax and at the end. I really like how their relationship was handled; it's hilarious to see them butting heads, but I appreciate that it wasn't just about that, it had a deeper layer
+ Looove that Rocket kept playing Peter's music, hummed along to it, and insisted on playing it. He clearly likes Quill and I think Rocket wants validation from him (which he gets at the end of the movie), but Rocket hides behind his bristly demeanor, and the whole thing with the music was a great way of showing Rocket's affection
+ Gamora's sweet interaction with Baby Groot! How she said "Hi!" when he waved to her during their first battle and then wiped his tear away when she left. That scene of the team separating is one of my favorites, it's so subtle but builds up to that kickass Chain montage (which I wish was a little longer, Idk why Gunn cut a couple of the extra shots that were in the trailer). I really love the interplay between all the characters in that moment: Gamora telling Nebula that Rocket's not a fox (and Gamora said that again later! Showing how her opinion of him changed from the first movie when she called him 'rodent'), Gamora telling Rocket to shoot Nebula, Peter and Drax's exchange of "God, you're like an old woman!" "Because I'm wise?" And Gamora asking why Drax packed so much, and him saying "I don't want Groot playing with my things." It's just so natural, I love their little conversations with each other.
+ Ego was a MUCH better villain than Ronan. I like Lee Pace and I feel like he gave it his all in that role, it's not his fault, but Ronan was very 1-D and boring, aside from the climax. Kurt Russell was phenomenal in his role, he was charming up until the reveal, and then he was SO evil, but in a deliciously good way where I hated him and cheered on Peter shooting the shit out of him, but I also admired Russell's scenery chewing. He clearly had a blast on set, and he was so animated during the press junket, which was really nice to see. I also like the effects of him rebuilding his body, the 3D dioramas, and the 'stop-motion' like sequence of him collapsing in Peter's arms.
+ PETER HELD ONTO ALL OF HIS PARENTS AS THEY DIED AND HE SCREAMED NO FOR HIS REAL PARENTS fuck me up
+ Baby Groot was utilized very smartly, for the most part. The beginning dance, while not being as classic as Peter's dance in GotG, was incredibly fun and such a nice surprise during my first watch - I especially love Baby Groot's angry little face and pose during the title drop, then Rocket immediately flying to him and making him spit out a bug when he tried swallowing it. Also, I didn't notice until my second watch, but Baby Groot is in the background in a lot of scenes, he doesn't talk a lot, and there's just a generally good balance of his cuteness. Anyone else would've had him at the forefront in half the movie, saying "I am Groot" way more than he did, but I think his exposure was well done. The only time it got a bit too much for me was in the 'Groot fetches things' and 'set off the bomb' sequence, but that's because I saw the trailers a bunch of times. I still adore his little "yeah!" nod when Yondu asks if he wants to help, him silently putting the medallion on his head
(the 'hat' convo should've just been cut), and the medallion being tossed onto Taserface's bed amuses me. That moment felt very reminiscent ofl older movies where it's so obvious someone off-camera just threw the thing up there.
+ More beautiful graphics, with the lighting punched up to 200. Going back and watching GotG made me realize how dark a lot of scenes are, in comparison. I think the cinematography was overall better in the first one, because there were a lot more shots that felt more classic/iconic and were held on a lot more (for example, Knowhere's intro >>> Ego's intro), and I think GotG had more practical sets - but Vol. 2's electric eyecandy vibe helps set it apart from the first one, and it's one of the most visually stimulating and stunning MCU movies. The only ones that I think hit that same mark were Iron Man, parts of Thor, Doctor Strange, and of course, GotG.
+ I thought the arcade joke was fucking hilarious, it got one of my biggest laughs during my first viewing. And "You suck, Zarnak," or whatever his name was. Really captured that nostalgic vibe! And I like that we saw multiple women being gamers. That was a nice touch.
+ I didn't catch this until later, when, in an interview, Pratt pointed out the scene of Yondu standing at the window of the robot brothel, shirtless while the robot he had sex with shuts herself off. And he just stands there, looking at his crew, and Rooker does a great job conveying a sense of loneliness and regret in that shot. And even later, it was pointed out elsewhere that this scene came right after Ego said "I'm your dad, Peter." SUCH GOOD SCENE TRANSITIONING omg. The whole start of that scene was very reminiscent of the whole Knowhere tone; Contraxia captured that mixture of bizarre fascination with a streak of darkness, worldbulding, and adding characterization to it. I can't fully explain the feeling I get from it, but I get the same feeling from Don Bluth movies, especially All Dogs Go to Heaven, or The Secret of Nimh.
+ PETER AND GAMORA MY HEART
Drax thinks you’re not a dancer. IF YOU EVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, I WILL KILL YOU.
+ He's a scoundrel and a flirt, but apologizes to her about it! She checks him out and holds his hands, but looks away and pulls away from him, keeping herself at an emotional distance, and she has a reason to do so. He looks at her right away after Ego leaves the group in the woods (I appreciate that Peter was suspicious; he's not stupid), and her immediate response is, "Let's go take a walk." I get the feeling they've done that before, they go take walks to hash out a problem away from the others. They could have just sat there and talked in front of everyone else, but they go somewhere privately and have a heart-to-heart. Peter told her about his David Hasselhoff picture when he was drunk! Oh, that is so good. I don't even care that it was exposition, it's such a fun mental image to think of him blabbering about his life on Earth, drunk off his ass while Gamora enjoys listening to him, because he had a childhood, while she sadly didn't. And the way he looked at her on Ego's ship! So cute :D And when she helped him get up later and they bickered about her saying "I told you so," and carrying on the 'unspoken thing' line. Their last moment is where it all comes together for me: I'm fine with them hugging instead of kissing because it makes the anticipation of them finally getting together so much sweeter,, and it would have been very innappropriate for them to kiss during his dad's funeral. I'm all about the canon slow burn with them, and I love the 'unspoken thing' theme and how they looked at each other at the end. I love their Space Mom and Dad framing too, especially with Baby Groot. Super adorable :D
The one thing I was 'eh' on about them was when Peter pushed her to dance with him. I'd have preferred it if he'd extended his hand and she joined him, rather than him being like "no u dance with me" while tossing the comm link. The music in that scene is also, not as powerful as "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was, but what I do like about that scene is Peter nuzzling Gamora's hair I'm so weak how it transitions from fantasy romcom of them being outside, to them going inside and suddenly the tone changes, but it makes sense. They both call each other out on their shit, and their dialogue feels more real and like it gets to the root of them. Gamora changing her mind about Ego didn't make sense to me at first, but it did on rewatch. I think she did want Peter to connect with his dad, but as soon as Mantis started being weird, Gamora's guard came right back up and she started to realize this was too good to be true, but by then Peter had become swayed. So she tries to snap him out of it, but he's fixated on her not trusting him, much less anyone else. It's a really dynamic scene, and I like how the dialogue flows in it. Their verbal sparring hearkened back to their first fight when they met, and Gamora constantly moving around with Peter following her seemed like a different kind of dance, and Peter being a lovestruck puppy while Gamora is more like a cat.
In comparison, I've rewatched the Bruce/Natasha AoU bar and monster scenes a couple times in the past few days and they're just so... bland and awkward, and I still feel like the monster scene has that unfortunate implication of sterility = monstrous (I get what Joss was trying to do, but it wasn't framed well in the conversation.) And when I rewatched Civil War, I cringed again at the Steve/Sharon kiss. I like Sharon, and I don't think there was some MCU conspiracy to make Steve look straight, but it did look awkward when they kissed; Evans practically exudes resignation right before he kisses Sharon. Peter and Gamora's scene kind of strays toward that "oh here we go again" line during their dance, but Gunn gives it levity with the "Cheers" meta and Pratt's charm sells his obvious feelings, and then Gunn makes their relationship more interesting by shifting it into their friend/Guardian status and how it revolves around the plot, and each of their issues. It's also a short scene, so it doesn't drag. It's just one of those things that I think would have been handled in a pedestrian way by another writer: Gamora rejecting Peter's advances would make him upset solely about that and Gamora would walk away, and then the scene would shift to Rocket or Drax, or Ego would have walked in right away to talk to Peter, and we wouldn't see Gamora until she'd discover the cave of bones by herself
But the scene follows Gamora outside and holds on her fight with Nebula (btw, beautiful shot of Gamora sitting alone in the corner of the screen. This is one of the moments where the sequel did top the original. The color palette is stunning, while coming off as more aggressive and sharp with all the rocks and cliffs, as opposed to the bubbly Lisa Frank imagery we got before - I also think that Gamora slicing the reeds doubled as a funny moment of her showing how she deals with annoyance, AND how she feels about intimacy), and we realize that Gamora has a history of hurting people to survive - and I really appreciate that we follow Gamora into an action-heavy, angst-fueled battle ending on an emotional cap with her sister, then when we go back to Peter, he's lying around moping and listening to music, thinking about Gamora, and then Ego comes in to keep manipulating him. It's one of those things I didn't fully realize until I thought about it and saw other meta posts about it. Sure, people could be reaching, but I think Gunn does this stuff deliberately, and he did an excellent job with interconnecting themes, showing parallels, and doing things out of the box
+ It took me a couple of viewings to notice, but Zoe's performance improved from the first movie, and I feel like her abilities were better utilized in Vol. 2 than all three Star Trek movies combined. I love her Gamora, and I'm overall okay with her being the 'straight man' in the group - I even like that she's the Team Mom - but Zoe's delivery felt even more energetic, like she put more emotion into her lines and more range into her expressions than GotG. And it makes sense, narratively, for her to be more expressive. She doesn't have to be a cold-blodded killer anymore. And after reading my review for the first film, Gunn did make a marked improvement on writing her character. One of my biggest gripes with the first movie is how it glosses over Gamora and Nebula's backstory, and he did deliver on it here, which I appreciate. I think it could've been done a little better, but without flashbacks, idk how it could have been an A+ job. It's still an improvement, and I noticed that there wasn't any mentions of 'bitch,' 'whore,' etc. like in the first one. I'm glad Gunn took that criticism in mind and subtly incorporated that in the sequel
+ Really love Peter's reaction when Ego says to him "or the freedom you gave Gamora." It's very quick, but telling how Peter looks a bit uneasy at hearing that, like he's thinking "wait what did he say?" instead of agreeing with Ego like he agreed about 'Brandy,' and it's a subtle moment of foreshadowing Ego's villainy - like Ego's reaction to when Peter made the Light appear
+ "I'm gonna make some weird shit," with that patented Chris Pratt face xD I feel like there's stuff only he can pull off, like dancing in front of Ronan without making it cringey, and that line is one of them. It's one of my favorites in the movie, it never gets old. It's so relatable because anyone would be maniacally gleeful at getting to create anything. Very memeworthy!
+ That one bit of the Ravagers airlocking Yondu's supporters was extremely dark. I wasn't expecting it at all, and it still shocks me. But it was directed very well, and juxtaposed with the music and tone
+ Another interconnecting theme I didn't notice until a later watch was the motif of batteries. The Guardians protect them at the beginning, Rocket steals them, Peter gets turned into a battery, Yondu sold other 'batteries' to Ego, then he gave up his own life to save Peter, and Rocket says at the end "He didn't chase them away... even when he was always mean, and he stole batteries he didn't need." And Peter affirms that. Ugh it's so brilliant. I love that such a movie that seems so silly on the surface has so much depth. (And they needed a battery to escape the prison in GotG! I hope there's another battery in Vol. 3, it doesn't need to be a big thing, it can just be a mention and that'd be perfect)
+ Baby Groot puking. It's gross out humor, but that moment makes me at least chuckle every time I see it. It's the juxtaposition of his cute smile, and the timing of it - and I've seen a couple parents online confirm that yep, that's legit
+ Gamora's reaction to Ego saying his penis isn't half bad. omg I can't wait for the gif of that shot. I didn't notice it the first time, but her expression is amazing
+ One of my favorite scenes, not just in this movie, but in the entire MCU, is when Mantis feels Drax's grief. It is a perfect scene. It gets built up in that James Gunn way of being silly, then serious with Drax's inadvertent insults, but then he says the poignant line "When you're ugly, you know people love you for who you are. Beautiful people don't know who to trust." (Which kind of echoes Peter calling out Gamora for being a 'jerk who doesn't trust anyone," she stayed beautiful because she fought so harshly.) Then there's the one-two punch of "[My daughter] was just like you." "Disgusting? :D" "Innocent." And we get a quiet moment where Mantis feels the unspeakable pain of Drax's loss, and she's overwhelmed by it while Drax remains stoic, having buried his hurt. That moment is this movie's "We Are Groot" moment for me, I at least tear up every single time, and it's heartbreaking and beautifully done. And it kickstarts Mantis's realization to do the right thing, which comes back when Drax encourages her to make Ego sleep. SO GOOD ;___;
+ The 360 hero shot. Stunning visuals and combination with the instrumental track, and I especially love how it focuses on Peter and Gamora in the center as they look at each other, no words needed for their reunion (James Gunn ships them as much as I do and I love that). Then, of course, Mantis gets knocked out because this is Guardians, lol. Drax's "AHH MY NIPPLES" afterward was great
+ Love that, despite all of Drax's insults toward Mantis, he lifted her up while he was sinking into the sand
+ Gamora getting a gun and about to run back for Peter (she's ride or die <333) but then Rocket zaps her. I would be pissed about this, considering Gamora didn't contribute much to the final fight (if anything, she should have saved Nebula when they were falling), but I really really love this sequence because it shows that Gamora would do what Peter did for her in the first movie without hesitation, and there's development for Rocket. He was so gleeful about zapping Peter in GotG with his gun, but he took no pleasure in taking out Gamora to keep her from leaving. I really love his line of "I'm sorry, but I can only afford to lose one friend today." We're supposed to think he's referring to Peter, but he's talking about Yondu. And Drax's increasingly desperate pleas to Rocket about where Quill is, while Rocket watches the door close, just makes the scene perfect. The four main Guardians all interact with each other in that scene, I felt their pain and especially how Rocket knew he was making the hard, but right decision. I also appreciate Gamora tending to Mantis when Rocket and Baby Groot arrive. She was so averse to being touched, but I think she became more tapped into her emotions after Mantis felt her fear
+ I officially have A Thing about Chris Pratt's eyes changing color, thank you Gunn for sharing my id and mashing it multiple times in the third act. Peter's galaxy eyes, his faaace when he says "My friends :(", him immediately blowing holes into Ego right after Ego said the tumor line (I'm okay with Ego letting it slip out, he wouldn't care about how it sounds.) Peter crying multiple times, Peter being impaled with tentacles of light, Peter thinking about his family, the ones he truly loves before leaping out to punch Ego while "The Chain" plays... Gunn gets me, man. He really gets me. I was in absolute heaven during all those sequences, especially The Chain part. It's so ridiculously cheesy and it rips off of the Order of the Phoenix scene where Harry remembers his friends, but I don't care, it's fucking amazing, and gives me such a good feeling :D :D
+ Big ups for Chris here; I think this features the best acting I've ever seen him do. Well, I admittedly haven't watched much of what he's done aside from Guardians and Parks and Rec, but in the clips I've seen of Passengers, Jurassic World, and Magnificent 7, his range stands out the most to me in Vol. 2. Yes, Peter = Pratt like Tony = RDJ, but I think Chris's delivery felt more natural in Vol. 2 (the way he interacts with all the CGI comes off as MUCH more fluid and focused, and there are a bunch of lines he gives in GotG that feel rehearsed or like he's trying too hard to be funny, like his FU finger machine, his Kiln walking dialogue, when he convinces Drax not to kill Gamora, "Yeah, I'll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on that one," etc.) He's gotten so much better at reacting to stuff, when in GotG there are shots where he's kind of mildly curious, lol. I really bought his rage toward Ego, and his grief for Yondu at the end of Vol. 2. Peter just looks so wrecked in the whole funeral sequence, and I feel for him so much and really appreciate that maturation. Gunn said in his Facebook chat post-movie that he had to ask Chris to come back in and reshoot the eulogy, because it wasn't as emotional the first time he shot it, and I'm very glad he did that. Pratt stepped up his game in a big way, and I think he has the most charm and relatability with Gunn's direction
+ Yondu's death scene - worth the price of admission by itself. I paid to go see it a second time, mostly to watch that scene (the whole third act, really) on the big screen again. It could've gone wrong, but it went so perfectly, from "He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your Daddy," to the fade out. The instrumental music elevated it, just like it did in the "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy" scene from the first movie, and the look of it was so simple, that it's just empty space all around them with blue lighting and Peter desperately screaming as he holds onto Yondu. And then Yondu, as he dies, pats Peter's face reassuringly - it's such good acting and directing, everything comes together so well for that scene, and it's really powerful. I also like how the Guardians' instrumental theme is teased multiple times in GotG to lead up to 'Black Tears,' but in Vol. 2, the 'Dad' theme' is teased in that ball-throwing scene. Anyway, Yondu's death is, I think, the best in the MCU. I was sad about Quicksilver dying... but I had honestly forgotten about it. Like I had forgotten about Frigga's death. And Coulson's - except wait, he didn't die. And Fury didn't die. And Loki didn't die - twice. And no one important died in Civil War (I still think it should've been Steve, sacrificing himself to save Bucky at the end.) Yondu's death is so powerful because we haven't gotten one with that kind of weight before
+ (I had to say it again) THE END PETER/GAMORA HUG <3<3<3 SO FUCKING PERFECT. That is what I wanted to see. I do want them to get together, and they are my OTP of the entire MCU (especially now that Thor/Jane is dead ;__;) - but their development in this movie will make it mean more if they do get together, or are official, later
+ Just the entire last 10 minutes, with Peter's eulogy (THAT'S the perfect balance of humor and heart that felt very reminiscent of the first movie), Gamora's hand on his shoulder, then his inspiring line goading her to make amends with Nebula - I did tear up a couple times during their hug, it was such a good touch having Nebula raise her fist like she was expecting Gamora to fight her, then looking skittish because she's never been hugged before, to accepting it), the Zune joke!!, Baby Groot climbing onto Peter's lap and Peter sharing his music, the beautiful fireworks and lineup of Ravagers/OG Guardians, Rocket's realization, the HUG, Baby Groot hopping from parent to parent and ending up sleeping on Drax's shoulder, the song... it was incredibly well done, and it ended the movie on a high note.
+ The credits are so much fun! I think they really match the feel of the movie, and I adore the disco version of the Guardians' theme (I really, really love their theme, it's my favorite in the MCU and I feel like it's the most memorable. Would love to hear it during their intro in Infinity War, and then get mixed with the Avengers' theme during their epic fight in Avengers 4). Omg I can't believe they got David Hasselhoff! That was such a great surprise, I've seen people say they hate that cameo but I loved it. I really want to see Kevin Bacon in Vol. 3!)
So, all in all, did Vol. 2 blow me away like the first one did? It had moments that did, but overall, it didn't consistently land like the first movie did. But I didn't think that it would. Gotg was a one-of-a-kind experience. GotG was a space opera with some comedy, Vol. 2 was a modern-day family sitcom in space. I like that they each told different stories, and I like that Gunn didn't do some paint-by-numbers story of the Guardians fighting the Sovereign for 2+ hours while making quips, or the group having a big fight and splitting up individually. Well, I might have liked that idea if only to see the others' pasts, except we got a 'entire group splits up' story in Civil War, so that would've felt repetitive in Vol. 2.
The Not So Good
The only thing that I think dragged Vol. 2 down was the, well, sheer volume of jokes. There were a lot more laugh-out-loud jokes during my first viewing, but some of them didn't age well and went on for too long ('it's not ripe," the tape scene, Taserface, Rocket messing around with the Ravagers. I laughed at first at the Looney Tunes 'jump' scene, but during rewatch it comes off as more disturbing than funny)
The Yaka arrow + Come A Little Bit Closer scene was very well done, probably some of the best directorial work Gunn has done, but I'm not as impressed with it as a bunch of other people are. I would've probably been more into it if I hadn't seen a very similar scene with a very similar song in The Belko Experiment. So, the arrow massacre felt like a bit of a retread. And I do like parts of Rocket and Yondu's storyline, technically I think it works, but those scenes are kind of like Ronan's scenes in GotG, I just don't feel the urge to rewatch them
The pacing was also much tighter in the first movie. GotG feels so timeless and classic, while Vol. 2 feels more like it could be dated in a few years. So the only way I think James could have tightened up the sequel and made it go from B quality to A, like the first one, would be to lift a lot of jokes
For comparison's sake: 'I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!' - Perfect. That whole exchange was quick, it didn't feel forced, it was heartwarming, it did have a pop culture mention but it worked so well with the triumphant mood, building up Yondu's character to get us to like him so his death is felt a lot more, and showing us his camaraderie with Peter. But the Taserface running joke, "Maybe get a nice hat," "Groot bringing things," "push this button," and "tape" bits felt played out by my second viewing. That final 10 minutes with the funeral? Perfect. It hearkened back to the feel of GotG while being fresh and new. The characters had learned things, went through changes, and the reason why it worked so well and was so poignant? Because the humor was dialed way back down and was much more subtle. Peter's eulogy was very sincere in how raw and sort of... stream of consciousness it was, with the light touch of the David Hasselhoff mention and "fought robots." The Zune joke wasn't harped on for two minutes, it was merely presented and just fits the tone of the movies so well in how out of left field it is, while having an emotional connection with Yondu, subverting product placement, and giving us an extra kick of seeing Peter's awe at 300 songs (such advanced technology!) and it feels like it's for that small group of people who know about Zune, but it's quick so if people don't know it, they'll at least know it has tons of new songs. And lastly, there's Drax's last line of "And so are you... on the inside." No booming Drax laugh, just a very well-timed joke with Bautista's flawless delivery. This whole sequence is where the writing, acting, directing, and cinematography truly shines. It had a simple, bittersweet scene with the eulogy, but I felt the characters' emotions as it pans to each of them watching Peter. I felt the gravitas of the fireworks, and felt like a kid again, like I did during the first movie
So I really, really hope Gunn takes note of reactions to those scenes, and Mantis and Drax's scene, and incorporates those kind of moments, that perfect balance of downplayed humor + characterization + powerful music choice + soberness. I want him to take what worked in the first movie (worldbuilding, dry humor, bombastic songs, practical effects) and in the second movie (character development, genuine relationship development, brighter color palettes, actors' improved talents) and combine them into Vol. 3. I'm glad Gunn's going to have more time to work on Vol. 3 while the Avengers movies are filming; hopefully that time will help him revert back to the dry, subtle humor rather than doubling down on juvenile/gross-out/OTT humor with Drax as a laugh track. I think that really is the core issue of Vol. 2, and if he can do that while writing a streamlined 3-act script while focusing on character development and interaction, then Vol. 3 will be as well-received as Vol. 1.
This isn't to say I hate Vol. 2, or think it sucks. I get just as defensive of it as I did with the first Guardians and it got a bit of backlash. While I think GotG is the better movie, I look back at everything I wrote about Vol. 2 and there's 10x more content for me to talk about. GotG is a classic, but Vol. 2 makes me think a lot more - ironically, considering it feels sillier and more scattered. I even like seeing that some people prefer Vol. 2 over GotG, because it shows that people have different types of humor and story preferences, and what they respond to, and it shows how different both movies are, even though they share similarities. I would've been disappointed if this was "the gang shoots a planet for 1 hour," like I've seen a reviewer suggest it should've done. I would've been extremely disappointed if it was just them facing off against the Sovereign for 2 hours while quipping constantly and not having any character arcs. Both movies have strengths and flaws, and I love them both for different reasons.
Really quick, I wanted to talk about my hopes and concerns about the next couple installments:
I'm very pleased that the Guardians will be in Infinity War, and what I assume will be Infinity Gauntlet (aka Avengers 4). James is a producer, and the Guardians will only be in a scene or two (I get the feeling Peter will be in more scenes, which makes sense), so what I'm hoping for is a fun scene that is reminiscent of the airport scene in Civil War, but that it's not too slapstick or makes the Guardians look completely incompetent or cartoonish. I want it to be the scene where the audience comes away talking about a lot, like the airport scene in Civil War, hopefully not souring people on them - basically, I want for the Guardians to steal the scene, and for more people to like them. But if people think they're too OTT or annoying or whatever, we could chalk it up to the writing team not knowing how to nail that tone, or on the Russo Brothers, rather than James. But James said he was always on set with the Guardians, and I'm sure if he had an issue with the writing or how they were portrayed, he'd be the first to speak up. They're his bbs, he wouldn't let others mess with them. And the cast (at least the ladies) trusts that it will be good, so I'm really crossing my fingers in hopes that the Guardians scene will be well received and considered one of the best moments in the movie. Despite popular opinion that Vol. 2 wasn't as good as GotG, people still seem to really like these guys, so I'm hoping there's no major backlash. I'll be fine with the Guardians being introduced in Infinity War, but I REALLY want to see them kick ass in Gauntlet (or whatever it'll be called.)
As for Peter/Gamora, I'm a little anxious to see how that will be dealt with in IW/IG. I want the writers and directors to make them like Steve and Natasha were in Winter Soldier, rather than how Steve/Sharon was in Civil War. But we'll get caught up with the Guardians since they'll have been together for 4 years, so there's 4 ways P/G could be handled:
1) They're dating and it's obvious - could probably get some laughs from the Avengers' reactions to them kissing/holding hands/flirting, or from the other Guardians mocking them
2) They dated but broke up - could get some laughs from them bickering and a line like "This is why we/you two broke up" and then Peter hits on Natasha and Wanda
3) They haven't officially gotten together but are still teased - could get a bit of sexual tension/bickering and other Guardians mocking them, or Tony asking "Sooo are you two a thing?" and Peter's like "I dunno"
4) It's not addressed at all
Please Dear God, NO to 2. That is the absolute last thing I want. I'd be ok with 1, but I kinda want their first kiss to be in Vol. 3, it would make more sense and there's already going to be a canon main pairing in IW, with Vision/Wanda (bleghh), and (ETA) I saw a quote by ScarJo that hints to a Bruce/Nat breakup (which, thank goodness), and Natasha might get close to Bucky (noooo). Either way, I don't want the movie to get bogged down by romance, but if it has to, it makes sense for the main romance to be about the pairing that will likely get the most angst because of Thanos. Even though I NOTP Wanda/Vision (I don't see ANY chemistry whatsoever and their scenes in Civil War creeped me out), I get its importance, and who knows, maybe the writers and Russo Brothers will finally make it somewhat tolerable - especially when Vision gets his gem yanked out and Wanda hopefully goes into full on wrath mode, I'd like to see her given a focus. If there's more Starmora ship teasing but they're not officially dating, I'd be okay with that, but it'd be kind of weird to me, character-wise, if Peter and Gamora hadn't officially gotten together in FOUR YEARS. It would be okay to me, but just... weird if they hadn't even kissed, at all, in that amount of time. So, I would like for Option 4 to happen. The focus would be on the Guardians as a group, and I would LOVE for Peter and Gamora to have a couple moments, like she's being protective of him, or if he goes off to talk with the Avengers she says "Be careful" and they share a Look which is commented on by someone, and that's it. And then in IW I would die of happiness if they fight against enemies back to back, or share a moment, or a hug, or something if they have to separate.
One thing I've started to worry about is Gamora dying in IG. I don't think any Guardians has danger of biting the dust in IW unless Thanos snaps his finger and kills everyone, but since there will be a Vol. 3 following that aftermath, obviously they're not gonna stay dead. But I'm really worried due to the assertion that Gunn can't really write Vol. 3 until IW/IG are finished, because those movies will affect the Guardians. That, plus Gunn's comments on the team getting a shake-up in Vol. 3, plus him saying Vol. 3 will be the last iteration of this team, makes me a bit worried. I should trust him, but I get the feeling that Marvel might want to raise its stakes and kill a Guardian for maximum impact.
I'm not at all worried about any of the other four, or Mantis, because there'd be no point to killing her. It would be incredibly fucking stupid to kill Rocket, Groot, or Peter for good. I could see Drax dying in IG while going after Thanos, but he's a fan fave, so I think he's safe. That leaves Gamora, who's the least popular Guardian. It sucks because she's my fave along with Peter, but it's true. Not many fans would really miss her, plus I think Zoe's going to get really busy with Avatar 2. I'm hoping that Gunn has talked Feige into sparing the core 5 Guardians, because even though the group has Mantis now, I think it would be a huge bummer if they killed Gamora off for Peter's manpain. He already has enough, let the dude rest. I would absolutely love it if the IW/IG writers and directors instead give Gamora cool fight scenes (I can see Zoe rocking the shit out of an awesome fight scene, especially with the Russo Brothers' talent for filming combat), and a couple of funny lines, like going "It's Kevin Bacon!" in awe when she sees Captain America and Peter says "No, that's not him" (I also pettily want a scene where Tony tries hitting on her, Peter says "Bad idea," and Tony goes "Why, is she your girlfriend?" and Gamora flips him over or something and he goes "Ow," like in the comic.) I think that would make her a lot more likable to the audience. But if they do that, they might build up her character arc to kill her off, and then Vol. 3 introduces a new female character to the roster, wich aughh, would be so frustrating to me.
So, while I'd be sad to see Nebula go, I think she would make the most sense as a Guardian death in IG. She kills Thanos in the comics, and her arc's been built up on her going after Thanos, so I would love to see her pretending to cozy up to Thanos, then donning the Gauntlet and killing him, maybe aided with Drax (and, probably, Tony and Steve. But I want her and Wanda to be the focus, if possible.) I want a powerful, emotional scene of her dying in Gamora's arms, I think it would be a great send off while affirming less character bloat in Vol. 3 (so it can focus on Adam + the 6 Guardians), and it would give Gamora some much-needed time to shine in the spotlight, as well as giving her an arc in Vol. 3 (her grief leading to her acceptance, letting Peter be her emotional support, seeing how the other react to her stages of grief.) Ugh, I just want the best for my bbs, especially Gamora.
Vol. 3 wishes: I want the Guardians to share the whole movie together, not get split up. More world hopping and universe building. More subtle, spaced out banter than long gags and juvenile/gross-out humor. More bombastic, exciting songs - a couple can be slow, and some of Vol. 2's tracks grew on me (Lake Shore Drive is a current fave), but I want Vol. 3's soundtrack to be as iconic as the first one. Focus on Rocket and Gamora, and give Drax kickass combat scenes. I want a scene in either Avengers movies or Vol. 3 of Groot getting REALLY huge and protecting all the Guardians by shielding them, or becoming a bridge for them. Give Gamora funny lines and awesome fight scenes. Let Pratt do some more improv; he's amazing at that. Please please make Gamora/Peter a well-written couple with a satisfying conclusion, if they're just friends, DON'T give either of them another love interest. Make Adam a villain-turned-hero, I think that would be perfect. I don't know if I even want a villain in Vol. 3, aside from maybe Ayesha in the beginning, but I'd be cool with Adam doing something to threaten the Galaxy, but the Guardians stop him and he becomes a hero. (ETA: I've been thinking about a plot for Vol. 3 after watching Doctor Strange, and I think it would be kinda neat if it explored different dimensions like in DS - like, Adam starts opening portals or something and the Guardians have to close them, maybe going into one to save the galaxy and sacrificing themselves, but ending up in a different timeline. It would be very comicbooky and it would have that mixture of bigass space event + big damn hero moment for Guardians + emotional moment if they think they might die + incentive for Adam to start his own Guardian team in the timeline proper.) I don't think there should be an opening credits dance scene. I think it should open with a sad or serious scene with the Guardians on a more serious mission, or they're still reeling from the aftermath of dealing with Thanos - especially if Nebula dies. My dream ending would be 'September' by Earth, Wind and Fire playing over Peter and Gamora's wedding, or end credits dance party *___* Oh, and lastly, I noticed that Gamora and Peter gave the last lines in GotG, Mantis and Drax gave the last lines in Vol. 2, so I want Rocket and Groot to give the last lines in Vol. 3, specifically Groot giving the last line of the trilogy, so we can interpret it however we want. That'd be pretty cool.
Okay, I'm done with this novel lol. I really do love Vol. 2 and am really looking forward to seeing more Guardians. Can't get enough of these guys :D
Oh, and just because, I've decided to update my MCU ranking:
Best MCU movies:
Iron Man
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Iron Man 3
Doctor Strange
Captain America: Civil War
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Ant-Man
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man 2
Thor: The Dark World
The Incredible Hulk
Favorite MCU movies:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Iron Man
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man 3
The Avengers
Thor
Ant-Man
Thor: The Dark World
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: The First Avenger
Doctor Strange
Captain America: Civil War
Iron Man 2
The Incredible Hulk
I might do an MCU marathon before Infinity War to revisit my list!