"A Cornucopia of Lights and Explosions"
A Review of "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2" by Nathan H. Box
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista Director: James Gunn, Writer: James Gunn, Dan Abnett (Based on the Marvel Comic Book)
Rating: 3 Stars, STREAM!
As is now tradition, like clockwork, every summer your local cineplex fills with grown men and women wearing capes, masks, and makeup. Rows and rows of seats are occupied by people hungry for adapted content much of which is remembered from their childhoods. Their never-ending desire for more coupled with Hollywood's new proclivity toward making money only means original content meant for the screen is never seen or never given a chance. Instead, filmmakers are patted on the back for shooting movies like the original "Guardians of the Galaxy." It is a sad day when doing movies about characters barely any of us know, born into a universe of comic books known the world over, and staring/voiced by major actors is seen as a risk. I digress though. This is supposed to be a review not one man's issues with the summer blockbuster.
Perhaps, I came across the original film too late. In fact, I watched the original "Guardians of the Galaxy" the night before seeing the sequel. Like a book, everyone has read, talked to death, and recommended over and over again, my expectations for the original were high. I walked away believing it to be an average film about slightly above average people tasked with saving the total mass of the known galaxy. The story felt mediocre and predictable. For me, volume two of this story is far better. Maybe I am just a sucker for an origin story. Maybe I was excited to learn where Star-Lord got his beginning. Maybe I was distracted by the cornucopia of lights and explosions. Whatever it was, I felt the narrative of this story was far superior and did more to advance the story forward.
Of course, I wrote the last sentence in the context of the Marvel Universe and where it is heading. Next summer, we will be treated to "The Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1. It has taken us 12 films to reach this point, but of course, you wouldn't know that unless you stayed around to watch the end credits and their cut scenes. At this point, the Marvel Universe has become so convoluted that the sequel to "Guardians of the Galaxy" needed 5 cut scenes. For someone who isn't an intense fan, this is entirely too much information. This forces the filmmakers to create films that are incredibly broad and never fully give us all the information we need. It also makes the plot hard to follow and spread too thinly. I, for one, can't wait for this period in cinema to be over. I am ready for movies meant for the screen to return to my local theater.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan