Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 ***½ (2017, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Kurt Russell, Michael Rooker) – Movie Review

Vol 2 is bright, lively and super-slick, with astounding visuals in a marvellous production, and set to the toe-tapping soundtrack backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2’. It is an ultra smooth ride, with non-stop laughs and action, and without a rough edge in sight.

That is all stupendous but, perhaps inevitably, it is not quite as fresh and funny as Vol 1, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014),  The central scenario of Kurt Russell as Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)’s dad is a bit of a plod. And they end the film with the total downer of killing off one of the best characters, played by one of the best actors.

Pratt is his usual charming, appealing, amusing self, but unfortunately he does not quite dominate the film this time. Baby Groot and Rocket kind of do – and there’s just a wee bit too little of him and too much of them. Baby Groot gets the dancing start of the movie like Pratt did last time, so it starts as it means to go on. Pom Klementieff’s Mantis is a nice, weird dark creature, and so is Karen Gillan’s Nebula, providing some balance in a series that has started to get a bit too cute.

Writer-director James Gunn wanted more female presence this time, and that is what he has got. The sibling rivalry between Nebula and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) goes pretty well, though Saldana is coming over a bit too chilly and unsympathetic, especially in her dealings with Quill. Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha, the golden High Priestess and the leader of the Sovereign people, is a good creation. We look forward to new developments.

Dave Bautista’s Drax is still fun, and having fun with Pom Klementieff’s Mantis. Sylvester Stallone has nothing to do – yet – as Stakar Ogord, the high-ranking Ravager. James Gunn’s brother Sean plays Kraglin, but does not get far with the role, and one or two of the lesser characters are borderline irritating this time, eg Taserface (Chris Sullivan), leader of the mutinous Ravagers.

There is a very strong emphasis on character and the characters, and Gunn has done well to concentrate on this. Along with the production, it is the movie’s biggest strength. It keeps a jokey, campy comic book space saga seeming ‘real’ and ‘grounded’, exactly what is needed.

It is pretty essential to stay through the entire end credits, though it is no hardship as they have made them amusing.

James Gunn was fired by Disney/ Marvel from the Guardians of the Galaxy series in August 2918 after 10 year-old tweets surfaced in which he made jokes about rape and paedophilia.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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