Movie Review: Loses the Charm, Gets Dragging and Ends Up Alright!- Guardians of the Galaxy- Vol. 2

***Spoiler Alert!***
Guardians of the Galaxy was the smash hit of 2014. The movie had surprised audience and critics alike with some mesmerizing music, great action, stunning visuals and above all, an extraordinarily funny script. After Groot sacrifices himself for his new-found family, Guardians of the Galaxy- Vol. 2 (Hereafter GotG2) benefited having Baby Groot (yup, he's damn cute!) on it's roster. With widely famous Awesome Mix Vol 1, audience wanted more of those wonderful soundtracks in the background while their favorite outcast anti-heroes kicked some ass. The trailers and TV spots increased the hype with some genuinely funny scenes and some great visuals. Also, we all wanted more Baby Groot and waited for the movie to come out.
http://static.srcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol-2-wallpaper.jpg
The movie starts off with our guardians fighting off an inter-galactic threat with tentacles that feeds on batteries. Batteries that are sacred for Sovereigns, a highly sensitive, highly intelligent race. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) steals the batteries and Sovereigns are behind them for revenge when Ego (Kurt Russell) saves the guardians. Ego then reveals to the guardians that he is in fact the father of Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) and he is a Celestial, a living planet (too much information for Quill!). His planet is seemingly perfect and things are going quite well when Gamora (Zoe Saldana) suspects of some foul play. There breaks out a riot against Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his leadership among the ravagers which proves costly for Yondu. Meanwhile, Nebula (Karen Gillan) is on hunt to kill her sister, Gamora because, well, sister issues! Sovereigns are still behind the guardians and on the other hand, Ego poses a new threat to the Galaxy. What is the story of Ego? What made him find his son after all these years and how the guardians saved the galaxy yet again makes the rest of the story.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FAciZRkOKQs/maxresdefault.jpg
Marvel repeats the same mistake it did with Avengers: AoU with GotG2. Too many back stories. Instead of being the fun, whacky tale of outcasts, GotG2 heads down the path of being a tedious continuation of long chats. While the whole movie is a backstory to Peter Quill and his origins, we have a backstory for Mantis, one for Yondu, one for Nebula and one about the relationship between Gamora and Nebula, all explained in a lengthy, tedious conversations. They sure serve a purpose of audience connecting better with the characters but drag the movie. A lot. The music was the bomb in the first part. This outing's music is, well, meh! It sure is good but not a single track gets you "hooked" (pun intended!). The script seems like they are trying a little too much to evoke laughs. Though lot of scenes are hilarious, others just stick out instead of being subtle. The concept of Celestial has been handled good. Even though there is a little too much CGI, none of it looks out of place or dull. Yondu turns out to be one of the very interesting characters in the universe. Visuals are stunning, especially when Yondu gains advantage over his betrayers and when Sovereigns attack Guardians. Those quirky dialogues that worked very well with the first part are absent in this outing which makes it disappointing. Though we all swoon over Baby Groot, he's limited to the least of screen-time among all the guardians. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan and Kurt Russell all put up good performances. Sylvester Stallone's role is forgettable.
http://static.srcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Guardians-Galaxy-2-Rocket-Raccoon-Baby-Groot.jpg
Highlights:

  • Visuals
  • Lead Performances
  • Baby Groot
Drawbacks:
  • Uneven Pace. 
  • Dragging Conversations
The important reason behind the first part's success apart from the less expectations is the guardians not taking themselves too seriously. They're a band of criminals. They do as they wish, like when Rocket steals the batteries. They're suddenly given a code to adhere to and it seems like everybody are bullying Rocket for not being serious on it. The lightheartedness is suddenly thrown out the window and it is not a good sign. The script then desperately tries to put some funny parts in there. Definitely loses the charm. The first outing had a lot of re-watchable potential. GotG2, not so much.

Verdict: Falls somewhere between Xandar and Nowhere on a scale of Ego-Xandar-Nowhere. (Watch Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)!) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: An Improvement from "The Beginning", Yet Far from Greatness.- Baahubali 2- The Conclusion

Image
***Spoiler Alert!*** You'd be very well aware that I was quite disappointed with Baahubali- The Beginning if you've been following me. Though the movie had reached heights in case of VFX, the only department to credit is that of Cinematography and nothing else. Good Visuals doesn't necessarily make a good movie . As The Beginning ended on a note of ambiguity, audience of the movie craved for closure. This meant that the sequel already bagged all of it's audience from the first movie. With enough hype surrounding the movie, the producers didn't compromise on the quality of making it as it seemed as a safe bet. The first look and trailer, even with it's weird soundtrack, added to the hype. The movie is out and is making tons of money. However, a movie that makes a lot of money in India doesn't necessarily be a great movie. The movie starts off with a visual recap of important sequences from the first part, during the titles. The visuals are impressive d
Read more

Appreciation Post- Why Arjun Reddy is a Modern Classic!

Image
In the wake of Kabir Singh (Hindi) and Adithya Varma (Tamil), the most controversial of it's time, the original, Arjun Reddy (Telugu) is once again in the news. It's been over two years since Arjun Reddy hit the theatres and is still one of the most talked about in the film fraternity. While some are of the opinion that it's just another movie with glorification of drugs and alcohol and mistaking obsession with love, others are of the opinion that Arjun Reddy is one of those rare movies that reinvent filmmaking. Kabir Singh and Adithya Varma may or may not meet the expectations but Arjun Reddy will be remembered for generations to come. Before we dig deep, one important thing to be remembered is that Arjun Reddy is not a story of a perfect protagonist. It's the story of a person who is transforming. The essence of the movie lies in the raw feel it carries. Arjun Reddy is as close to reality so far from it. He has the same issues as every other college going kid an
Read more

Movie Review: Better Stay at Home and Stare into Nothingness!- Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Image
***Spoiler Alert!*** Thanks to my sisters, I had to watch this movie which I wouldn't have otherwise! The best thing about this movie? The whole controversy stirred couple of weeks before it's release. Yup, that was much more entertaining! Though I didn't have much hopes from Karan Johar, I've always been an admirer of Ranbir Kapoor's acting, especially when he cries and looking at sensible subjects he usually chooses  (barring a few like Besharam, Roy e.t.c.) , I was tricked into believing there'll be something new in the movie. Oh boy, was I wrong! The movie starts off with Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) being interviewed after he has become a successful singer. One of the questions from the interviewer makes him start his life story with Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) and Saba (Aishwarya Rai). Ayan has these obsessive feelings (ooh! creepy!!) towards Alizeh, a weak character who is obsessed (creepy part 2!!) with Ali (Fawad Khan). As Alizeh carries off to marry Ali af
Read more