LogFAQs > #974233178

So last week I said we were finally watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I went to the bathroom and then the girlfriend said naaaah let's watch a show instead.

BUT WE WATCHED IT TODAY!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Release Date: May 5, 2017
Stand-Out Character: Yondu Udonta (played by Michael Rooker)
Best Scene: Yondu's Funeral

Back to it with an excellent sequel to the Guardians of the Galaxy, and I don't think it's quite as good as the first movie, but it's completely excellent. It has everything you want from the movie. Tons of heart. Great humor. Awesome action. It does everything extremely well. I have minimal complaints.

So I guess I'll get those complaints out of the way. Some of the CGI looks... not great? The skeleton of the human-form Ego is one thing that just looks dated, along with a couple other things that jumped out at me. It's very rare, but it did feel a little out of place when it wasn't excellent CGI.

And I think this movie is a little slower, and it doesn't have as many cool set pieces as the original had. It also doesn't feel nearly as high stakes. Then some characters get a lot, and then some... well, don't. Let's talk about those that don't get a lot.

Drax, played by Dave Bautista, is a complete non-factor in this movie, and it's a shame. He does nothing, barely fights, gets some good moments of great character work, but he's just not in the mix at all, which is a shame because he was the stand-out character in the first movie. He's hilarious when he gets time though, but it's just minimal compared to the others.

Baby Groot, played by Vin Diesel, is also just there for comedy and nothing else. I mean, I guess I get it, but it really doesn't feel like he's involved, and there's no real big moments. He's a mascot in this film, essentially.

And then Ayesha, played by Elizabeth Debicki, is kind of not a huge thing. She has a couple good gags, but she's otherwise not too interesting. So it's not horrible for a secondary villain though. I think Debicki does a good job with conveying her, and I feel that more in the end credits scene more than anything else.

I also feel like Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, is pretty underutilized as well. She is positively hilarious, and she becomes my favorite member of the Guardians, but oddly enough it's in every appearance after this one that I think she really gets better. Here, she's pretty muted. She gets some funny and good scenes, but she's otherwise not particularly useful or interesting? She tries to offer Drax some more character as a foil but it's really just not as good.

Anyway, all of the awesome characters.

Kurt Russell positively kills it as Ego. Just completely excellent, start to finish, as this friendly father type that you can really feel comfortable with. And then when you hear his plan, he does it in such an off-putting and positive way. He really seems like an egomaniacal psycho there, and I love the way his big evil monologue go. Peppering in the comment about giving the tumor to Peter's mom, and then casually trying to explain it away, and then his final moments begging Peter to help stop the bomb are all just outstanding acting. Ego is the easy runner-up for the Stand-Out Character for me.

But that brings us to Star-Lord aka Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt. I kind of find him annoying sometimes in this movie, and he's not nearly as entertaining in this one. Like he comes across as a little dumb to a fault, and less crafty than I am used to. A re-watch does kind of make more sense of his Infinity War moment though. I think Pratt does a great job here going through all the emotions, and when he gets serious he just does great. Pratt needs more appreciation for his acting in this film because it is just aces.

I do think they don't do enough in this story with the love between Peter and Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana. It feels like such a nothing thing aside from like one scene. That's my only real complaint about Gamora in this movie, because I do find the story between Gamora and Nebula more valuable. But when we're in Infinity War, I do feel like they could've done more to build up their relationship. But her story with Nebula? Great. You see her in this movie being a lot more thoughtful and kind, and it's done in just little actions for the most part. Nothing that screams in your face about it, but it's really just small stuff like being kind to Baby Groot, or the way she speaks to Rocket or Drax. And her talking to Nebula and showing more humanity. These things are great, but she also kind of does not a lot of fighting in this movie. I forget if she even does anything in the final fight in Ego's core if I'm being honest.

Nebula, by Karen Gillen, is a stand-out too though with her portrayal of Nebula. She's funny, but in a deadpan way. All of her action scenes are outstanding. And her emotional scenes with Gamora have all of the awkwardness of someone who has never actually had to express emotions. Her going "I win" after her fight with Gamora is great, and it's done so well. Just a subtle way to show how meaningful that stupid fight was for her to win, and how extra it was. All she wanted to do was win, and every interaction stems from that with Gamora and is done so damn well.

Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, really kills it in this movie. His development is basic, but it's effective. They give him a ton to do in terms of fighting, comedy, everything. He's a little asshole, but he learns to be less of a little asshole with his connection with Yondu, who wants to just help him. He takes it all to heart though, and we do feel like he went on an emotional journey through this thing.

Sean Gunn plays Kraglin, who I think is underappreciated in this movie. He has an emotional throughline that we can all follow. Kraglin is a well-meaning member of Yondu's crew, and he inadvertantly helps stoke the mutiny by simply disagreeing. But he just has heartbreaking lines he delivers to perfection like "...They killed my friends" and helping Yondu escape. He never meant for any of this to happen, but it did. He knows he screwed up. And he's a valuable member commanding the ship.