'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' lives up to what made the original movie so fun
Disney
The franchise starring the now-genuine movie star Chris Pratt as Peter "Star-Lord" Quill - and featuring the likes of Bradley Cooper as the perturbed raccoon Rocket, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Vin Diesel as Groot - is arguably the greatest payoff yet for Marvel.
After the first movie did better than anyone expected in 2014, the sequel, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (opening Friday), keeps the mix of a sarcastic tone and an excellent soundtrack that helped the original earn over $770 million worldwide while adding some new elements that elevate the franchise.
Major kudos must go to writer-director James Gunn, who in an era when tentpole movies (especially superhero ones) have to be everything to everyone has been able to harness an atmosphere in the "Galaxy" movies that would soften even the most snobbish anti-Hollywood moviegoer.
Though "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (opening Friday) has great action and a story that will keep you from drifting off until the next exciting fight sequence, the chemistry of the cast is what really makes it move. There are new additions to the Guardians this time around: Nebula (Karen Gillan), the sister of Gamora; Elizabeth Debicki as the evil Ayesha; and Kurt Russell as Peter's father, Ego.
Disney
Meanwhile, after the Guardians stole from Ayesha, she hires space pirate Yondu (Michael Rooker), who you may or may not remember from the first movie was the one who raised Peter, to track down the Guardians and reclaim Ayesha's property.
The movie isn't short on subplots. There's Gamora and Nebula working out their differences, Drax's hilarious sexual tension with Ego's telepathic sidekick Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Baby Groot doing adorable Baby Groot things. The ending is wrapped up nicely, highlighted by Rooker's Yondu, who shines.
I'll leave it up to the super-fans to determine if this is better than the original "Guardians" movie or not (honestly, I think both are equally fun), but what can't be argued is that under Gunn's watchful eye, this franchise is becoming a unique piece of counterprogramming from Marvel Studios. It sets itself apart from the Captain America and Iron Man movies with its colorful language and its insistence on not taking itself too seriously, which goes a long way.
Sometimes it really pays off to be the oddball in the group.
- CEO says he tried to hire an AI researcher from Meta, and was told to 'come back to me when you have 10,000 H100 GPUs'
- We bought a house in Japan for $30,000. We'll have more land than we could afford in the US, and our kids will be more independent.
- Rumors Prince William is having an affair with Rose Hanbury are flooding social media again after Stephen Colbert waded into 'Katespiracy'
- Lenovo launches new lineup of gaming laptops with AI features in India
- Famous temples to visit in Madhya Pradesh
- Mobile Number Portability revamped to reduce SIM swap frauds – Here are the new rules
- Local production of EVs a work in progress: Audi India Head
- AI can identify clinically anxious youth based on brain structure: Study