The sailors say Brandy you’re a fine girl (you’re a fine girl) what a good wife you would be (such a fine wife) yeah your eyes could steal the sailor from the sea (doo-duh-doo-deh-dehhh-deeeh-deehh)
Ok, so I’m really behind my rewatch. Life is busy (and I know how much you need your acesite MCU reviews… I receive the fanmail. I’ll do better!) and there’s other movies to watch and video games to play… and I guess work but who cares about that? At this point in my Marvel Cinematic Universe rewatch (I can’t call it the Road to Endgame anymore because that road is well past Endgame) Guardians of the Galaxy is still sitting at #1 on my list. Now, I’m talking Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Vol. 2 is, I would say, as split as any MCU movie is terms of fan approval. There are some that think Vol. 2 is a jumbled story with a lot of corny jokes while there are others that think it’s a wonderful film about choosing your family with tremendous humor.
Take a guess which group I identify with? You guessed it! I love this movie. This is another hill I’ll die on. Vol. 2 is the perfect story about friends & family and for someone who thinks of their friends as family, this movie hits right at home.
Oh, and it’s f*****g hilarious.
Anyhowzle, let’s review Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
Positives
- The “family” theme in GOTG2 is what sets it apart as one of my favorite MCU films. Peter’s actual dad was a douche and he realized Yondu has been his dad all along. Rocket turns away the only friends he’s had in his life and realized he needs them as his family. Gamora & Nebula’s relationship elevated itself through tragedy and even Drax had a breakthrough with Mantis. All the characters come to realizations about family and most of them are about choosing your family. It’s a beautiful theme that most of us should be able to empathize with unless you don’t have any friends, and if that’s the case… sorry?
- It’s a film about family, but it’s also a great developmental film for all the characters. Each character gets ample time to develop their stories. All of them get really good stuff but my favorite is Rocket. In the first Guardians film Rocket is a loner. He doesn’t care about anything except Groot, and Groot ends up kind of dying. Then he joins the Guardians and pushes them away because he’s afraid to lose them. AND THEN in Infinity War he loses them all. Great, tragic storytelling for ole Bradley Cooper.
- This might be a hot take… but the Awesome Mixtape 2 in GOTG2 is better than the first. Not by a lot but it’s slightly better. “The Chain.” “Brandy.” “Mr. Blue Sky.” “Fox on the Run.” “My Sweet Lord.” Father and Son.” All of them are bangers. Not to say the first Awesome Mixtape isn’t but I give the edge to the 2nd.
- The title scene makes me joyous. Baby Groot just being a hooligan for five minutes while the rest of the Guardians battle this intergalactic monster is exactly what I wanted to kick off GOTG2. So much fun. P.S. I love Baby Groot.
- What an ending for Yondu. From when he says “he may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy,” to his funeral scene with the colors of Ogard splashing the screen. God damn that is good shit!
- Speaking of fathers, Ego is a great villain. I think this opinion is fairly split among the MCU fan base, but I love Ego. He’s a diabolical son of a bitch that disguised reality with all these happy-feely colors and created his own utopia that turned out to be a dystopia. It’s actually Mysterio-like (P.S. I’ll be reviewing Far From Home next). Plus, it’s Kurt Russell!
- 90% of the jokes land making it one of the funniest movies in the MCU for me. There are a couple here and there that are dumb, but I love most of the comedy bits. Some of my favorites:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwXAw3hwHS4 (harbulary batteries)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISTZYZq1H80 (Mary Poppins)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVYYyV36BKk (FF to 1:10-“Did you make a penis?”)
- Sylvester Stalone plays a character name Stakar. The only reason I bring it up is that Stakar and the rest of the Ravager leaders you see at the end are from the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics. The only reason I know that is because I picked up a copy from the original run (yeah, I’m sick). Just kind of a cool easter egg! Same with Tazerface. He was the villain in the first comic and is a great cameo here!
Negatives
- The Sovereign (the gold people… what do you think their genitalia look like? Just gold bricks? Anyways) are used too much for my liking. Ego was the main villain but we had so much interference from Aisha and the Sovereign that it took some badassery away from Ego. It didn’t really make sense why they were involved so heavily to me. Plus, it felt like The Sovereign’s involvement was a set up for Volume. 3.
- The “it’s not ripe” running joke wasn’t good. It was cringey… and speaking of cringe… my next point.
- Peter and Ego playing catch with that ball is sooooo cringey. I’m usually down for cheesiness in movies but this was wayyyyy too cringey for me. Everything about Chris Pratt and Kurt Russell playing catch with a sci-fi ball makes me laugh.
Overall Grade: A-
It didn’t quite live up to expectations of the first Guardians film, but it didn’t need to. It’s thematic work is fantastic with the family angle and choosing family angle. It’s funny for the most part minus a few parts here and there, but it is a lovely movie that I can re-watch again and again and again.
MCU Ranking
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Avengers: Endgame
- The Avengers
- Captain America: Civil War
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Iron Man
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (It’s towards the bottom of the ELITE club which you can join with a one-time purchase of $50.)
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Ant-Man
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Thor
- Doctor Strange
- Iron Man 3
- Iron Man 2
- The Incredible Hulk
NEXT UP: Spider-Man: Far From Home
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