My pick for my fourth favorite movie of the summer of 2017 is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. I was a HUGE fan of the original, in part for three reasons. First, I knew nothing about the original comic, so everything was fresh and new. Second, the late seventies/early eighties classic rock soundtrack blended sci-fi adventure and FM radio nostalgia with perfection. Third, Rocket Raccoon. I mean, who doesn't love a foul-mouthed, violent, borderline-psychotic, genetically-enhanced forest rodent?
Needless to say, I went into the sequel with high hopes. I have to say, however, that this second installment did not meet my expectations, in part because the first movie was so good and set the bar so high. I think my criticisms of the movie mirror the things I liked best about the first.
First of all, we all knew these characters going in, and I don't think there was a lot of new character development. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) has family issues and the hots for Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who has her own father and sister issues. Drax (Dave Bautista) is a violent hothead who takes everything quite literally, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is still everything he was in the first movie, and Groot (Vin Diesel) is a cute baby tree. In terms of the actual crew, we didn't find out a whole lot new about any of them other than the identity of Peter's father, which I will get to in the praise section, don't worry...
Secondly, the soundtrack of Vol. 2 was vastly inferior to the first movie. I can remember song after song from the first movie—"Come and Get Your Love," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Cherry Bomb," "I Want You Back"—and those are the ones off the top of my head without looking on IMDB.com. I seriously cannot think of one single song from the sequel. For a movie to be so dependent on the soundtrack to help advance both character and plot, Vol. 2 is an inferior B-side.
Third, this second movie was far too reliant on complex CGI special effects that were more of a distraction than a delight. I hated the opening sequence with the inter-dimensional monster attacking the Guardians. I thought it was boring. The final sequence, when the team is trying to defeat [SPOILER], generated sufficient tension, but the effects didn't add anything to it for me.
Recent Star Wars movies "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One" have showed us the value of grounding SFX in the visual reality of the world created as opposed to acting in front of green screens. It seems like the creative team behind GotGv2 got caught in the George Lucas Star Wars prequel crap-trap of "bigger is better." No, it's not. Not always. Not when the effects are more annoying than enthralling.
So what did I like about this movie? Why is it number four on my list of favorite summer films? First, the humor. This is a funny movie, and the jokes almost always hit the bulls-eye. These are appealing characters, and as an audience, we like them and want to root for them, so we give them permission to be vulnerable, and the movie's humor is found in their common humanity (yes, even the aliens, the raccoon, and the tree). Here's an example:
Second, the overall theme of family, especially the relationship between children and their fathers, was done with an organic grace that never felt forced or heavy-handed (like the big effects scenes did). Each character wants to connect with a family member in some way—Peter with his father, played to the hilt by Kurt Russell, Gamora with her estranged sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan); the rest of the team are essentially orphans and misfits who have created their own family in this team of Guardians. I thought the theme of family was so strong that it redeemed the movie of the rest of its flaws.
Third, Michael freaking Rooker. Look, he won't get any attention when the movie award nominations come around, but Rooker's Yondu was the MVP of the entire film. He also provides the biggest surprise as well as the most in-depth character development. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet (all four of you), but watch it, and tell me if Rooker doesn't at least deserve a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi Acting Performance, as well as bringing an unexpected tear to your eye.
In the end, this second movie doesn't live up to the quality of the first, but most sequels don't. The positive aspects of the movie are not enough to make it greater than the sum of its parts, but they certainly make it worth two hours of your time as well as the fourth spot on my summer movie list.
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