I wasn't the biggest fan of the first film, but it's an enjoyable superhero ensemble film that didn't take it too seriously which made it unique against the others that were. The chemistry with the leading characters was good. Ronan the Accuser was a bland villain, but it was great to see Thanos. I loved the soundtrack and the visual effects that created Rocket Raccoon and the endless cosmos was great.
I watched
Vol. 2 by myself on Thursday afternoon, and while the stakes felt bigger than the first film, it wasn't quite as good as the first film. It wasn't as fresh and inventive as the first film.
Pros: - For the opening scene, they de-aged Kurt Russell to make him resemble his younger self, and the results were impressive. It was even more convincing than the de-age version of Robert Downey, Jr. in Captain America: Civil War. According to the visual effects team, it was mostly practical with little CGI used for touch-ups.
- Continuing on Kurt Russell, his performance as Ego was great. After a series of bland Marvel villains, Ego was finally an impressive, charismatic villain that became a formidable threat to the Guardians of the Galaxy. (I'm so glad Hollywood is giving Russell a career renaissance since he's good at comedy and drama.)
- Baby Groot was cute.
- Michael Rooker was literally the heart of the film and gave the best performance as Yondu.
- While the main drive was about Peter, all of the other characters got a chance to shine and grow. Despite his sarcastic, cynical exterior, Rocket found the heart of gold he never thought he had. Yondu's character arc with his search for redemption was played out quite well. The sibling rivalry between Nebula and Gamora is more layered with the former being victimized by Thanos at an early age and growing jealous over Gamora since she was never showed the love by her sister.
- The Sovereign
- This movie is covered with the central theme of family.
Cons:- Some of the humor felt forced and juvenile. For example, Drax and Peter get into a discussion over whether Ego has a [censored] or not, which felt really crude. Another one was Peter asking everyone else for tape, which went on a little too long.
- While I loved and learned a few new songs (such as "Sham Bam"), the Vol. 2 soundtrack as a whole wasn't as great as the first film's soundtrack. Nevertheless, they were used to support the emotional context of the scenes. The opening scene with "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl") was great and added context and meaning to Ego's real personality and the relationship between him and Peter's mother, Meredith. "Father and Son" made for a solemn closure to Yondu's character arc.
- The Sovereign felt like a plot device to lead the Guardians to Ego at the beginning, and including them during the climax felt forced and almost made things too muddled. Basically all of that offered was a repeat of the space chase earlier in the film. Nevertheless, they do serve as a foil, help set up Adam Warlock (which I'm excited about), and made for a few hearty jokes. While the race think of themselves as perfect, their execution of perfection is anything but.
On a final note, while I don't consider it a fault of the movie, I was a little disappointed that not one post or mid-credit scene was hinted or progressed the story towards
Avengers: Infinity War.
