There we have Marvel's return to the Guardians of the Galaxy universe. Once again, it's a movie about a bunch of mismatched humans/aliens who saved the world from a big bad guy in the first installment.
But this time, they're not immediately saving the world, they're dealing with contracts for planets that can't afford to protect their planet from a big "scumbag" from outer space. On one mission that goes well, but Rocket steals something, they become wanted criminals again.
During that escape, Peter Quill discovers his father and learns that all is not as good as it seems, and that it will once again be a matter of saving the universe from the big bad.
Director James Gunn took liberties with everything he could think of when writing the script. He incorporated new and old (by comic book) Guardians of the Galaxy, mining the funniest characters (Groot Rocket Drax) for even more quirks. It's even more full of allusions to modern times, to the shows, to famous movies. He's arranged several cameos, among whom stand out Knight Rider Hasselhoff, Michelle Yeoh, Ving Rhames... Not forgetting regular cameos from Stan Lee and Family Guy (the Griffins) Seth Green.
The fact that the director/writer was given complete free rein by the producers goes to the heart of the humor to keep fans of the film entertained at every moment. But from start to finish (5 title scenes), the quality of the film goes a little lower and lower, and by the end of two hours, it becomes a bore.
The funniest sequence comes at the beginning of the film, where the opening battle is experienced by Baby Groot, who doesn't give a damn about the fights, and where the other members of the Guardians of the Galaxy are trying to survive and kill the evil alien.
If it weren't for the song barrels that make up the bulk of the music, there wouldn't even be anything to listen to; composer Tyler Bates has composed music that just doesn't hold up at all against the famous songs. Perhaps the funniest musical motif is heard during the opening Marvel logo, otherwise there's simply nothing to stand on and it's just a background score you don't notice.
We know what to expect from the main five – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel –. They won't disappoint. They are very ably complemented by Michael Rooker and Karen Gillan, who have a much bigger role than the former. It's a good thing that the Time Lord series (Dr. Who) spawned a good actress, so the 12th Doctor's famous companion has her own big movie. The 12th Doctor (Matt Smith) unfortunately didn't choose the right movie to make his name in America, and his Hollywood stint ended with The Last Terminator.
Unfortunately, I don't like the new Guardians of the Galaxy, it's just too humorous. If I didn't know it was from the same universe as the Avengers (and Dr. Strange), I wouldn't have even considered it. The story just takes place in a different place than we would expect. This time, towards the end of the movie, the main bad guy dies, but he's not Thanos at all, which is a bit of a letdown. No one from the other films appears either, no mention that they know Thor's kingdom will be under Loki's rule, Captain America is in exile and Hulk is wandering around arenas somewhere fighting battles.
It's just a filler movie that doesn't shift the timeline from Dr. Strange to Avengers 3 (4) at all. It's just a disappointment to me, and even my rating will be pretty weak. 70%. Less than the movie 3 years ago, and of course less than last year's Dr. Strange, which I simply enjoyed more.
Original release of this article May 9, 2017 – Kritiky.cz
