Current Events > Guardians of the Galaxy 2 wasn't that good. *unmarked spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Disclaimer: this isn't some fucking Moviegate political shitshow between Marvel and DC. I usually like Marvel movies, even more polarising ones like Iron Man 3, Ant Man and Civil War, and I wasn't hot on Zach Snyder's Superman even before Batman vs Superman poisoned the well (actually, scratch that - it was mediocre at best, but the aforementioned political shitposters who nuthugged the movie at every turn made me want to vomit more than the movie ever did). Haven't seen Wonder Woman, I hear it's good and I hope it's a good sign for future DC movies, and even before that I didn't dislike Suicide Squad as much as I thought I would. This isn't some pissant firing shots over some nonexistent bow to make a meaningful statement about fucking superhero movies, this is a guy who was let down by a movie I expected to like.

So, GotG2. Minor plot spoilers (I mention some subplots), a couple scene spoilers that I try to explain as vaguely as I can.

I liked the first movie because it was a bunch of funny, goofy setpieces with a soundtrack that knocked my socks off. It was pure, pulpy fun, with rainbow people and telegraphed dialogue and dumb stereotypes that the main cast ended up rising above. The movie's strengths were mostly about how it took such a cavalier, goofy attitude about the MCU's first space movie instead of trying to balance that with a human story full of danger and personal stakes - like Iron Man, even kind of like Thor when he's on Earth in the first movie. Nope, Guardians of the Galaxy was about this dickhead trying to get a MacGuffin to help destroy the galaxy, and a bunch of scrappy outcasts rock his shit with the power of friendship. It's pop-culture cheese, and it's awesome.

The second movie feels like it takes the boldest elements of the first movie - humor, music, nostalgia, cheese - and runs them so far into the ground you can see bedrock. Just about all of the sequel's big moments, as far as character development and humor go, fall completely flat. It felt like an absolute rehash, with the best aspects of the first movie turned up to 11 at the expense of the rest of the movie.

GotG2 is plagued by the worst running jokes in just about any Marvel movie. If you saw any GotG2 trailers, you'd notice that Drax is a lot more vocal about his emotions - you know that Drax laugh at the end of one of the trailers, about Peter Quill feeling so embarrassed? I swear to fucking God, he laughs in that exact same "lol he has trouble with emotions but hes trying to overcompensate lol" way like eight separate times. It's fucking annoying. Remember how everyone fawned over baby Groot at the end of the first movie? Well, pretty much all of his scenes are "look at baby Groot! isn't he funny? Aww, how cute!" - which I guess can't be avoided, but it reaches a point where it's just pandering.

The soundtrack has its ups and downs. Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" is used to great effect, but it's not exactly the pop hit that Moonage Daydream is, and it isn't nearly enough of an ear worm to even come close to Hooked On A Feeling. The soundtrack felt a lot more subdued, and maybe people liked that better compared to how on-the-nose the first movie's soundtrack could get, but I feel like unless you're already familiar with the songs used in this movie, there's not much of a kick to be had. Practically no-one in Marvel's demographic knew what Hooked on a Feeling was, at least that's what I think - but that song fucking crushed. The Chain doesn't command the same level of attention. It does, however, fit the movie particularly well. Not a lot of the other songs really stuck out to me, though.
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And them. you have the movie's attempt at capturing nostalgia. Something about the first major scene in the movie, where they're fighting a monster, feels like a Saturday morning cartoon in the best way. Then Mr. Blue Sky comes on, good choice, and... Groot dances. Okay. Then you have two heavy-hitter actors making appearances, one of which is completely unnecessary and hollow and the other which is a pretty good fit - to a point. You have a couple character cameos, a bunch of video game sounds to add a sense of cheese, and as it starts to pile up, it feels hollow and cheap. This person riding a spaceship sim to all these video game noises? It's funny to begin with, but three minutes later, any sort of magic the scene had is gone. Oh, another song for Peter Quill to talk about, another reference to an 80's thing, another gratuitous shot of Quill's Walkman. They try to ramp up the cool old vibes, but they try way too hard. They tried to fart, and they shat their pants.

Which leaves me with the character moments. The first movie wasn't too in-depth with the character moments, Gamora is Thanos' kid gone rogue and Star-Lord is a cool Han Solo type with a troubled past and Drax is angry and literal etc. But then you get glimpses of vulnerability and chemistry, and it's enough to glue the group together. Look at Peter Quill and Gamora, or Drax and Rocket's moment - it's all a bit on the nose, but they end up softening just enough to do business with each other. A lot of the character moments in the second movie, on the other hand, felt way too drawn out and asinine. Star-Lord and Gamora's thing continues, except it manages to get really fucking grating. You know how a character writes off all negativity aimed towards them as jealousy on the accuser's part? Yep, GotG2 stoops that low. Star-Lord and Rocket are fighting for dominance, and need to learn to be part of a team again. Crap like that permeates through the entire movie. There are some scenes that try too hard to be emotional or funny, but fall flat because it's either a stereotypical "I shall flay the skin from his bones", "ooookay, have fun with that" exchange, or a reference that another character doesn't get so the referencing character gets to have a field day. There are two scenes that try to be emotional, and kind of work, but they barely hold enough weight to support the movie. There's one scene right near the end that almost manages to pull it off. But ultimately, it grazes the first movie's most emotional moment.

My friend was quoting lines before characters said them, and he called a major plot point within the first ten minutes. It kind of sucked. I was hoping to like this movie, but it felt like the most well-reviewed parts of the first movie that were stuck together with masking tape and cranked up to uncomfortable levels. It lacks the finer points of the first movie, like John C. Reilly's family at the end, in exchange for wacky humor and an appeal to nostalgia. Most of it fell flat.
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If I could sum up my disappointment in one sentence, it would be this: the movie has the staying power of a meme. That's how drawn out, overplayed and unfulfilling I found it. And I take no pleasure in saying that. Like I said, I can enjoy a less than perfect movie if it's decent - Iron Man 3 is awesome, Tony Stark just shoots dudes in the face, Ant Man was goofy and serious done mostly right (even if it borrows from Iron Man a bit too much in the villain department) and Civil War - while having its own hype-induced quirks (imo the parking lot fight was incredibly self-indulgent and overrated) - has a chilling final fight that sold the movie for me. To jump ship for a moment I even liked Suicide Squad in places - El Diablo and Captain Boomerang carried that movie for me. None of those movies managed to pull the same Denser and Wackier vibe than Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Sure, Suicide Squad felt hollow for most of its runtime, but it didn't have a good first movie to stack against it. It was just kind of its own shambling, mediocre mess. GotG2 felt like a telegraphed, cliched mess. Even the first movie had its rough edges, but those rough edges are only exacerbated here.

It was okay. Disappointing, for sure, but it looked nice and it had its moments. Regardless, I was really let down by it.
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I thought it was worse that GotG in terms of characters and action. But GotG 2 still made me more invested in the story and it was emotional.

But it fucked up with Drax being mentally challenged and Racoon being just an ass, Gamorra being forgettable despite the sister story.

The action was just boring, there was no super cool moments or character specific action scenes that much.

I loved the antennae girl tho.
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I thought it felt too try hard, over the top, and had jokes falling flat too. I enjoy the first one much better, but the second is still enjoyable to a degree. Imo
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It was better than the first GotG.
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I agree with everything you said
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