Review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) by Saintdecky — 14 May 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has a sub-par storyline and plot, simple storytelling, and overall, not a whole lot to it compared to other Marvel movies. I won't be comparing this movie to the first one much because I hardly have any recollection of the events that took place. Characters: The acting is nothing special, but the characters are just okay. Drax is probably one of the best parts, as he is funny in a weird way. But there are parts where they attempt to make him say meaningful dialogue that just comes across as sort of awkward because the entire movie sets him up to be a near clueless, unmannerly beast, then attempts to make him deliver good insight on decisions towards the end. It's like if the Hulk gave a heart-warming, poetic, lovely speech at the end of The Avengers; it wouldn't be terrible and go to waste, but it seems out of place and out of character. The other characters are okay, and a lot of them hardly do anything besides Chris Pratt.

Plot: The story is basic, though not completely bland. I spotted the "twist" right from the beginning, and even makes me wonder if it was supposed to be a huge twist (probably not). One problem with the whole movie is that the Guardians spend the majority of the movie split up (Groot and Rocket with Yondu, and Drax, Starlord, and Gonorrhea, or whatever Zoe Saldana's name is in this). So they never really live up to their name in this movie. In fact, the whole plot is centered on one of the characters stealing something in a job they were doing, which is very un-Guardian-like. I get that they're not supposed to be taken super seriously as heroes, but at least let them work together and keep the chemistry they had in the first one.

Humor: I saw this movie with a bunch of friends and a pretty filled theater. My experience was that you either laughed a lot, or only got a few chuckles here and there. A lot of the humor is kind of absurd and just a kind of "oh, ok. I guess I could laugh at that.".

Effects: The effects are pretty well done except for a few scenes here and there where they were a bit poor, but considering the amount of work that must have been put in, it was still well done.

Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is nothing to get too hyped about, but is definitely worth a watch. It's entertaining enough to compensate for the simple storyline and characters (except for Yondu) and enough action to hold you over. If you liked the first one, I guess you'd like this one. It did have a good ending, however.