Fishing in the Discount Bin - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, as I watch a movie and blog about it. Time to dip into one of this past summer's biggest blockbusters, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  This is in my notes at August 27, 2017.

Many were predicting the first Guardians of the Galaxy to be Marvel's first flop.  "Too obscure!" they said.  "No name recognition!"  "Too strange!"  But many found its blend of outer-space action, good humour, and classic-rock-filled soundtrack to be a great blend.  And then the question came, can they do it again? 

And it turns out yes...yes they can.  And we got one last great outing for Star-Lord and the gang before they finally get mashed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper with Avengers: Infinity War coming in 2018.  I think Guardians of the Galaxy has benefited from the fact that it's way off out in space, so it's been freer to do its own thing. 

Continuing the themes of the first film, Vol. 2 is all about family, as our heroes make new connections that make them question their own.  Gamora heads to some form of reconciliation with here sister Nebula...both raised to be the ultimate warlord by Thanos, which evolved into a bitter rivalry.  Drax find himself a surrogate daughter in the form of the naive Mantis.  Rocket Racoon partners with Yondu for most of the film, and they get to the bottom of why they're such a-holes. 

But the main plot thrust comes from Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill, who finally comes face-to-face with his biological father.  And the big surprise is his father is Ego the Living Planet, played by living legend Kurt Russell.  Ego wants Quill to come home with him, and tap into that celestial power that he has. 

That's what struck me watching the film again tonight.  For a gigantic sci-fi comic book epic, it's pretty talky, as the middle is filled with all the aforementioned characters just hanging out talking about their familial relationships.  But that's a good thing.  These kinds of films are so much better when we're given a moment to breath and get to know our characters.  Makes the climax all the more sweeter when our heroes band back together to defeat Ego. 

And I'm always blown away by the choice of music that director James Gunn has used for these films.  The use of classic rock and pop definitely gives the film a bit of a Heavy Metal vibe.  You don't expect this kind of music to work for comic book space opera, but it turns out working so well. 

Not much to say.  It was one of the biggest movies of the summer, so no doubt you saw it.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is fun.