Disclaimer: I was invited to a complimentary media screening of Marvel Studios’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Since I Sebastian and I had just gotten home from our own whirlwind tour of Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Brian and Nate were permitted to go see the review on my behalf. I was secretly hoping that this would escalate me to the best mom in the universe since Nate’s 14th birthday was the same week.
But now, after seeing Brian’s review, I’m pretty sure my blog will be hijacked my him more often. He is much, much funnier than I am! Enjoy his review below.
***********
My wonderful wife works for the CIA or some transnational organization that enables their operatives to move where they want when they want. She recently asked my son and me if we would travel to Tempe and watch the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She needed us to gather intel or something. We did so under the assumption that we were not going to break any laws, treaties, or even historically obscure agreements.
This film was not yet released, and we were going to sneak in and review it. I don’t know how she pulled this off, and frankly, I don’t want to know. Bloggers sometimes get their hands dirty. Needs must.
We were familiar with Volume 1 of the same film series by Marvel. We found the first film to be funny, intense, poignant, and highly enjoyable. We had high hopes for Volume 2.
On a side note- if you want to get me pumped up about something, play the song “Brandy” by Looking Glass.
On a related note, the movie proper opens by playing the song “Brandy” by Looking Glass. Spoiler alert: the song and the plot are similar.
The movie introduces some new characters, which seem a bit underdeveloped. However, Marvel, in these recent films, shows it can aptly develop 12 characters in a film, and Volume 2 does a fine job on a couple of minor characters from Volume 1.
Like the first film, there are laugh-out-loud moments that make you feel like a child jumping on a trampoline for the first time.
There are other lines of dialogue, though, that are extremely lewd. These aren’t in the Muppets-quick-over-the-head-of-the-children-for-an-adult-laugh-type. They really hammer these home repeatedly, and in my mind absolutely unnecessarily.
Other scenes show unbridled action, creative use of space, devices, and plot. One such scene is almost as horrifying as the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan. I don’t think that’s an understatement. Good for adults, utterly harmful for kids.
With that, Imma hitcha with some quick takes:
The pace of the film is crisp. The villains are not scary enough. The two relationships most critical to plot and character development aren’t treated well enough- one changes too much on a predictable dime, and the other resorts to middle-school maturity. Humor- awesome, but sometimes tries too hard. A sibling rivalry resolves from attempted murder to sappy too quickly. The baby steals many scenes. A furry critter has his character developed quite well.
All in all, this is not a kid’s film. This is a film for those of us who have a bit of an arrested development. For enjoyment, I give it an 8 out of 10. I will watch Volume 3.
However, don’t tell anyone I snuck into this film through my wife’s contacts at some shadowy blogging cabal. Lives are at stake.
.jpg)
