Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Kurt Russell

Directed By: James Gunn

MINOR SPOILERS

Three years ago, the strangest Marvel Studios movie hit theaters and completely changed the game for pretty much all other Marvel (and superhero) movies. Guardians of the Galaxy created a whole new set of Marvel fans, and took a bunch of characters that no one knew and made them into household names. Naturally, the bar has been set pretty damn high for the sequel, and while the surprises may be gone from the original, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is still a solidly entertaining ride.

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Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan

Directed by: James Gunn

VERY MINOR SPOILERS

It’s official: Marvel Studios cannot be stopped. Guardians of the Galaxy is a movie that oozes confidence. Simply put, there’s nothing quite like it out in theaters right now, and there hasn’t been a movie like this in a long, long time. This is Marvel throwing their weight around, effectively daring the general movie going audience to see a movie that features a talking raccoon and his best friend, a giant walking tree. This is a movie directed by James Gunn, who’s most known for smaller scale films like Slither, Super, and Tromeo and Juliet. The lead actor is on an NBC sitcom that doesn’t get nearly the ratings it should, and the most well known star of the film isn’t even seen, but heard. Not only that, but the soundtrack, which features a ton of pop songs from the 70’s and 80’s, is far from the norm when it come to big budget superhero flicks. None of this should work.

Are the Guardians of the Galaxy….a bunch of A-Holes?

We’ve finally gotten our first look at the biggest Marvel Studios gamble since Thor: Guardians of the Galaxy. More so than the God of Thunder’s first foray into cinemas, this rag tag team of cosmic heroes has a LOT riding on it.  Sure, past Marvel movies featured a guy in a robot suit, a thunder god, and a guy who turns into a giant green monster when he’s pissed, but those were all characters that some percentage of the “normies” had an idea about. Guardians features TWO green people, a lead most known for playing a slob on Parks and Rec, a talking tree, and a surly raccoon (which is totally awesome, by the way).  How is the general public going to react to this movie?