Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review (Spoiler-Free)

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a new film review and today I’m going to be talking about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the long-awaited sequel from Marvel Studios. Now back in 2014 I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, it was an unexpected surprise of that summer and so creating a sequel that would equal or exceed the previous film was going to be a mammoth task. But anyway I saw the film yesterday/this morning as part of a double bill at Cineworld and now I’m reading to pass judgement!

The story can be summed up as the following:

“The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.”

At this point in time I’m finding it a tad difficult to formulate my thoughts into works. Guardians Vol. 2 is an interesting beast, it is really good and an overall fun adventure, however it’s also uneven and not as cohesive as the first film. So depending on how you felt about Guardians 1, this film will be more of what you enjoyed before or be a disappointment.

If the story does one thing well it is covering the main theme of family as this film has a strong emphasis on the ties between Peter Quill and his father, Gamora and Nebula, and of course the Guardians team themselves. This film shows what it means to be a family, whether you’re blood related, adopted or have a strong connection to someone and we also see the highs and lows of those relationships. Another strong element was the fact that the story also got quite emotional and dramatic and I didn’t expect that, but it was a welcome surprise. As for the humour, one the first film’s strongest points, it was a little hit or miss, some of the jokes were amazing and other didn’t land as well, plus they were coming a little too frequently for my liking, so anyone annoyed with the frequent humour in Marvel films won’t be a fan of this film. And lastly for the first time in a while Guardians Vol. 2 feels like a standalone adventure with ties to other films or the larger MCU being next to non-existent and there not being any major set up for future films. Now of course there is some set up for a sequel and some great references to the comics, but otherwise this was an isolated film, so anyone hoping for MCU connections definitely be disappointed.

As for the cast they were all very good, though some stood out more so than others. Chris Pratt is a standout as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, he has not only a great sense of timing for his humour but he’s incredibly engaging and has good dramatic moments too. Zoe Saldana was solid as Gamora, she had some good moments with Peter and Nebula, but like the last film I wish I had seen more from her. Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer like the last film had some great comedic moments, and some unexpected subtle dramatic material too, some of his jokes didn’t land but otherwise, good stuff. Baby Groot was adorable, hilarious and used well throughout, and Rocket Raccoon had some really solid moments in this film and like before, Bradley Cooper’s voice work was really great. Other returning cast members including Karen Gillan as Nebula and Michael Rooker as Yondu do really well, Nebula got a lot of additional story material that really enhanced her as a character and while Gillan’s performance was a little overdone at points I still liked her, oh and Rooker was incredible as Yondu having more dramatic and hilarious material than before and I loved the character. As for the new cast members Kurt Russell did well as Star Lord’s dad Ego, I thought he brought a dramatic sense of flair, personality and humour to this role and his scenes with Peter was great. Pom Klementieff as Mantis was so cute and funny, I liked her abilities and interactions with the guardians team and Elizabeth Debicki was interesting as Ayesha, she had some funny scenes, but other times it was a little awkward. I also appreciated the appearances from Sean Gunn, Laura Haddock and Sylvester Stallone.

When it comes to the presentation it was really solid. Visually like the previous film, we are treated to a gorgeous film with a vivid colour scheme, good cinematography, great artistic direction, really detailed CGI and action sequences that were fast, ferocious, inventive and fun to watch. The soundtrack for this film was pretty good, though not as recognisable and as varied as the previous film, and Tyler Bates returns for the film score and he crafts some really nice music, some returning themes and some new material that works well with the on-screen action.

So to conclude Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a solid sequel, it did well to advance the story of the characters, had good action, humour and heart. However, the uneven story, misuse of certain characters and a not so solid humour prevent it from being the amazing sequel I thought it could be. And so how would one compare this film to the other MCU films. Well as a sequel I’d say it’s better than the worst two films, Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World, and Iron Man 3, so I’d say it’s sort of on the same level as Age of Ultron, okay now here me out before you verbally attack me. Age of Ultron is a film I that had a lot of great elements within but overall wasn’t as consistent and enjoyable as the previous film and I felt a similar way about this film, while not as disappointing, I felt like this film wasn’t as straightforward or consistent as the last adventure, but it’s still worth a watch.

So have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and if so what did you think of it? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: The Belko Experiment

Howdy ladies and gents and today I’m going to be reviewing The Belko Experiment, a film I’ve been looking forward to since I heard of its announcement with James Gunn writing and producing it. Now if you’ve seen the trailers for this film you’ve already decided if you’re going to watch it or not, for me the trailers were intriguing but I was mainly interested in the concept and Jame Gunn’s involvement and after seeing the film last night I’m ready to pass judgement.

The plot can be summed up as the following: “In a twisted social experiment, 80 Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company’s intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.” What I liked about this film was that there was a little more to the story beyond what was shown in the trailers, it gave a little more context as to why these characters are in this situation, why everyone in this company has chips implanted in their heads and has some interesting revelations that get revealed as towards the third act. I thought the film had a good mix of violence, humour, drama and a look into what humans are capable of when forced into life or death situations. The concept of having people being forced into killing each other isn’t new, anything from Battle Royale to the recent The Hunger Games films have depicted this in film and while this film had its unique elements, some of the story elements you could predict before they happened. Plus I feel like the film could have gone a little deeper with the mystery and surprises, also some of the humour felt misplaced in certain scenes. Other than those nitpicks I was entertained.

With the cast they all did fine, the film had its primary main cast of around 5 or so people and everyone else were secondary to background people with varying levels of significance. I just wish there was more ambiguity about who was the main character and had more screen time spread across some of the other characters to flesh them out too. With that in mind I’ll just touch upon a few people; John Gallagher Jr. as Mike Milch was  little annoying to watch because of his questionable moral and ethical choices, but by the end of the film I liked him more, Tony Goldwyn as Barry Norris was one of my favourite people, while not an entirely likeable character he had a certain point of view that made him interesting to watch. Adria Arjona as pretty good as Leandra Jerez and so was Melonie Diaz who had some notable scenes as Dany Wilkins, and John C. McGinley as Wendell Dukes, damn, he had one hell of a memorable performance and he played his role well. Also the appearances of Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn were solid, but I definitely enjoyed Gunn’s performance more. As for the action scenes were pretty good with some solid, creative and all round brutal deaths, and I gotta give a shout out to the special effects team for the make-up on the characters during some of those kills as it looked pretty realistic, oh and the film score by Tyler Bates was pretty good too. So to conclude The Belko Experiment was a strange, over-the-top and violent session with a few issues with the story and characters, but heck I had fun with this one and I reckon if you’re a fan of Gunn’s work you’ll enjoy it too.

So have you seen The Belko Experiment and if so what do you think of it? Be sure to leave your thoughts on the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

Super Review

Howdy people, time for me to review another film that’s not currently showing at the cinema and today’s review will be on Super. Now this was a film I was initially interested in seeing back in 2010 because it looked alright from the trailers, but after the reviews came out I sort of discarded it. But since Mark Kermode on his recent Kermode Uncut video said he liked the film, I thought I’d give it a watch.

So when it comes to the story in this film follows Frank Darbo, a normal guy who has a good life with his wife, Sarah. However after his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer by the name of Jacques,Frank transforms himself into the Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills. Along the way he meets a girl called Libby who becomes his sidekick Boltie and together to fight crime together and go off on a mission to save Frank’s wife from the forces of evil.

The story in this film is pretty simple but plays out in a very over-the-top, strange and quite unnatural fashion. You basically follow Frank over the course of his adventure to get his wife back and how his actions both as a superhero and as himself affect the people around him. There are funny, awesome, strange and fucked up stuff that goes down in this film. Annoyingly there are some really cool or hilarious moments within this story, but a lot of it is offset but some weird, vulgar and unnatural elements that make the film not nearly as enjoyable as it could have been. The film also had problems with trying to find the balance between humor and scenes of seriousness too.

Then there are the characters of Super who are a mixture of cool, weird and just plain old assholes. Let’s start with Rainn Wilson as Frank Darbo / The Crimson Bolt. Wilson made for a good, if not stupid and lovable protagonist. Frank is a bit of a fucked up individual, he has some strange habits and ideas of what justice is, but that’s what makes him so funny and some his actions as Crimson Bolt was nothing short incredible. Then there’s

Ellen Page as Libby / Boltie, now this is only my second Ellen Page film but I honestly liked her in this film. As Libby Page gave a great performance as this comic book girl who eventually comes to work with Frank and help his cause and satisfy her need to do crime fighting too. As Boltie she is a violent nutcase but that is something that also makes her funny and awesome, plus in her costume Page did look pretty hot too. Wilson and Page had pretty good chemistry for the most part although there were some weird moments from time to time.

Kevin Bacon as Jacques was great. Bacon played this hilarious was a right asshole who had a way with words and was pretty funny throughout. Also Nathan Fillion as The Holy Avenger was hilarious. His character was a fictional person from a comic book series and TV show and I loved him, he was one of the best aspects of this film. You could tell that Fillion was having fun with this role but I couldn’t help but see him as Mal from Firefly under the mask. Michael Rooker as Abe was also pretty funny, having not a lot to say but when he was on-screen he was doing something funny and lastly Liv Tyler as Sarah Helgeland was nice though her character didn’t do nearly as much as the others mentioned before.

As for the presentation it’s good but also pretty weird. Basically this film has an animated sequence which is accompanied by music and it is nice, colourful and amusing and there are also moments in the film where it has little animated moments similar to the old Batman TV series when people get hit or shot. Also this film is pretty violent, now I’m all for violence, in some cases I love it, but in this film its sometimes painful to watch and some of the visual stuff that goes down in general is just plain awkward yo.

In conclusion Super is an interesting film and definitely was entertaining, that being said it one of the strangest superhero/comedy films I have come across. The best way to describe Super is like calling it the twisted and slightly fucked up little brother of Kick-Ass. The film was a lot better that I expected it to be but it was also very unnatural and unlike anything that I’ve seen before, by the time the film was over I felt both entertained and partially disturbed haha.

Rating: 7/10 (It’s good but really freaky yo)

So have you seen Super and if so what are your thoughts on the film? Whatever it is drop it in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo. 😀

 

Michael Rooker Joins Guardians of the Galaxy

Now this is nice, it seems like Marvel are wanting to reveal more and more news these days which means that people like me have something to talk about lol. Okay moving from the Captain America 2 news we got yesterday now we have new casting news for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film, the following article comes from superherohype:

“Deadline is reporting that The Walking Dead star Michael Rooker has joined Guardians of the Galaxy. Rooker will play the role of Yondu, who was a founding member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy in the source material. Rooker’s casting comes as no surprise as he has worked with director James Gunn on both his previous films, Slither and Super.

Other cast members confirmed for the film are “Parks and Recreation” actor Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. Zoe Saldana is in talks to join as Gamora. Guardians of the Galaxy‘s roster is also said to include Groot and Rocket Raccoon. The film is currently in pre-production in the UK, with Gunn at the helm, and is targeting an August 1, 2014 release.”

Now in all honesty I still haven’t watched Walking Dead yet or any of the two films Michael Rooker’s been mentioned in, however if he’s been chosen for a role as important as one of the original members of the Guardians of the Galaxy then he must be a decent actor. I’m just glad that the cast is slowly but surely starting to fill out, I wonder who else will join the fray. I’m also curious to know if Zoe Saldana will get the role as Gamora or whether they’ll pick another actress. Only time will tell.