The box office is huge, the reviews are ecstatic, and the Cinemascore grade from audiences is an “A.” So it’s safe to say nearly anyone will really love this movie, and even if I thought it was only good rather than great, that’s no small thing at all considering I haven’t truly loved any Marvel property…ever, and am just relieved this one didn’t feature Robert Downey Jr.’s tiresome Tony Stark.
What Works: All of the new cast additions are terrific, but special praise to Kurt Russell (who actually does look like he could be Chris Pratt’s dad) who has been so good and so effortless for so long, that he’s actually taken for granted at this point. I also liked Elizabeth Debicki putting her towering beauty to great use as a literal-golden queen villainess. Plus, Dave Bautista’s Drax and Bradley Cooper’s Rocket are even better here than the first movie, despite not getting as much screentime. And certain sequences like the opening, Michael Rooker getting revenge on his mutinous crew members, and Rocket ambushing some of that same crew in a forest are genuinely fun and break out of the commoditized “Marvel fun” brand that seems to exist largely to set up other movies.
What Doesn’t: And yet Marvel just can’t resist setting up more characters, worlds, toy-selling franchises within franchises like little Russian nesting dolls or an M.C. Escher madhouse. There are no less than four separate after movie “tag” scenes playing throughout the credits, and at least two of them set up either a new character to add to the extended Marvel world (it’s said “Adam” will be in not just Guardians 3 but an Avengers movie as well) or a new franchise altogether with Sylvester Stallone’s aging pirate crew, call it “The Expendables: Space.” I know Comic Books never really end and beloved characters die only to return, but if a movie never really feels like it’s own self-contained thing then why are you watching it at all? Also, the last third’s battles between Chris Pratt and his father are not just sluggish and poorly staged—it’s hard to tell what’s happening in given moments, and much of “Guardians” is poorly lit from green-screen over usage—but a little on the “who cares?” side. Yes, Russell is threatening all the life on all the planets, but as more famous critics have said (paraphrasing) “Is there anything more trivial than the fate of the world?” Meaning sometimes your villain can shoot for something so grand that it loses any personal attachment or stakes.
What I Would Have Done Differently: The washed-out feel that these movies have is so muddy and uncrisp that it actually is sometimes hard to properly see the action–and I’m talking about on an IMAX screen. Also, it’d be nice to see Chris Pratt’s bland hero and Zoe Saldana’s stoic Gamorra actually get together in the 3rd movie, because it might help flesh out both of them.