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A THUMPING retro soundtrack, quirky characters and a witty script were the ingredients of the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie…
Chances are you’ll wolf down this highly-anticipated followup too.
The action scenes are well staged, the special effects are slick and there’s a healthy dose of sharp one-liners.
But it’s not quite so fresh this time around. In fact, some of those ingredients feel on the turn.
If the first movie was a witty take on the original Star Wars, writer/ director James Gunn seems to be aiming for Empire Strikes Back. The main plot line, and there are way too many in this over-stuffed movie, sees space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) come face-toface with his long-lost father.
“I’m your dad, Pete,” says Kurt Russell’s alien Ego, emerging from a cheesy-looking spaceship.
Trouble
He’s a lot better looking than Darth Vader, but with a name like that you know he’s trouble.
There’s also some sibling rivalry issues for the green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and some soulsearching for Rocky The Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), who is forced to deal with his anger management issues. Empire Strikes Back proved that sequels can be better than the original when the characters are given room to grow.
But Guardians Of The Galaxy wasn’t just a space opera, it was also a comedy. And comedy followups have a less prestigious history.
“I have famously big turds,” says Dave Bautista’s humourless alien Drax, guffawing inappropriately.
The soundtrack has also begun to feel a little forced.
Having Vin Diesel’s tree-like alien Groot (now a cute sapling), dance to ELO’s Mister Blue Sky while his comrades battle an alien makes a great opening sequence.
But that trick – scoring violent CGI action scenes with laid-back ’70s tunes – has lost its magic by the climactic, and disappointingly formulaic, mid-air punch-up.