Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I was travelling in California with my family when the first Guardians of the Galaxy came out. Being the Marvel fanboy that I was and still am, I begged them to go watch it opening day. After many grumbles about how I was taking time out of the holiday to see a film about a talking tree and raccoon, they gave in and we saw the film at the Cinemark Monterey 13 cinema. They were not ready for how US audiences enjoy films because unlike us British, they are loud about it. I’ve never had a movie-going experience quite like it, there was clapping and cheering throughout, it was well deserved and I absolutely loved it! My parents, well they left the cinema exclaiming how it was one of the best films they had ever seen and how much they loved Rocket and Groot!

Now here we are; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. My parents loved it, so there’s their review. Me, well I’m the film guy, I like to go a little more in depth with my opinions and although this film was a fun watch, it was a little bit messier than its predecessor. Read on to find out my SPOILER FREE verdict.

In their second outing the Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. All the main players are back as well as few new faces in the form of Kurt Russell as Ego, Pom Klementieff as Mantis and Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha.

If you think that description of the story is vague, that’s because there’s not much more to it than that and that’s where the film trips over for me. In what feels like a TV episode structure, the film’s plot is pushed along by one or two characters of its ensemble cast, whilst the others are just reacting to what’s going on, trying to make sense of it. Yes, most of them have their small arcs which do work nicely into the film, but if you were hoping characters like Groot and Drax were going to be more than comedic relief then you will be disappointed.

Thankfully where the story doesn’t add up, the character interactions do. They’ve set up the family dynamic really well for the group, they’re brilliant to watch together and bring a lot of laughs. You know how you could watch the The Avengers just chilling out drinking beer together for two hours, well you could definitely do the same with the Guardians, the chemistry between the group is amazing. This film is full on comedy, it’s the most jokey of all the Marvel films so far and thankfully most of them land. It’s a load of fun to watch with a large audience and because you care for the characters a lot, when the going gets tough, you do genuinely feel for them. And with film being about father – son relationships, it does have some emotional punches.

I could honestly watch this team together all day, even when the story doesn’t hook me, the characters are so good and well defined that in the moment it didn’t matter. Drax stole the show in the first film and he is just as funny here, but for me Rocket was the MVP of Vol. 2. The CGI was flawless and you get to see Rocket be a full on badass when he takes out a whole bunch of guys single handily with just his fists and few gadgets. The music is great yet again and I love how it still plays a big part in the film, even if the playlist isn’t as good as the first (this is becoming repetitive, I know) but that is of course subjective.

You guys get the gist, it’s still good, a lot of fun but not as well balanced or (some would say) as perfect as the first. Another solid entry into the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is great time at the cinema, I’m rating the film a 4/5.

What did you think of Marvel’s latest cosmic adventure? Loved it, hated it? Let me know in the comments below.

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Jurassic World

I binge watched the previous Jurassic Park films recently, and although I have enjoyed the last two films in the series, they never had the special something that made the first film so great. When watching Jurassic World, the fourth instalment of the franchise, it regained some of the magic I felt when watching the first film as a child and really did feel like a worthy Jurassic Park sequel.

Jurassic World sees the Park finally open to the public and apparently has been for some time, because apparently some people aren't that impressed by dinosaurs anymore. So now the park's scientist have come up with a new hybrid, a genetically modified dinosaur named The Indominious Rex, and because this is a Jurassic Park film, things obviously go wrong and the monster breaks out and runs rampage around the attractions. The main cast looks like this; Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson and many other supporting players. At first I was worried at how large the cast was but they were all handled well and had enough screen time to make them seem significant to the plot, in which they all have a hand in moving along at a swift pace.

All the acting is good, I had no problems with any of the cast, even the child actors were strong and believable. The characters were slightly heightened versions of themselves, I have heard many reviews say they were cartoony, I don't believe this to be the case, in fact the familiar character archetypes were one of reasons this film felt a lot like the first to me. The director, Colin Trevorrow, really needs to be applauded for making these characters work and really making this feel like a classic Spielberg film, without ever becoming a full on pastiche of the mans work. There are still quite a few nods to the first film but it never gets in the way of the story.

The special effects are great and although it relies a lot more heavily on CGI then the previous films, it still has a few cool animatronic shots and the computer effects them self do look realistic. After the last week of Jurassic Park film watching, I have decided that there should definitely be more dinosaurs in films these days! It has been way too long a wait for Jurassic World, I didn't even realise how much I wanted to see a new Jurassic film until I saw World. With the park actually being open, it really takes me back to the awe and amazement I felt when watching the first and with it still being pretty scary it really does work some of the same magic from the first, just on a much larger scale. It's not as good as the first but it gets more right then it does wrong.

With the amazing theme tune from John Williams, Jurassic World takes you straight back to Isla Nubar and your childhood. I had an absolute blast watching this film and really didn't expect it to be as much fun as it was. The film doesn't give you everything from the get go and the payoff at the end is really, really awesome. This is easily one of my favourite films of the summer so far! I am giving Jurassic World a rating of 4/5.

What did you think of Jurassic World? Were you as big a fan as I was? Let me know in the comments below!

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Guardians Of The Galaxy

Imagine a film that is part Star Wars, part Indiana Jones and part Avengers. Well that is exactly what Marvel has done and it is just as cool as it sounds! When it was announced that Marvel was going to go ahead and make a film based on the cosmic comics, I was sceptical, but as soon as the first footage was released I was sold. Marvel have gone ahead and done the impossible, taken a bunch of relatively unknown characters and turned them into the next big franchise.


Guardians Of The Galaxy follows Peter Quill/Star Lord, a space pirate as he comes across a mysterious orb that he means to sell,  only to find that big bad Ronan is looking for this artefact. Adventure unfolds and Star Lord finds himself teaming up with Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora and Drax The Destroyer to stop Ronan from destroying the galaxy.

Chris Pratt is the lead and he is a brilliant leading man who could definitely hold his own against RDJ's Tony Stark if the universe ever brought them together. Zoe Saldana plays a great badass Gamora whilst Dave Bautista surprises everyone with his brilliant comedy timing as Drax. Bradley Cooper brings Rocket to life as does Vin Dielsel with the always sweet Groot.

It is a scifi adventure film but more importantly it is a comedy and a very funny one as well! Some of the comics tend to take themselves too seriously but writer and director James Gunn gets it just right by doing the complete opposite of this. The film has a talking. Raccoon, it had to be self aware that the ideas were a out of the box and down right crazy. But the absurdity of this film is what is most fun about it and the comedy comes at you all the time and rarely misses a beat.

The two characters who were the riskiest ventures in the film, Rocket and Groot will undoubtably be everyone's favourite by the end. That's what I love about this film, it's easily accessible for anyone, my whole family loved it and they aren't big fanboy nerds like me. It's a great family film and this is because it is so much fun to watch!

The cinematography is great, there are so many stylish shots in the film. One of the best things however is the soundtrack, the big epic composed music is woven in with pop hits from the 70's and 80's which adds a lot of fun to an already crazy film but also holds a lot of emotional and sentimental value to the lead character.

My biggest problem with the film is one that Marvel seems to make quite a lot and that is with the villain of the piece, Ronan. For all his Darth Vader like presence he isn't really that well developed, as cool as he looks and as well as Lee Pace plays him, he comes across as just a bump in the road and not that interesting of a character. There were a lot of characters to introduce in this film so it is not surprising some were not as well done as others, but it is unfortunate that with Marvel, for every Loki there is a Whiplash.

Altogether though, Guardians Of The Galaxy is not just one of the most enjoyable films Marvel have made but it is also one of the best and most certainly the funniest! I loved this film and had so much fun in the cinema watching it! I am giving the film a rating of 4.5/5.

What did you think of the film? Did you buy a gun toting, talking Racccoon or not? Let me know in the comments below.

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