Film Review - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (12A)

Does anybody have any tape out there?

Some films you feel predisposed to like - or even love - before the first frame hits the screen. 

Guardians of the Galaxy was the most unmitigated cinematic joy of summer 2014 - a movie crammed with entertaining incident, which boasted more memorable lines in its first twenty minutes than most can manage in their entire run-time. It brought together an endearing band of squabbling heroes - Peter Quill (outlaw), Gamora (assassin), Drax (vengeful brute), Rocket (raccoon) and Groot (tree) - and had audiences fall in love with them by the closing credits. So does the sequel match that film's sheer verve and likeability?

Answer... almost.

Before I expand on that potentially heart-sinking word, let me talk about everything the film gets right. 

Guardians 2 reconnects with our gang in the thick of battle - not in service to the galaxy, but pursuing Quill's old trade of bounty hunting. A little bit of double-cross on the part of Rocket quickly puts them on the run from a very unforgiving planetary civilisation. Meanwhile they are also being tracked down by an enigmatic traveller called Ego (a bearded and benevolent Kurt Russell), who can shed light on the mystery of Quill's parentage.

Where this all leads is as cosmic as you might hope - vast, visually splashy and full of unforeseeable twists. It's also a refreshing story departure from the first film, refusing simply to retread the Guardians versus Thanos plotline and finding a very different route to the galactic jeopardy we all anticipate. Character backstories are explored, and questions left hanging last time around are given satisfying answers. While friendships between the sparring heroes deepen, it's the development of secondary characters - such as fin-headed Yondu and Gamora's cybernetically modified sister Nebula - that often proves most interesting. (Kudos to Michael Rooker and Karen Gillan for fleshing out their roles in surprising and entertaining ways.)

Oh, and Baby Groot is everything you hoped Baby Groot could be. Most of the funniest scenes involve Baby Groot.

This is a film with a whole lot going for it. Here's my 'however'. 

Put simply, the writing isn't as sharp as first time around. In the 2014 film director James Gunn was teamed with Nicole Perlman, and I can only assume it's her absence that makes the difference. Yes Guardians 2 made me laugh, but not as much. Yes it moved me, but not as deeply. And that's all down to the dialogue - not plotting or performance or anything else. There's a sense of a film stretching for the zippy, zingy repartee that made the original so refreshing, and not always getting there. Gunn is a wonderful director of this demanding material, but his screenplay sadly lacks the finesse of a good writing partner. Basically he's trying too hard. 

It's a shame, because there's so much else to love here. Guardians Vol. 2 is gorgeous, unpredictable and galaxy-expanding in its epic scope. It's great visual storytelling and full of excitement. And of course it has a splendidly integrated soundtrack courtesy of the Awesome Mixtape #2. 

If Vol. 3 is going to rebottle the first film's lightning, however, it needs to give these terrific characters the words they deserve. That'll turn mere liking back into loving.