Review Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
The first one was a pleasant surprise. although I had barely read the comic book over the years, so had no preconceived ideas of how the characters should be - and I keep hoping for more Howard the Duck in this one! :)
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Did critics like the latest Marvel Guardians movie?

_90009281_gotg976.jpg



Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn't out until 5 May but in an unusual move, Marvel has allowed a group of critics to offer their verdict extra early.

The film was unveiled for a group of press on Monday night who have been allowed to offer reaction as long as they don't give away any spoilers.

And it's all looking pretty positive for the team of superheroes.

Collider's Steve Weintraub weeted that the film "kept a smile on my face from beginning to end."

He added: "Funny, action packed, emotional, and tons of surprises. Thumbs up."

Hollywood Reporter's Aaron Couch tweeted "Don't think I've heard so much laughter at a press screening. People seemed to really be digging Guardians Vol. 2. Can't say more (yet)."


Fandango's Erik Davies wrote: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is exciting, funny, gorgeous & a helluva tearjerker. For many, it will become their new favourite Marvel movie."

And Mashable's movie reporter Angie J Han tweeted: "I say without hyperbole: #GotGVol2 is MCU at its very best. Grand adventure with intimate stakes. Uses every damn colour in the crayon box."

Guardians 2 picks up on the adventures of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel).

Official reviews aren't due out until next week so the fact Disney and Marvel relaxed the rules on this occasion is probably a sign of how confident they are about the sequel.

The film opens in the UK on 28 April and in the US on 5 May.

And there's more good news for Guardians fans - director James Gunn will be directing Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-announced.2148/


"In the end, my love for Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Yondu, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula - and some of the other forthcoming heroes - goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine, and I feel they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit," he told fans in his post on Tuesday.



 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I'm so pumped for this movie. I loved the first one, and really dug the comics. I really love the character of Rocket, and I'm glad he transferred well from page to screen.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Opens To Over $100 Million Internationally


Marvel has just launched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in select international markets and they’re already seeing big returns. The first film in their latest franchise was thought to be a big risk for the studio and the MCU as a whole, but still stands as one of the most beloved additions to the canon. Much of this can be attributed to director James Gunn’s style and ability to build out the Marvel Cosmic Universe, as well as featuring a dynamic group of heroes. Thanks to the love for Guardians of the Galaxy, the sequel has been a highly anticipated movie for this year.

While domestic audiences will have to wait a few more days to see the Guardians’ latest adventure, it has already debuted in a number of countries overseas. This may be just the first weekend, but Vol. 2 matched expectations and is already off to a great start.

Deadline is reporting that Vol. 2 grossed $101.2 million in its opening weekend internationally. This total comes from the sequel launching in 37 markets, with all but three seeing Vol. 2 be the top earner in each individual market. The biggest openings so far are attributed to UK ($15.5M), Australia ($11.6M), Germany ($8.3M), France ($7.9M), and Mexico ($7.6M).

This should be just the beginning of a large total when everything is said and done. The first Guardians of the Galaxy grossed $773.3M worldwide, with $440M of that coming from non-domestic territories, giving it the highest total for any non-Avengers film or sequel. With $100M already under its belt, Vol. 2 should have no problem surpassing its predecessor and be one of the five biggest earners in the history of the MCU.

The movie is set to debut in the United States this coming weekend, and projections have it tapped to pull in $150-160M (or even more). This would be a big increase to the original’s $94M opening. If Vol. 2 can hit or surpass these projections, it will be one step closer to being one of the bigger hits of 2017.

These projections could very well still be affected by the critical response to the movie as well. Even though the reviews are still positive – with the film already being certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes – they are not as glowing as the reviews for the first film. However, the success of the first also came from word of mouth, so the general public’s reaction could be the real deciding factor. Repeat viewings from Marvel fans is a given at this point, but the more that general audiences like the movie and are eager to go back for a second visit will only further push Vol. 2‘s box office.
 

The Seeker

Member: Rank 6
So he doesn't much like it. I never saw the first one but I'm going to see this tomorrow because a friend asked me. At least Karen Gillian's in the picture (she was a character on one of my favorite shows, "Doctor Who ").
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Kurt Russell on his Approach to Playing Ego


ego-191933.jpg


Marvel Studios has gone on a near-miraculous run of making perfect choices when it comes to casting their leading roles. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch…the list goes on. But from the very beginning, when they cast Jeff Bridges in the first Iron Man, they’ve also been terrific at luring A-list talent to fill out the supporting roles in their movies. I consider that to be a critical component of their overall success.

The latest example of spot-on casting? Securing Kurt Russell as Ego, the long-lost father of Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Russell – whose body of work makes him a pitch perfect fit for this character – at the film’s press junket in West Hollywood. We spoke about his approach to playing such a strange being (Ego is a living planet, for those who don’t know), the concept of digital de-aging, the most surprising aspect of making the 1993 western classic Tombstone, and more. Read on for our Kurt Russell interview.

Before we go any further, I should mention that this interview contains some pretty major spoilers right from the start. Guardians Vol. 2 is in theaters now, so make sure you go see it before you read this. Proceed with extreme caution.

***

How did you react when you first learned about the true nature of Ego?

I thought it was cool. The first movie was so beloved that I said, ‘OK, I want to do the right things, not the wrong things here.’ As I began to learn about Ego – not from the screenplay, but from talking to James about it – I realized he was going to run the gamut here. And he’s going to do things and say things and we’re going to do things with him that you’re going to not know whether he’s…is he honestly feeling that emotional, or where did that come from?

And then you realize the power he has. There’s nothing he can’t do. That’s a lot of space to play in, but you really need to keep hooking into the fact that this is about a son that didn’t know who his father was, created an image of a man, and this guy was falling short but vastly exceeding his expectations. He’s dealing with that reality, and the father is experiencing it as well as manipulating it, as a father might do who’s in that situation.

So it was always going back and forth between reality and fantasy, but it’s that edgy thing that James likes that is my sense of humor, which culminates in “Brandy.” [Laughs] Seriously talking to your son about, ‘We’re the guys in that song. It’s the greatest song ever written.’

A lot of actors who play bad guys say they can’t consider their characters to be villains because they have to be able to see things from the character’s point of view, and most villains don’t think of themselves as villains. Do you consider Ego a villain?

I don’t think it’s as important to find him a villain or not a villain. I think what’s important about Ego is his name. It’s that simple.

Yeah, it kind of is.

There it is. First thing out of his mouth is, ‘My name is Ego.’ That’s going to say it all.

What was your approach to playing him? Did you have to find a way to relate to him in order to do him justice?

It’s kind of a wide palette that you can choose from, so you better hone in one what’s relatable. We’re going to see things that aren’t. But if you hone in on what’s relatable, then there’s an emotional center to it. That was really all I was focusing on. Look, it’s interesting – families do what they do, and relationships within those families can run the gamut. I mean, run the gamut, right? So not really, I didn’t worry about it. It’s a Marvel movie. You’re going to cheer for somebody at some point. So you know that. The characters are going to do what they do.


You played the younger version of yourself [that appears in the opening scene]. So that was all you? There were no body doubles or anything there?

We assumed we were going to do it the way it’s been done lately, which is completely with CGI and special effects. Dennis Liddiard’s my makeup man. We’ve done 28 movies together. He told them before we got going, before they put dots on your face and all that, he said, ‘You know guys, I really know his face and there are a lot of tricks I can pull myself to bring his age down. Would that be helpful to you?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, anything you can do would be helpful.’ And when he was finished and I got the wardrobe on and we got the hair right, and the actor – me – had the opportunity to look at that and say, ‘OK, I’ve just gotta feel younger myself,’ it made sense. The combination of those things let us do what I wanted to do, which was create an impression, not an image. There’s going to be some misdirect involved with that. I’m going to do things to make you not look at something, but you’re just going to accept it and feel it and hopefully it’ll be more natural.

I ran into the woman last night who’s the head of the CGI aspect, and she said, ‘What do you think about what we did?’ And I said, ‘I thought it was great, but it’s my understanding you didn’t have to do a whole lot.’ And she said, ‘We didn’t. He really pulled some shit there. There’s a lot going on there.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, we wanted to do it old school.’ I think it provides a more natural look.

What do you think about the concept of digital de-aging? Would you consider doing an entire movie that way?

Oh, sure. Bob Zemeckis and I, when we did Used Cars back in 1822 [Laughs], we talked about it. I said, ‘You know, the day is going to come – and I think it’ll be kind of interesting and fun – where you hire the actor, but…’ Let’s take this as an example. Let’s say this is done 40 years from now and they’ve perfected it. For some reason – I’ll do my dream fun thing – they say, ‘We’re going to have Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Russell. We want Kurt Russell when he was 32.’ And you make the deal because you hire the actor, but the actor’s just going to sit there with the director. I think you have to have that and say, ‘I’m not just giving you my image, but I’m going to work with you as I would work with you on the set. And we have to come to some sort of agreement that I have input here. You can’t just turn this completely over because I don’t think that’s fair.’

And he and I would go back and forth. We had great conversations because, from the director’s point of view, he’d go, ‘No, I want to Roger Rabbit this. I want to be able to control everything everybody does.’ And the actor’s saying, ‘Wait a minute.’ And, by the way, [that collaboration could result in] some better ideas, too, and work together. Do I think that would be fun? Absolutely, I think that would be fun.


I have one more question for you. Tombstone is one of my favorite movies of all time. What was the biggest thing that surprised you about that film?

[Long pause] The honest answer is, I had gone out and got the money for the movie. I was responsible for that. I had backed the writer as the director. The biggest surprise was, he was as lost as a director as he was found as a writer. He was a brilliant writer, but it’s a different job. Bringing it to life is a different job. He was really in trouble there. They let him go. So the biggest surprise was that he was unable to do that.

Thanks very much for your time. It was great to meet you.

You, too. I’m glad you like Tombstone.
 

Gavin

Member: Rank 6
VIP
At least Karen Gillian's in the picture (she was a character on one of my favorite shows, "Doctor Who ").
Be warned, she's barely recognisable. If I hadn't known which character she was playing, I wouldn't have been able to pick her out of a line up.
 

The Seeker

Member: Rank 6
She was. No Scottish accent or nuthin'.

My opinion - the movie was amusing at times but overlong. I only got into it at the end. The last part was genuinely sad, no mean feat for a movie of which I had not seen the original and didn't really know the characters as well.
 
Top