Movies, Books & Disney+

Blu-Ray Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Offers a Solid Set of Bonus Features

Denise

Hi everyone!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 arrives on Blu-ray/DVD/digital on August 22nd. The movie was just so-so for me (my original theatrical review is below the Blu-ray review), but the Baby Groot dance at the beginning is totally worth owning the movie for. And the bonus features are fun and plentiful.

Here are some of my bonus feature favorites:

Reunion Tour: The Music Of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (7:32) – Besides Baby Groot, the soundtrack is a highlight of the movie for me. This segment features director James Gunn talking about how music was chosen for the soundtrack, including Mr. Blue Sky for the opening Baby Groot dance.
 
Guardians Of The Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! (5:29) – This is a digital exclusive, and shows some of the creation of the ride at Disney California Adventure (it replaced Tower of Terror). The ride is a lot of fun, and you can see that in this lively bonus feature that includes the Marvel team alongside Disney Imagineers, particularly Joe Rohde.
 
In The Director’s Chair With James Gunn (8:33) – This bonus feature is more of a tribute to James Gunn, as opposed to him talking about the film. There is some of that too, but it’s often more about the cast and crew singing his praises. It is a solid bonus feature.
 
Living Planets And Talking Trees: The Visual Effects Of Vol. 2 (10:38) – Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 mixes practical visual effects with digital, and that includes Baby Groot (we see a sculpt of him being used during filming). 
 
Showtime: The Cast Of Vol. 2 10:39 – Director James Gunn and the cast talk about making the film, and the meaning of the film – including how the story is about family, even if the family isn’t blood related.
 
“Guardians Inferno” Music Video 3:34 – Maybe this isn’t one of my favorites exactly, but it is fun and interesting in a Solid Gold meets Guardians of the Galaxy with David Haselhoff. The cast of the film is part of the video, including director James Gunn.
 
There is also a gag reel, deleted scenes, director’s commentary and other bonus features. Several of them are exclusive to the digital version, so check that out too.
 
If you loved Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I recommend the Blu-ray!
 
Here is my original review of the film:

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Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. has been releasing in markets around the world for a week before my preview on Tuesday night before the U.S. release, with friends of ours from Europe already having seen it. So my expectations were set pretty high from their glowing thoughts on the movie. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same feelings they did after the screening.

The opening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. begins with a young Kurt Russell (Ego), looking as he did maybe 30 years ago when I watched him in first-run films like Overboard and Back Draft. Yet his voice seemed not to have been changed from the more gruffer one that he has currently.

My favorite scene in the film comes early, just after that opening. I remember thinking as Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel, though there wasn’t much he needed to say) danced his way through the chaos that was hitting the screen during the ELO song “Mr. Blue Sky”, that this particular segment would be worth the price of admission alone. And even though I didn’t love the movie, it would be worth having the Blu-ray just for it. Baby Groot is adorable, and this scene just was a lot of fun for me. That kept my expectations up, until the movie then began in earnest.

Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) wants to find his father – and that sets up a pretty predictable storyline that didn’t really offer many surprises through the whole film. Rounding out the other members of the returning cast include Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, and Michael Rooker as Yondu. New to the film is a more intriguing character, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) who can not only read people’s emotions, but change them. The scenes she was in tended to be the more amusing for me – although by the end, Drax’s comments to her got a little repetitive. And for someone who said she wasn’t good with social interaction, I thought she was ahead of some of the other characters in that department. I hope to see much more from her character in future movies.

I don’t want to give details that give the plot away. I’ve already written some of what I did like about the movie – but overall I found the film bloated and kind of boring. I laughed very little during scenes that much of the audience found funny, including at below-the-belt comments (there are many of them). The humor in the film is often juvenile, ranging from – literally below a man’s belt – and poop and puke and anything that was just thrown in for laughs. It just felt like director James Gunn was throwing everything in but the kitchen sink, including just enough to keep the PG-13 rating.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 also has a high body count as far as violence, though it isn’t graphic. But I will never listen to “Come a Little Bit Closer” by Jay and the Americans the same way again.

So while my favorite scene was early on with Baby Groot, my second favorite was the ending. I didn’t really feel a lot of true emotion between the characters throughout the movie, but the last moments of the film between the characters was touching for me.

Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord) and David Hasselhoff are both in the movie, I felt both were unnecessary (though the Hasselhoff cameo did bring about a lot of laughs).

The soundtrack is decent, though I don’t think quite as strong as the original film.

I don’t recommend Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. for young kids.

Mousesteps grade: C- (But Baby Groot as a character gets an A)

 

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