Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Year of Release:  2017  
Director:  James Gunn
Screenplay:  James Gunn, based on the comic Guardians of the Galaxy created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Starring:  Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klemetieff, Kurt Russell, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone
Running Time:  136 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, comedy

The Guardians of the Galaxy are: Peter Quill a.k.a "Starlord" (Pratt) from Earth; ex-assassin Gamora (Saldana); warrior Drax (Bautista); wise-cracking thief Rocket (Cooper)  a genetically modified raccoon; and Groot (Diesel), a plant-like humanoid who is still a sapling, after the events of the first film.  After being hired by the arrogant and easily insulted Sovereign race to defeat a huge inter-dimensional monster, the Guardians find themselves being hunted by them due to Rocket stealing some valuable batteries and insulting their leader, Ayesha (Debicki).  Ayesha hires intergalactic pirate Yondu (Rooker) to hunt them down.  Meanwhile, Quill discovers the truth behind his mysterious origins.

When it was originally released in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy proved to be a huge surprise.  It was a risky film, even from the mighty Marvel Studios because it was so far removed from the rest of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  Instead of being a real superhero film, this was an out and out space opera, featuring a talking raccoon, and a walking tree, and the general feeling before release was that it might be too bizarre for general audiences.  However, people loved it.  It was exciting, playful and funny. Director James Gunn does not tamper too much with a winning system in this sequel.  There is all the humour, action, spectacle and '80s tunes that fans could want.  Familiarity may mean that this is not as fresh and surprising as the original, but with the character being more familiar there is more depth to their relationships.  If the first film was about getting the band together, here we see them grow and strengthen.  The performances are good, and there are several welcome additions to the team.  This is a hugely enjoyable film, the pace hardly ever flags despite running well over two hours and it provides solid entertainment.

The Guardians of the Galaxy left to right: Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klemnetieff, Dave Bautista
    

Star Trek Beyond

Year of Release:  2016
Director:  Justin Lin
Screenplay:  Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, based on the television series Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Starring:  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella
Running Time:  122 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, adventure

This is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third in the rebooted series that began with Star Trek (2009) and continued with Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).  In this film the Starship Enterprise is almost three years into it's five year mission and the crew are beginning increasingly fed up with life in deep space.  After docking at a space station, the Enterprise is sent off on a rescue mission into a uncharted nebula.  Unfortunately, it turns out to be a trap, when the ship is attacked by a vast horde of mysterious craft, led by the brutal Krall (Elba) who is looking for an ancient alien artifact on board the Enterprise.

This is a hugely entertaining slice of science-fiction action.  The special effects are spectacular, and the action moves along well, but still leaves room for character moments, and humour.  It's more of an ensemble film than some previous Star Trek efforts, rather than focusing on the Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto) relationship, it broadens the canvas by dividing the main crew up for most of the film, thereby meaning that they all have their own subplots to play out.  Chris Pine is good as the square-jawed hero Kirk, while Zachary Quinto is impressive as Spock and has a nice moment which serves as a tribute to the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, Karl Urban is fun as the wisecracking McCoy and his fraught relationship with Spock is one of the delights of the film.  Simon Pegg is good as Scotty and is given a much bigger role than Scott usually has (which isn't surprising as Pegg co-wrote the script).  Zoe Saldana and John Cho are underused as Uhura and Sulu, although they still have their moments, and there is a nice glimpse of Sulu's family life.  Anton Yelchin is good as Chekhov (of course Yelchin died tragically just a few weeks before the film opened and it is dedicated to his memory).  Idris Elba steals the show as  the evil Krall, and Sofia Boutella is impressive as kick-ass alien fighter Jaylah.

It manages the difficult task of paying homage and staying true to the spirit of the original series, while still being very much it's own thing, and with this film the new Star Trek series really comes into it's own, and the Enterprise crew really start to work together well.  A treat for Trekkers, but with enough humour and action to appeal to non fans as well.

Sofia Boutella and Simon Pegg boldly go to Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Into Darkness

Year:  2013
Director:  J. J. Abrams
Screenplay:  Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Stars:  Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Bruce Greenwood, John Cho, Anton Yelchin
Running Time:  133 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, action, adventure

This film is the twelfth to be based on the beloved science-fiction television series Star Trek (1966 - 1969) and is the sequel to Star Trek (2009).  After breaking several regulations in order to save the life of Mr. Spock (Quinto), Captain James Kirk (Pine) is demoted to First Officer.  However, Starfleet suddenly comes under attack from renegade Starfleet officer John Harrison (Cumberbatch), who kills Kirk's mentor Admiral Pike (Greenwood).  Harrison promptly flees to the planet Kronos, home of the warlike Klingons.  Consumed with vengeance, Kirk is temporarily reinstated in command of the USS Enterprise and ordered to pursue Harrison to Kronos and dispatch him with the aid of experimental photon torpedoes.  However, if Kirk carries his orders through, tensions between the Federation and the Klingons will inevitably erupt into all-out war.

The film features spectacular visual effects and plenty of exciting action.  Fans of the original series may enjoy the frequent references to characters and events, but will possibly be annoyed by the fact that the film, despite being set before the events of the television show, plays fast and loose with the series continuity and history (although this is sort of explained by the fact that this and the 2009 Star Trek are set in a parallel universe to that of the original show).  Chris Pine does the necessary heroics well, but lacks the roguish charisma of William Shatner's Kirk, Zachary Quinto makes for a great Spock, and Benedict Cumberbatch is a complex and memorable villain.  It's just a pity that Zoe Saldana and Simon Pegg are underused.

The film was made in a 2D IMAX format and was converted to 3D in post-production.  I saw it in 2D IMAX and it looked amazing in that format.  Whichever format you see it in this is an engaging and consistently entertaining space adventure.

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in Star Trek Into Darkness