capeshit capeshit I watch nothing but capeshit
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn, 2017)
This will probably end up sounding a lot more critical than I mean it to be, so to be clear, this is not a bad movie. It's a fun ride with likable characters and sparkling visuals. But it's definitely a step down from the first one, and I think the main problem is that the sense of irreverence that Gunn brought to that movie doesn't quite work here. What felt sly and subversive there just feels crude and immature here, like a teenager loudly yelling swear words in public. The heavier subject matter here needed a more sincere approach. This is illustrated best by what I consider to be the single worst joke in the MCU - the random "lol it's David Hasselhoff" gag directly after Ego admits that he murdered Peter's mother. It ruins the weight of the moment, and isn't even funny. A lot of the jokes here stuck out due to their lameness, in fact. There's a lot of lowbrow toilet humor, yelling about "turds," and the "It's not ripe," running gag made me groan with how bad it was. Also, Baby Groot wasn't funny, and came across as a walking toy commercial whenever he was onscreen. Again, the movie is good, but it could have been a lot stronger.
Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins, 2017)
Yes, it's a good DCEU movie. An astonishing concept. It's a cool setting, Gal Gadot can in fact act, the romance at the center of the film is charming, and it all looks great. I'm in agreement with pretty much everyone else that its biggest flaw is the last-minute arrival of Ares for the tacked-on mandatory DBZ-style boss battle, although this one is at least considerably more restrained and shorter than prior DCEU climaxes.
Baby Driver (Edgar Wright, 2017)
This was disappointing. The action scenes are fantastic, as Wright's always are, the eclectic soundtrack is lively and fun, and the supporting cast are great. But the two leads, along with their relationship, are woefully, fatally dull and bland. I didn't care about either of them. And what's especially sad about that is that at the start of the movie, the protagonist seemed promising. I liked the goofy weirdo who danced through the streets while getting coffee, made mixtapes of random snatches of conversation, and didn't care what insults were hurled his way. Wright should have leaned into his eccentricity more, maybe had that be how he charms his love interest - but instead, that mostly fades away before too long and we're left with a boring guy who doesn't have much to say for himself and constantly wears sunglasses so we can't even see his whole face. Not that Ansel Elgort would have brought a lot of subtle acting to the role had he been free to emote. My impression of him after this movie is that he's a mediocre and distinctly uncharismatic actor.
Another problem is that the last act of the film is far too eventful. The climax goes on for too long. We're led to believe that everything is coming to a head during the final heist - but wait, now there's a tense scene at the diner, this must be it - oh, wait, now we're at the parking garage, time for one more dramatic final battle. It's exhausting from the viewer's perspective. Wright obviously understands the concepts of pacing and narrative momentum, so I don't know what happened. And just to criticize the story itself for a moment, it doesn't ring true to me that Doc helps Baby out at the end because he has a soft spot for people in love, when he literally used Baby's new relationship to coerce him into resuming working for him earlier in the movie. Wright's movies are justifiably acclaimed for their attention to detail, and an oversight like this really sticks out.