Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Second Verse Is The Same As The First!

If you are wondering if you will like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or not, just ask yourself whether you liked the first one or not.  They didn’t change the formula very much.  It is still a rag-tag group of rouges cracking wise and saving the galaxy.  This time with more daddy issues.  That really is pretty much the whole review, but you came for more, so here we go.

“Daddy issues” should be the be the subtitle to the film.  It turns out the whole crew, except Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista), have them, and this film explores them.  Especially Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) because his long lost his birth dad shows up.  Drax, to be fair, has other family issues because he ‘was’ a Dad.

The concept of family is a common theme with group based action films (e.g. all of the Fast and Furious films), and it is easy to see why.  You get the built in drama of learning to love and live with the “new” family juxtaposed against all of the baggage from their old “real” family, and we get to see what happens when those “families” collide.  I am guessing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will not be the last film to use this setup.  I mean Vol. 3 comes out two years from now, and those “daddy issues” will not just go away.

If you are looking for a funny film filled with a lot of action and a great group of character’s, and you are not looking for something more from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 versus what we got in Vol. 1, you will be very happy.  If you did want something more, and you were hoping this film would push the massive and now lumbering MCU forward in any real way, you may feel a little disappointed.  Thankfully this crew is too fun to let that disappointment sink in too deep.

What Is Going On With Game Studios Today?!

The internet has been going crazy the last 24 hours with reports that BioWare Montreal in the middle of restructuring, and since they were the new “Mass Effect” studio, the second Mass Effect: Andromeda game is on hold, but is it really?  Now I can see restructuring, finding a new lead dev team and bringing in some better writers, but even after Mass Effect: Andromeda’s “failure” (it has already sold way over a million copies) it is still one of the most popular gaming franchises out there.  If I see people wearing game related clothing out and about, 50% of it is Nintendo, 30% is Minecraft, but most of the rest bears a large N7 and the BioWare logo, and coming in third to Nintendo and Minecraft is nothing to upset about.  If you are EA you don’t just toss that kind of brand awareness away.

I am guessing the next game is delayed a year or so.  Just enough time to clear out some games that BioWare is currently working on so they can shuffle teams around.  Is this bad news for the people that lost their jobs? Yes (though apparently most of them didn’t), but there will be a Mass Effect game out before we know it.  EA likes to make money, and a good Mass Effect game makes them tons of cash.  We will see how things go, but I am guessing we will hear about a new Mass Effect game around E3 2019.  A long time to be sure, but considering all the games in BioWare’s pipeline, it will just take a little longer to come around again.  Now to things that aren’t okay…

IO Interactive is being sold off by Square Enix.  In some regards this understandable since Hitman is not one of Square’s major franchises, but on the other hand Hitman sold very well and won several game of the year awards.  It isn’t clear yet if the sale will include IO’s IP (Hitman, Freedom Fighters and Kane and Lynch), or if they are just selling the physical assets.  Though like most things in life, I am guessing that is negotiable.  Unlike BioWare Montreal, IO should be hard at work on its next game and reveling in its success.  I hope they find a buyer soon, so they can continue making games and avoid being shutdown.  If IO doesn’t find a buyer and I don’t get my second season of Hitman, Square Enix will enter my World of Assassination!

Holly Crap! They Are Making A Mega City One TV Show!!!

After years of failing to get another Dredd movie off the ground it turns out that 2000 AD is producing a new TV show, Judge Dredd: Mega City One!  This is a great idea!  Dredd’s world full of crazy zaniness that would really set it apart in the current oversaturated superhero TV market.  I can’t wait to hear more.  They are very early in development, but I will be tracking their progress with zeal!

We Are Getting Another Hellboy, Just Not The One I Wanted…

Mike Richardson, founder of Dark Horse Comics, has found new suitors for Hellboy with producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin.  David Harbour will now star as the titular hero, and the very capable director Neil Marshall (The Decent and Game of Thrones) will helm the film.  This script is being co-written by Hellboy’s creator Mike Mignola.

All of the above information should make me happy.  Hellboy is a fun character, but I really wanted Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman to finish their Hellboy trilogy.  To some extent it makes sense to start over, nine years have past since the last Hellboy film, so it is really not in the public consciousness anymore, but the heart wants what the heart wants.  As talented as David Harbour is, Ron Perlman will always be my HB.  Good luck to everyone involved, but it is just not the film I was hoping for.