I Am Groot (Disney +) (2022)

 

That was cute and charming. It's nice that they got Vin Diesel to do the voice. 4 stars.

Man, the last shot made me forgive it a little, but I didn't like that. Baby Groot may be cute but he's also a total brat. 1 1/2 stars.

I Am Groot "Groot's Pursuit"

Meh. I'll give it this. The animation was pretty great, particularly Groot's facial expressions.

The rest of the short was a bit of a mess. While the dance-off is a good callback for fans of the first movie, it makes absolutely no narrative sense here whatsoever. Also I instantly knew the alien was doomed. Because he contradicted the entire catchphrase. That simply isn't done.

Meh, I say, meh. 2 1/2 stars.

The sight gag of Groot sprouting leaves was a great visual. But the Scarlet O'Hara reference was completely shady.

Let me honest. James Gunn said pretty clearly before the shorts were released that they weren't canon. It struck me as a weird thing to separate his movies from, especially if he's producing the damn shorts himself. But he was right to do it. Forget the Scarlet thing. How is it Groot is inexplicably traveling from planet to planet in many of these shorts with zero supervision? How did he get there? Where are the other Guardians? The film franchise doesn't have a ton of dramatic integrity compared to the rest of the MCU. But it's still present. The premises behind many of these shorts tend to be pure nonsense. 3 stars.

Great surprise appearance by Bradley Cooper as Rocket.

ALF comics are a pretty deep 80's pop-culture cut, but they were produced by Marvel, so I find the reference entirely appropriate.

I liked this one a lot. 4 1/2 stars.

Those are some weird-lookin' birds. 3 stars.

Is that Kevin Bacon? I think Drax and Mantis are gonna have to kidnap Baby Groot next.

Also, this is not the spaceship where you want a nose.

I think the way Baby Groot holds a videogame controller is how we should all hold them from now on. I know I will. But how did he get a videogame from the 1990's? 4 stars.

Kid needs to change his catchphrase to "I am Cute!" and call it a day.

Do you want to build a hitman?

Bradley Cooper comes back to record two lines (and is credited for them) 'cause the show cares JUST that much. 3 1/2 stars.

It still amuses me that it actually IS Vin Diesel voicing this nonsense.

Howard the Duck ice cream novelty? They need to sell those on Earth.

Digging this. 3 1/2 stars.

Bold opinion: This is Jeffrey Wright's best performance as The Watcher. He plays the character funny brilliantly. He is as charmed and surprised by Groot as the rest of us. He's amazing. The guy is super versatile and talented. 5 stars.

"The Entertainer" has always been one of my favorites and I did not realize that I needed an electronic version (actually, two versions) until today and, DAMMIT!!!, neither is included on the soundtrack (or available at all!).  Nor is the electronic version of "Only You (and You Alone)".  There's only two tracks available from season 2 out of all of the great music that was in this batch.  It's only about 25 minutes (give or take) for the whole "season" and two tracks -- exactly 5 minutes worth -- is all that they can put up for sale?!?!?... At least I already have "The Platters' Greatest Hits"... *sigh*...

 

Oh... and, uh... yeah... those were fun...  Now where's the rest of the music, Disney?!?!?!?