If you had to name one breakout star from the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, it'd probably have to be the Sean Gunn walking/Bradley Cooper talking character of Rocket Raccoon. A character of small stature, but great power, the furry fun-seeker knows how to blow things up real nice, and can take perfect aim with guns and words at his disposal. This summer's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 doubled down on this fact, and as you'll see in the video below, bringing him to life through complex VFX is as remarkable as his combat skills.
Looking through that VFX reel of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 footage is pretty impressive, as it shows quite a bit of the process that goes into making Rocket Raccoon what he is today. In particular, you get to see the layer by layer construction of this character, from silhouetted figure to full-fledged fur, with all of the steps in-between laid out in quick but graphic detail. We say graphic, because there's certain phases of his creation that make him look like a complicated collection of skinless chicken breasts with teeth and eyes. Being the good sports that we are here at CinemaBlend, we've provided a screenshot of said horror below, if only for your absolute curiosity/enjoyment.
It's pretty amazing looking at how our fast talking woodland friend with advanced cognition could be crafted from such horrific, but anatomically correct looking origins. But that's not the only marvel of VFX magic that helped Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 become one of the most impressive looking, and highest grossing, films of this past summer. The video showcase of these effects, provided by VFX house Framestore, goes on to show other pretty cool details, like how the film's opening setting was fleshed out, and how Baby Groot was brought to life in living, dancing color.
Of course, sometimes the most impressive feat of a good VFX professional is to make what's already physically present in the frame a little more special. The work on such details as the Sovereign's throne room, as well as Ayesha's headdress in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also helps pull together the fantastic work that both other digital effects professionals, as well as the film's practical set design wizardry. Though our personal favorite from this reel has to be the sequence that shows how Dave Bautista portrayed Drax's climb out of the stomach of one particular alien beastie from the film's opening. All it takes is some flexible plastic and some stage slime to help an actor give the right reference material to the artists who make it look like the larger than life ordeal it's intended to be.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is currently available on all fine home video / VOD platforms. If you want to see what's coming to theaters throughout the rest of the year, be they Marvel-ous comic films or not, take a look at our 2017 release schedule.
