We return to our band of cosmic misfits as we get to experience more great sci fi action and adventure with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. This sequel was a big hit when it came out, but fans seem to be split on whether or not it's better or worse than the original. Some argue that the first one is great and the second one is okay while others think that the sequel is even better and makes the original look inadequate by comparison. Though I try my hardest not to pick sides, I personally think even though the first movie is still a solid and fun superhero movie, the sequel in my opinion gives us the same great comedy and action while also pushing the story and its characters forward by giving them more emotional depth and interesting scenarios to get caught up in.
The newly founded galactic team the Guardians of the Galaxy have been saving the lives of many as well as causing mischief along the way. While trying to hide after stealing batteries from the Sovereign, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) crash their ship on a distant planet and are suddenly greeted by a random stranger who goes by the name of Ego Quill (Kurt Russel) who claims to be Peter’s father. Intrigued with the idea although still having doubts, Star-lord, Gamora and Drax go with Ego While Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to repair the ship. Everything seems too good to be true for Star-Lord until it's revealed that Mantis (Pom Klenentieff), who is egos servant, is hiding something that may prove that not all is as it seems. Meanwhile Rocket and Groot get captured by Yondo (Michael Rooker) who gets unintentionally captured himself and both of them have an adventure of their own while on the other hand, Thanos’s daughter Nebula (Karen Gillan) keeps searching the vastness of space to find and kill Gamora.
The first movie was great at delivering on big laughs and great sci-fi action and its sequel definitely does not disappoint. The space setting alone is one of the more unique locations the MCU has ever dished out and the movie is great at keeping a balance between dialogue heavy explanations and complete visual storytelling. The story goes in many interesting and different directions and each scene arguably is better than the last as it throws many quick jokes and creative action packed moments. The thing that is most interesting about this movie though is how big the heart is in this movie compared to its predecessor. The heart in the first movie was there, but the sequel decides to amp up the emotional stakes of its characters since we are already familiar with the characters and their personalities which is a great way to move things forward instead of repeating past storylines from the original movie. If I did have a tiny nitpick I would say the twist villain is pretty obvious, but I will argue that unlike many lazy twist villains, this one actually makes sense in the context of the story and you completely understand the villains motives even if you can smell him from a mile away. It's better to have a predictable villain that has clear motivations rather than a boring villain whose motivations are complicated and uninteresting.
The Characters are still just as fun to watch now as they were in their last adventure and like before the guardian characters are all fun and work great off one another. One of the biggest surprises was how they made Yondo from being a typical side character in the last movie to a character that has a much bigger role to play that impacts Star-Lord's journey of self discovery. Speaking of which, Star-Lord gets more of an emotional storyline with reconnecting with his father and realizing the true meaning of family that still perfectly ties into his character growth. Then there are new characters such as Mantis who add something new to the table whether it’s comedy or interesting insight. It helps expand the universe of the guardians and gives the audience to characters to either route for or boo for.
The visuals still keep that inspired sci-fi look that made the first movie so unique and this film gets creative with its action set pieces especially towards the third act which is guaranteed to make you feel so many emotions at once. They also introduce new creative action moments such as the beginning of the movie where the guardians have to take down a huge alien monster or the guardians escaping a group of ships controlled by the Sovereign that work almost like a video game. Costuming for each of the characters is still just as effective for its old characters as well as its new characters and the planets and ships we get to explore have tons of personality in just the beauty of their designs.
Tyler Bates returns after his unique score from the last movie. This movie gives you the same amount of classic 70’s and 80’s tunes but also adding just enough uniqueness to tell the sequel apart from the previous entry. Even the traditional compositions have been brought up to their full potential as it could be argued to be even more emotionally impactful which makes sense seeing how big the heart is in story and characters.
Many people still have differing opinions about this movie, but I personally believe that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is not only just as great as last time, its also in some ways even better than before with its heartfelt and fun storyline, loveable and memorable characters, great visuals and a spunky music score that is just as fresh now as it was before. This is personally my favorite from director James Gunn and I still am hoping that Disney will be able to hire him back to make the more than rumored third movie because if his in development script is just as good if not better than this one, I can only expect even better things are in store for the Guardians of the Galaxy.
(Final Grade: A)