When the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie was announced in 2014, audience reactions were mixed. Only the biggest of Marvel fans knew who these characters were and they were not related to the Avengers in any way. So naturally, not a lot of people were excited for this movie.
However, when the film was released, it took audiences by surprise with it’s amazing acting, action scenes, humor, visual effects and most notably, it’s soundtrack. As a result, the movie made 774.2 million dollars worldwide and the Guardians quickly became a household name.
As expected, when the sequel was announced, there was a lot of hype for it. Thankfully, the excitement was worth it.
Directed again by James Gunn, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” centers around Peter Quill, or Star Lord, as well as Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Baby Groot, played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel respectively.
Throughout the film, the team is being hunted by a conceited and powerful alien race called the Sovereign, as well as an exiled clan of space-pirates, the Ravagers. Michael Rooker plays Yondu, Quill’s adoptive father and leader of the Ravagers. In addition, Peter’s true parentage is finally discovered in the form of the mysterious being known as Ego, portrayed by Kurt Russell.
While this new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not as revolutionary as “The Avengers” or “Logan,” it still knocks the ball out of the park. It continues the story; adds some new faces, such as the socially awkward and amusing Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff; and expands on what made the original so great, as a sequel should.
The visuals effects and colors are breathtaking, the set pieces are well-designed, and the humor is guaranteed to have people in stitches. In addition, the action sequences will have the audience at the edge of their seats, the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 soundtrack will have them jamming in the theater non-stop, and Baby Groot is so adorable.
However, the highlight of the movie is the characters. There are a lot of character development scenes that expand on the main characters’ personalities, backstories and relations to one another. The actors’ charisma and chemistry strengthens the development and makes their characters’ struggles and relations more realistic and relatable.
As the story progresses, the audience gets to see some interesting and emotional interactions between characters such as Rocket and Yondu as well as Gamora and her estranged sister Nebula, played by Karen Gillian. As a result, these characters become more complex and fascinating, and their stories evolve into journeys of self-exploration.
The movie also explores brilliant, heartfelt and tear-jerking themes through these relationships. Such themes include the true meaning of family, the consequences of hero worship, domestic abuse and how life-long pain and suffering can prevent people from seeing the good things they already have in their lives.
Abuse is a traumatizing experience ever, especially when the abuser establishes an “every man for himself” attitude. As a result, the victims of the abuse are blinded by fear and cannot see the pain and suffering that their counterparts are going through.
This is demonstrated in the relationship between Gamora and Nebula. Their evil father, Thanos, would have the two sisters spar one another and whoever lost would be enhanced in order to make the sisters equals. Gamora always won and as a result, Thanos tore out many of Nebula’s body parts and replaced them with cybernetic enhancements.
As a result of this, Nebula always blamed Gamora for the horrendous torture she went through, because Gamora was so focused on staying unharmed that she completely ignored how her victories were only worsening Nebula’s life and their relationship.
As with any comic book film, Marvel ones in particular, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is littered with Easter eggs that range from minor characters alluded to have a major role in the future, to aliens that only true Marvel fans will recognize.
While characters such as the Sovereign and their High Priestess were underwhelming and weak characters, it later became clear that their purpose in the movie was to set up future events in the MCU.
Overall, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is an astonishing movie. The story fills in all the gaps from the first film, the characters are more developed and relatable, the visual effects and set designs are as creative as they are beautiful and the new emotional tone is more than welcome.
Longtime Marvel and comic fans, fans of the MCU and even just common moviegoers will find “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” to be definitely worth the time and money; however, it’s recommended that they bring tissues just to be safe.
