Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Marvel Cinematic Universe sequels have the difficult challenge of expanding on their protagonists story arc following their origin movie. Before the Captain America sequels, they were typically a let down from their predecessors in terms of quality and entertainment value. They eventually managed to provide proper continuations for Steve Rogers by creating better developments for him and putting the effort into continuing the story (Avengers: Age of Ultron also deserves a little credit in almost achieving this as well). This brings us to the Guardians of the Galaxy, a team of misfits whose adventurous antics, awesome soundtrack, and goofy laid-back attitude became my favorite MCU movie and has left a few doors open to explore in the sequel. The trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 that were released did a beautiful job of not showing much while teasing enough visuals and characters bits to entice its audience to see what it surprises are in store for the crew. I went into the theater ready to see how this sequel will perform and left the theater with a smile while being reminded that I can feel feelings.

NOTE: For those of you interested in my thoughts on those sequels in greater detail, I created a page dedicated to the MCU, which includes the movies and TV shows.

Plot: The story takes place a few months after the Guardians saved the galaxy from Ronan and follows them dealing with some personal family issues after coming into contact with Star Lord's biological father. This is one of the few Marvel sequels that actually focuses more on developing the main protagonists rather than being some bland popcorn action fluff. It's also worth noting that this is the third superhero movie in a row that focuses on developing the family angle of the main characters (The Lego Batman Movie and Logan) in some very nice heartwarming scenes. The plot takes a while getting used to the first half since there many story pieces being put into place but paying attention to the details while keeping in mind what has been established in the first movie helps give a great payoff in the second half. The jokes are more ridiculous and raunchy than before to the point of Marvel really pushing its limits, with a certain phallic joke somewhere in the middle of the story while a few of them aren't that effective. The family theme explores how relationships are affected with each characters upbringing and what it can do to the individual's outlook on their own life (that's the best way I can try to summarize without spoiling too much). The movie experience is more exhausting than before not only due to the action but also the numerous story threads being explored. However, to director James Gunn's credit, he knows how to balance those characters arcs and goofy over-the-top elements with very sweet silent scenes where conversations brings us closer to enjoying these characters we have grown to care about. To get an idea of how much insane fun is in store for you, observe the very first action scene with the Guardians of the Galaxy as an indication. Overall the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy throws in many story arcs that takes a while to figure out in the first half but manages to bring everything together in the second half in an emotionally exhausting and humorous experience.

Characters: The characters to focus on are Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Yondu (Michael Rooker), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Peter is the leader of the Guardians who is forced to confront his father issues (and his own personal ego) when the team runs into his long lost father. Chris does a solid job at playing himself bringing his natural charisma to this role where he would be swinging one-liner jokes at his teammates and coming to terms with truths about his family in his encounters with his birth father. He helps bring us to understand the meaning his characters arc that was started with his mothers death that continues with his current misfit family. Yondu is a leader of a Ravagers faction who kidnapped and raised Peter immediately after his mom's passing. Michael brings a great performance in showcasing his character as a special MVP in this film in the character arc he undergoes involving his interaction with Rocket Raccoon and Peter. He's having a fun time throughout the absurdity of every situation he goes through and has a few surprises of his own during the second half that helps boost empathy for these likable misfits.

Gamora is a Guardian who was orphaned and trained into assassination by Thanos (before betraying him in the first movie). Zoe is given more material to work with than the first movie, which she takes advantage of to the best of her ability to show character growth in the Guardians family while also having to contend with her radical sister problems involving Nebula. Honorable mentions go to Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillian), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff). Rocket is a Guardian and a lovable raccoon bounty hunter who undergoes a family arc of his own when he runs into Yondu and shares great interactions with him. Groot is a Guardian and tree-humanoid in his adorable baby form after the events of the first movie who goes on wacky adventures with Rocket (something great to note is how James Gunn knew how many cute moments to milk from him without overshadowing the important character development moments of everyone else). Nebula is an adopted daughter of Thanos with a sister rivalry against Gamora and Karen goes even more over-the-top in her performance while exploring more history details about the relationship between the conflicted sisters. Drax is a Guardian and skilled warrior looking to avenge his family's death caused by Thanos. Dave does a great job with his performance in not only delivering some great one-liners but also through his interactions with those around him while not having much of an arc this time around, which is fine considering what he went through before. Mantis is Ego's associate with empathetic abilities and an adorable little naive personality. Pom provides a standout performance in her role and her interactions with Drax are charming to the point where Mantis is the sweetest MCU character so far (I will even claim that she's a little more delightful to watch than Baby Groot. Yes I just said that). Overall the cast and characters in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 give great performances as they confront the dilemmas they face in their interactions with each other, adding more depth to them.

Action: The manner in which the action is treated is rather fascinating to watch. The action is fairly disbursed in the beginning, the middle, and ending while making enough room for the aforementioned nice moments. Some action bits involve a typical spaceships battles in outer space. Most of the time there's something quirky or unique about it that brings fun energy to the experience, starting from the very first action scene. One standout scene shows a fight between adopted sisters Gamora and Nebula escalating to the point where the latter is trying to shoot her down with a fighter jet while the former fights back with a piece of that ship's turret gun (If you think you and your sisters have it rough, I'll refer you to that scene). Another standout is the climax at the end which goes all out with everything on the line and the galaxy in danger (again), which the Guardians can't use Star Lords dance moves to make it through this time. Overall Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. pushes the insanity of over-the-top action compared to its predecessors to the point of exhaustion yet being brilliant to watch.

Overall Consensus: While not as good as its predecessor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 proves itself as a good sequel that allows more emotional character growth, gorgeous visuals, an amazing soundtrack, over-the-top action, and fun quirky humor. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Reasons to watch it: You like Marvel movies. You like any of the aforementioned actors. You enjoyed the first Guardians movie and want to see how the sequel continues the adventure. You like sci-fi action comedy movies with over-the-top action and great jokes. You want to see the beautiful visuals. You want to hear the soundtrack being used. You want to see the five post end credits scenes (Yes there are five of them. Honestly James Gunn deserved it considering how good both of these movies are). The Marvel fatigue hasn't worn you out. You like watching sequels that develop the characters even further instead of being popcorn schlock. You want to see how adorable Baby Groot is.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like Marvel movies. You don't like any of the aforementioned actors. You are worn out from the Marvel fatigue. You don't like superhero movies. You don't like movies with over-the-top action.

Coming up next: The summer has gotten to a good start with May Madness so far! The Superhero Summer Slamfest has brought in good results for time being, though this brings pressure to see how the iconic DC heroine will do next month in her own origin story. But for now, it's time to go from the goofy side of sci-fi to the horror aspect later this month as May Madness will continue (or conclude) with Alien Covenant!!!