Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Review

"He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy."
-Yondu Udonta



As the Guardians continue to make enemies across the Galaxy, they run into a mysterious being called Ego (Kurt Russell) who claims to be the father of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and he has a plan for his son.  The Guardians will have make some new friends and recruit old enemies if they want to figure out Ego's true motives.


What Works:

Like the previous film, this movie works because of the chemistry between the cast.  I love watching them interact with each other.  It's almost always hilarious.  The Guardians have a great team dynamic and it helps that they aren't traditional heroes.  They are an interesting bunch and are all played to perfection.

It's great that Yondu (Michael Rooker) gets a bigger role this time around and it's shocking how much emotional material he gets.  Rooker gives an amazing performance and his arc is incredible.  I have some issues with this film, but the emotional aspects from Yondu and Peter's relationship overcomes all of those issues.

We also get some great emotional beats for Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Peter, and even Kraglin (Sean Gunn).  In the previous film, the emotional moments were usually finished off with a joke, but that isn't the case here.  We get sincere character moments for all of them and that emotional was palpable, especially Peter's rage.  

Ego is one of the best villains we've had in the MCU and I love Russell's performance.  He has an incredible heel-turn and some brutal interactions with Peter.  His defeat is one of the most satisfying in the MCU.

This movie has one of the funniest moments in any Marvel movie.  We get the Avengers-esque shot of all of out main characters standing in the core of Ego's planet with utter chaos happening around them.  It's an epic shot with an awesome score until Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is hit by a piece of debris.  This and Drax's warning after she has already been hit makes me cry with laughter every time.

Finally, I love the sequence where Rocket, Yondu, and Groot (Vin Diesel) break out of prison and take over the ship.  It's an artistically amazing shot with Yondu casually massacring the crew with his arrow.  Everything about this sequence is perfect; the visuals, the music, and the casual nature of this mass murder.   


What Sucks:

There are a few moments where the humor doesn't work, but the only other problem I have with this movie is the scene where Peter and Ego play catch with a ball of light.  It's way too cheesy for this movie especially because there is no joke here.  It's played completely straight and doesn't work at all.


Verdict:

Though not as good as the original film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a solid sequel with amazing performances, an excellent villain, and some top-tier emotional and funny moments.  There are a few minor missteps, but this movie has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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