Review 409: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is an outrageously funny as well as a surprisingly emotionally heartfelt adventure sequel.

Set to the backdrop of "Awesome Mix #2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the irreverent team's adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of space. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries surrounding Peter Quill's (Chris Pratt) true parentage.
Old foes become new allies and fan-favourite characters from the cosmos come to our heroes' aid as the MCU continues to expand.

The plot is brilliant. It just feels like a natural continuation of the first film, its humour, its style and its characters.
It's about family and being a family and the choices those people make and the consequences of those choices. By setting the sequel a couple of months after the first film, returning Writer/Director James Gunn is able explore the characters new roles as the Guardians. There're still a few growing pains among them, not everyone is sure where they belong in this team of spacefaring misfits and too watch these dynamics play out against the backdrop their next big space adventure is poingnet and a joy to behold.

In terms of writing and structure, it's pretty clear the James Gunn has drawn a lot of inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is basically two parallel storylines with the A story being Star Lord, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) & Drax's (Dave Bautista) interactions with Ego (Kurt Russell) whilst the B story is Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel) & Yondu's (Michael Rooker) little skirmish with a mutinous group of the Ravagers lead by Taserface (Chris Sullivan).

James Gunn's direction is energetic, the cinematography is beautiful and in particular captures the beauty of Ego's planetary form. The scenery is breathtaking, the special effects are fabulously elegant, the locations are amazing, it's fast paced - just like the first film, there was never a dull moment. The production design is astonishing, the costumes are majestic, the score by Tyler Bates is fantastic, the action scenes are explosively exciting, the make-up is gorgeous, the comedy remains outrageously inspired and the soundtrack is better than ever with hits such as Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra, Fox on the Run by Sweet, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass amongst others all inspired choices.

Chris Pratt once again excels as Peter Quill/Star Lord, he lot more mature then when he was in the first film, he's member, a leader even, of this group of eclectic characters, trying his best to stay out of trouble, though not necessarily doing the best job. But also, this film gets to the core of Peter Quill, he's a guy who has never known a family, who lost his mum at a young age, been abducted by space pirates and subsequently raised by them and is someone trying to find where he belongs and a chance encounter with his real father - a father he never knew he had but may just provide that very place he's been searching for his entire life.

Zoe Saldana is fabulous once again as Gamora, when it comes to the Guardians as a team, she is the voice of reason of the mother figure if you will. She is a meticulous, detailed & professional individual. Because she's an assassin, that means Gamora is constantly on survival alert and she doesn't let her guard down that easily which is why she becomes suspicious of Ego when the Guardians start interacting with him.

Dave Bautista
Over the course of the film, a romance blossoms between Drax and Ego's ward Mantis (Pom Klementieff) which was honestly a stroke of genius on James Gunn's part. Both of them are complete odd ball: Drax as he doesn't understand metaphors and Manis due to her naivety and lack of social interaction which their attraction to one another feel just as natural as it is hilarious.

Bradley Cooper is once again a joyful hoot as Rocket, much like in the first film, has some sort of crisis of faith about whether or not he actually belongs in this family. By this film, he's the "forever martyr", as Cooper put it, of the team. He has his own pack now, it's not just him and Groot as it was at the beginning of the first film. So he's got other people to contend with and harmonise with and battle with.
His arc going forward is about him coming to terms with accepting his place within a group of people, which probably, from his point of view, seemed like a good idea for two seconds when they were getting along and saving Xandar and it's like he's just not very comfortable with the idea.

Gunn also shows there's still a story around Nebula. The relationship between her and Gamora is more prominent here than it was in the first film and Karen Gillan sinks her acting teeth into the character and delves down into the depths of her character.
Nebula and Gamora have always had a turbulent relationship, both of them have been at each others throats and suffer from some pretty serious daddy issues

Pom Klementieff is an utter delight (maybe even a breakout star) as the adorable Mantis, she has been raised to be Ego's ward her whole life meaning she has never really experienced social interactions. When she & Ego meet the Guardians its a whole new experience for her and to discover new things. She's nieve, she's weird, she's an oddball which are great things to showcase in superhero, space adventure. Not only does this make for some tremendous laughs throughout the film, but it's relatable as it's comparable to a child making mistakes and screwing up in social situations. I really hope kids of all ages look up to this character.

Elizabeth Debicki is also a strong presence as Ayesha, the leader of the Sovereign People.
A running gag of sorts throughout the film is that the Sovereign People, who are this race of highly advanced, genetically engineered aliens or as Rocket articulatly puts it "conceited douchebags", who are after the Guardians because Rocket stole some of their technology. As their leader Ayesha is certainly very arrogant and has a very high opinion of herself and the rest of her race and the fact that they consider themselves better than everyone else in the entire universe adds to the films lighthearted vibe.

Chris Sullivan is a flipping hoot as Taserface...   Yes, that actually his name, the leader of a mutinous group of the Ravagers who believe that Yondu is going soft and is also just a humungous dumbass who thinks "Taserface" is a cool name. But at the end of the day he's just a guy doing a job.
The sheer ridiculousness of his name is used to hysterical comedic effect.
Sullivan just lights up the screen with his own unique brand of bombast.
He is so outrageous that he's two steps away from being a cartoon character.
There, honestly, was never a dull moment when Taserface was onscreen.

Kurt Russell is simply brilliant as Ego the Living Planet, playing both the adventure seeking, cocky but wise father of Peter Quill that the Guardians initially meet and the dangerous villain that he eventually becomes. His name is pretty self-explanatory, he has a massive Ego about himself or a god complex if you will.
He has been traveling and exploring the cosmos for millions of years in a quest to find life and because of his god complex and the fact that he considers himself better than everyone else makes him into one hilariously conceited and egotistical, but also ruthless and megalomanic douche. As a result he considers all of his findings to be inferior compared to himself.
His scenes with Star Lord are touching, poignant & enormously relatable.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is outrageous, touching fun. 4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.