Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Sequels are notoriously difficult to make.  The first sequel I saw in the theater was Batman Returns directed by the Gothic master Tim Burton.  The reason I loved the film so much is that Batman was back and he was fighting criminals even weirder than the villain in the first one.  The reason sequels succeed is that they either improve or entirely deviate from the original film’s concept.  Examples of where this succeeded are films like Blade II, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Rescuers Down Under, The Dark Knight, The Bourne Supremacy, and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.  People go to these films because they want to see how their favorite characters have evolved or changed.  James Gunn’s sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 does all that and more with the characters in this Marvel Universe cinematic adventure.

Star Lord, Rocket, Gamora, Groot, and Drax are all back and while they are still saving the universe their friendship is the real world ending issue they are trying to save.  Without spoiling too much, one of the Guardians makes a poor decision after saving a group of aliens called the Soverign.  As a result, the relationship of the team becomes fractured and Peter Quill gets goaded into joining a man called Ego who claims to be his father on a journey to a beautiful but strangely uninhabited planet.

Bad sequels like The Hangover Part II or Tron: Legacy fail because they forget what made those characters likable and genuine.  The writers fail because all they are trying to do make a quick buck rather than do justice to the characters they honored in the first place.

Chris Pratt is still infinitely cool and engaging as Peter Quill and there is this subtle vulnerability of a mature man that in some moments still shows evidence of being a lost boy searching for who he belongs to.  Dave Batista is still fun as Drax and his failure at understanding sarcasm is still some of the funniest scene stealing moments of the film but he comes across as far more profound and thoughtful than he did in the original film.  Rocket is a jerk and Bradley Cooper is great at giving that character humility despite being a computer-generated effect.  Gamora is given more of a support role and that’s fine because I believe volume three will be her time to shine.  Baby Groot antics are hilarious and the less you know about what he did in the film the more fun you will have.  The biggest surprise though comes from actors Kurt Russell and Michael Rooker as Ego and Yondu respectively.  They provide the biggest heart pull in detailing and evolving the question of what is family?  Not only do I love what they bring to those characters but also, I know the story couldn’t have been told any better by those men.  The real question is can the people you fight with be your family more than the people who raised you?

The only place I can really fault this film is the usage of the soundtrack feels more excessive and less natural than in the original film.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the obscure tracks used to showcase the action beats of this film but every time a song came on I knew it was coming and I wanted to not expect it as much as I did.

Strengths and weaknesses aside Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 strengthens what came before it and provides an emotional payoff to the story that started with Marvel characters movie audiences knew nothing about a decade ago.  Strangers and adversaries became friends and teammates and now teammates and friends learn what it means to be a family.  It may not be a perfect sequel but it is definitely defines why sequels are worth seeing at the movies.