In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we see the group consisting of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel (Groot) Bradley Cooper (Rocket) back together again, as a bickering dysfunctional family. They snip and fight constantly, but to me, it feels just like that of a normal family. Gamora not only argues with her shipmates but also with her super angsty sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan) who has returned to finally take her down. This relationship is explored throughout the film and we learn why there is such a rivalry between the two.
Rocket is his moody little self but like most of the characters this time around, we get to peek into why he is so sour and sarcastic all the time. This comes about during an unlikely friendship that he ends of cultivating in the film. Of course, we still have Baby Groot who is everything in this film but that was a given. I can never get enough of the little guy and you Groot fans (who isn’t?) won’t be disappointed.
The nucleus of all of the underlying stories is Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) meeting his long lost father Ego aka Ego the Living Planet, magnificently play by Kurt Russell. Ego the Living Plant first appeared in Thor #132 (Sept. 1966) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The relationship between father and son and the chemistry between Pratt and Russell are perfection, I couldn’t imagine two actors better suited to play father and son than these two. Watching them work together was magical.
We also get to me Mantis (Pom Klementieff), a new character and one that Ego has raised. She is what her name suggests, a bug and her mannerisms reflect as such. She and Drax (Dave Bautista) have some hilarious interactions throughout the film and some emotional ones.
Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his band of Ravagers are also featured heavily in the film and for that I am grateful. I love Yondu and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and am glad that we got to see more of their relationship, and their relationship to the Ravagers.
Our villain this time around is the statuesque, blond-haired, golden-skinned Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), also known to comic book lovers as Kismet, Paragon, and Her. She is the leader of an alien race known as the Sovereign. She hires the Guardians to do a task for her but then has the Ravagers hunt them down when things quickly turn sour.
So what did I think overall? I absolutely adored the movie. You will definitely laugh and you will definitely cry, so be sure to take some tissues with you because you will need them. The family dynamic in the film is strong, and I love that they played this up because we can all relate to the way families interact, the good and the bad. I will go on record saying that I think this one was better than the first one.
If you haven’t already heard, there will be a Vol. 3 and for that, I am ecstatic because after seeing Vol. 2 I was definitely left wanting more.
Dianna Ranere