Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Review

Images courtesy of Disney & Marvel

I finally had the chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 last week. I really enjoyed it. It was funny, and sad, and heartwarming, and all about family. In all, it was the perfect sequel. Caution: Spoilers Ahead!

The movie starts with the Guardians struggling to settle into their new life as heroes. (And a hilarious fight scene that heavily features a dancing Baby Groot.) Unfortunately, it seems like they are constantly bickering. When Rocket steals some batteries and offends the High Priestess of the Sovereign, Ayesha, the Guardians are forced to flee. The golden Sovereign chase them in drone ships (keep an eye out for Ben Browder from Farscape as the Sovereign Admiral!), but are stopped by someone unexpected.

Gamora, "A little one-inch man saved us?"
Rocket, "Well, if he got closer, I'm sure he'd be much larger."

The "little one-inch man" turns out to be Ego, a planet as well as a man, and also Peter Quill's father. He has been searching for Peter since he hired Yondu to deliver him years before. Peter is rather reluctant to warm up to, and yet completely in awe of, his father. And he has a million questions about Ego's past and his relationship with Meredith Quill, Peter's mother.

In another part of the galaxy, Ayesha has hired Yondu and the Ravagers to track down the Guardians and destroy them. When they find Rocket, Groot, and Nebula with the crashed Milano, the Ravagers figure they'll capture them easily. They're wrong of course, and Rocket manages to attack them with several hilarious traps, before finally being stopped by Yondu. Unfortunately for Yondu, his affection for Peter causes his crew to mutiny, replacing him as captain with the ridiculously named Taserface.

With everyone searching for the Guardians, we find ourselves in familiar territory. There are epic battles, moments of ridiculous comedy, and surprisingly, some deeply sad scenes as well. I won't give away the rest, but the end was the best part of the movie. And make sure you bring the tissues; I cried for most of the last twenty minutes.

The music in the film was fantastic. Every song just worked with the scene and added a fabulous sense of nostalgia for those of us of a certain age. And the choice of Cat Stevens "Father and Son" for the last big scene was absolutely perfect, although it almost made it sadder.

Like with previous Marvel films, make sure to stay all the way until the end of the credits. I've never seen so many extra scenes in my life! (I believe there were five in total.) Besides, you wouldn't want to miss the second Stan Lee cameo in the movie. It's even funnier than the first one, "That time I was the FedEx guy." (I love the reference to his appearance in Captain America: Civil War.)

In the end, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 was about family, both the family you're born into and the one you choose for yourself. As Peter Quill said, "Sometimes, that thing you're searching for your whole life, is right there by your side all along, and you don't even know it." The Guardians are definitely a family, a bit dysfunctional perhaps, but a family nonetheless.