Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 came out in 2017 and felt fairly different from the first one. The first film was set up comedy-emotions-comdey, whereas this one was set up as emotions-comedy-emotions. I was genuinely surprised to find myself crying somewhat at the end of this film, but of course we’ve reached the point where all of these movies are going for an emotional gut-punch. The character development was strong for each individual and everything was tied together in a comprehensive way for the audience. It is a good film that I enjoyed rewatching, and of course Baby Groot!

Finally, we have the new, cooler Marvel intro! You know, the one that DC and Star Wars immediately copied without making it ‘obvious.’ I was excited to finally see this intro and was surprised it took so long, I thought it had been on some of the older films. The film jumps right in and we meet Peter’s mom, and the man we can deduce to be his father. They’re having a wonderful time, and later in the film we get a huge shock in regards to her death. Next, we notice some tension between the Guardians and see it build throughout the film, mainly between Rocket and Quill. Of course working and living together in such close quarters would cause tension, but it seemed a bit surprising after the way the last film ended. This tension gets resolved at the end of the film when Yondu calls Rocket out on his shit and both individuals show that they do care for Peter and the others. 

Something I found rather surprising that I didn’t notice when I first saw it was how dark this film actually is. Ego is a sociopath, who is trying to essentially destroy all life in existence and claim the universe for himself. He killed the woman he claimed to love, rather brutally by giving her brain cancer, and has been killing his offspring that didn’t carry the Celestial gene. My mom pointed this out and it was somewhat disturbing to think about. The film also has a rather sad ending that left me in tears: Yondu’s funeral. It seems like the beginning of a new journey for the Guardians, but unfortunately the reality is not so positive (Infinity War).

Peter Quill, or Star-Lord, has some strong character development in this film and has an emotional appeal to the audience. We learn more about how much he cared for his mother and his desire to know who his father is. However, once he does learn who his father is, he has an internal struggle because he wants this to work but doesn’t know this individual very well. For a brief period of time, he is understanding and excited about Ego’s mission, but once he learns the truth about his mother’s death he turns on Ego. In theory, he is protecting the galaxy, but the emotional reality is that he’s getting revenge for his mother’s death. In the end, he realizes Yondu was his father and learns that he doesn’t need to be searching for anything because he has everything he needs with his real family, the Guardians. 

Gamora and Nebula grow together in this film. We learn more about what they went through when Thanos raised them. They were both living in fear of surviving until the next day, and all Nebula wanted was a sister. While they are hostile and violent towards each other at first, as the film progresses they are able to work together and rebuild their bond, mainly through Gamora. She also starts to show some of her feelings for Peter through them dancing together, her worry for him during the battle with Ego, and her acknowledgement of the unspoken thing. Gamora is also exceptionally strong, which we didn’t see as much in the first film.

I’ve already discussed some things about Rocket, so now I’m going to focus on Baby Groot. He is a gift to the world and loves dancing, but not in front of Drax. He is seemingly hostile towards Drax, and is fairly violent for a child. He also hates hats, which was an important development. He was able to get revenge on the Ravager that scared/hurt him, which is good because anyone who hurts Baby Groot deserves suffering.

We meet a new character in this film: Mantis. She’s living on Ego’s planet but helps the Guardians because she wants to do the right thing. She may not seem like much, but she is actually an incredibly strong individual due to her abilities. She is able to hold Ego at bay until she is knocked out, which is no small feat. She seemingly befriends Drax who is willing to sacrifice himself to save her, as we saw. They have a good friendship, and we learn the Drax is surprisingly wise and good at giving advice. We also learn that Drax absolutely hates dancing, which is why Baby Groot never dances in front of him. 

Some fun and interesting things in this movie! David Hasselhoff makes a cameo in the film and in the end credits, and it is rumored that he will play a larger role in the future films. Howard the Duck returns, drinking and seemingly living his best life. There were 4 end credit scenes. That’s right, 4! The first is the Ravager’s teaming up like the old days, claiming they’re going to steal some shit. However, I do believe this team is a variation of the Guardians of the Galaxy that disbanded a while ago. The second scene is Ayesha mentioning her new creation: Adam. We can deduce that this new character will play a large role in the next Guardians film, and I believe is an important character in the comics. The third scene was Stan Lee being left by the Watchers. While we did see him talking with them earlier, mentioning his time as a FedEx worker, they show him again with them in the end. There is a theory that the reason Stan Lee is in all of these films is because he’s working for them and providing them with information. Clearly he’s given them too much though! The last scene is of teenage Groot being a typical teenger with Peter. 

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