Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The Guardians of the Galaxy are back! Three years after the first film was released, which made over $773 million worldwide, the team has finally returned to the silver screen.
Set six months after the first film, the team have been employed by the Sovereign, an advanced golden-skinned civilisation to protect powerful batteries from a monster attacking their planet. To the tune of ELO’s ‘Mr. Blue Sky’, they successfully defeat the monster. However, when leaving the planet along with Gamora’s sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket Raccoon discreetly steals some of the batteries.
This angers Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the High Priestess of the Sovereign, who makes it her mission throughout the film to destroy the Guardians. The Sovereign’s battle fleet is a highlight in the movie. It is discovered that the people in the battle ships are not really in the ships, but controlling them from a room on their planet that looks and sounds like an 80’s video arcade.
The film’s main focus is Arthur Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), discovering and getting to know his father, Ego (Kurt Russell). I quite liked the backstory of Ego, how the motives of Ego were portrayed, and the implications it has on Quill.
Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) is very adorable and I’m sure will sell a lot of merchandise. There is already a Dancing Baby Groot for sale in stores. In some scenes where he is unable to understand instructions makes the character that even more adorable.
Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula portray a very fractured relationship between sisters. The film delves into the reasons why they do not get along so much, and portrays a more human side to Nebula that leaves the viewer sympathetic for her.
Following the first film where he did not understand jokes or metaphors, Drax (David Bautista) has improved on this, but perhaps a little too much. When somebody makes a joke or something funny happens, he laughs hysterically that just seems way too much. He has gone from one extreme to the other. Hopefully by the third film he will have found the right balance.
My favourite scene featuring Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) is when Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his team of Ravagers try to attack him and Baby Groot. However, Rocket has set up traps around the forest where they are located, which makes for a hilarious scene where the Ravagers are blown into the air with hard force one by one.
Mantis (Pom Klementieff), a new character in the film, is a very likeable character. She has antennas that gives her the power to feel what the person she is touching is feeling. Mantis is also able to make someone feel something, for example make someone cry.
The music in the film is not as good as the first film. However, some of the songs that I particularly enjoyed hearing were ‘Mr. Blue Sky‘ by ELO, ‘Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)‘ by Looking Glass, and ‘The Chain‘ by Fleetwood Mac.
The film is not as funny as the first film and contains less action. However, the end of the film quite emotional and I felt like I was about to cry. The character development for the team and other characters such as Ego and Ayesha was a major strength for the film. I’m looking forward to seeing the team in Avengers: Infinity War in 2018.
For these reasons, I give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 4 stars out of 5.
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