How do you follow up a movie like Guardians of the Galaxy? Marvel's 2014 science-fiction blockbuster was a massively risky move that paid off in a big way for the company, with director James Gunn delivering a hilarious, action-packed romp with a crazy amount of heart. Expectations for the first Guardians film was high, especially after Captain America: The Winter Soldier had released a few months earlier to critical acclaim and people were calling it "Marvel's Best". So again, how do you follow up a movie like Guardians of the Galaxy? Easy... you make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. To put it bluntly - this movie is an absolute triumph.
James Gunn (
Slither, Super) returns to the director's chair to helm the 15th movie in Marvel's connected universe, which by now is an absolute juggernaut that has grossed almost $11 billion its films. With the first Guardians, Gunn and producer Kevin Feige (overseer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) turned the unknown Guardians of the Galaxy characters into household names. Gunn's directing style is so unique in all of his films and Vol. 2 is no different. By constantly injecting moments into scenes where it
shouldn't belong, Gunn does a great job at making these moments feel like they
have to be there. Gunn is a master of playing on the audience's expectations and uses it here to great effect.
Onto the movie itself! The first thing that should be praised about the movie are definitely the visuals. In a time where more directors (and the DC Extended Universe films) are using washed out, muted, dark colour palettes to give that "grittier" tone to their superhero films, Gunn uses almost every colour in the crayon box here. Vol. 2 is stunningly gorgeous to look at in terms of its colour and CGI, and it certainly makes the Guardians franchise stand out from other superhero films.
Also, to further set it apart from its contemporaries, the film also has a ridiculous sense of fun thanks to its characters and music choices. Like the first film, there is a huge range of classic songs to set the mood like "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac and "Come a Little Bit Closer" by Jay and the Americans. The songs may have been expensive to use, but they form such an important part of the movie by setting the unique mood and feel for the movie.
The characters themselves are expertly done also. The existing characters, like the Guardians, Nebula and Yondu each have excellent and satisfying character arcs - there truly feels like a "no character left behind" situation here. Everybody gets their chance to shine and it's definitely quite a feat for Gunn to perfectly balance the many characters so well. Chris Pratt as Peter Quill jumps back into the role and fits the character like a glove, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer is hilarious as well as endearing as is Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel as Baby Groot. Groot, in particular, is awesome - he's not just a cute face! Gamora also has an awesome arc here which is extended upon in a natural way from the first film. The standout returning character here would have to be Michael Rooker's Yondu. Generally, Vol. 2 is more character driven than the first film and Rooker plays Yondu with so much heart and emotion that absolutely pulls at the heartstrings.
The newer characters are also well done, although to a slightly lesser extent. Pom Klementieff as Mantis suffers the most unfortunately, feeling more of an unimportant sidekick than a new member of the team. However, the glorious Kurt Russell absolutely shines as Ego. Russell still has amazing screen presence and commandeers the screen whenever Ego is on-screen and is amazing to see.
The multiple cameos in the film are also awesome - Sly Stallone as the standout!
If I were to talk about the shortcomings of Vol. 2, it wouldbe that there are some slight pacing issues, particularly between Acts 2 and 3. Here, the movie does slow down a bit in favour of exposition. However, this is a pretty brief lull and most certainly picks up again.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the best possible sequel that could have been made after the first film set such a high bar. Where the first film focused mainly on plot and action over character (yes, there were character moments...just hear me out!), Vol 2. focuses much more on the brilliant characters. Gunn has crafted a brilliant duo of science-fiction comedies, let's hope he can make it an amazing trilogy! If the first Guardians was a 10/10, this would be a solid 9/10!