Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Months after saving the planet Xandar, the Guardians of the Galaxy have been hired on by the elitist Sovereign race to protect their merchandise from a monstrous creature. After offending the haughty Sovereign priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the team is forced to flee, only to be rescued by Ego (Kurt Russell), the human form of a god-like sentient planet and the long-lost father of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Ego promises Peter immortality and a sense of belonging, but Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is suspicious. Meanwhile, Gamora’s sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) is out to make her suffer for always besting her as a child, and the Sovereign have hired the pirate-like Ravagers, led by Quill’s mentor Yondu (Michael Rooker), to track the team down.

Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success up to that point, 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy still proved to a surprise hit, as it featured lesser known characters, a director (James Gunn) with a checkered pedigree, and a zanier tone than any MCU film had employed up to that point. In this 2017 follow-up, the element of surprise is gone. Audiences are no longer wondering if a film like this can work; they are expecting it to. Fortunately, for the most part, it does.

As with its predecessor, Vol. 2 deftly blends action, humor, and cheesy 70s pop songs. Ego cites “Brandy” by Looking Glass as a metaphor as his time on Earth with Peter’s mother while the soundtrack ironically backs Yondu’s use of a whistle-controlled arrow to wreak untold mayhem. To this formula, the sequel adds a healthy dose of character and thematic development. Ego tries to convince Peter of his rightful place in the grand scheme of the universe, Gamora and Nebula examine their culpability for each other’s suffering (amid trying to repeatedly blow each other up with comically oversized weaponry), Yondu and perpetually angry genetically modified raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) bond over being thought the worst of, and Drax (Dave Bautista, once again hilariously and obliviously brusque) assures Ego’s empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff) that her ugliness is a sign that she must be a good person.

While a deeper and more heartfelt movie than its predecessor, Vol. 2 does suffer from a loss of freshness and a bit of ending fatigue, both in terms of the CGI-heavy last battle and the mawkish, protracted finale that follows it. Thankfully, these missteps are mostly offset by joyfully insane credits (lots of random dancing and a David Hasselhoff song, of all things) and a slew of post-credits scenes that both set up future characters and lend more context to existing ones (such as Sylvester Stallone’s Ravager leader Stakar or Stan Lee’s various cameos).

Ultimately, whether or not Vol. 2 is better or worse than Vol. 1 or places expectations for Vol. 3 too high or too low is somewhat beside the point. The fact that there was a Vol. 2 is enough to appreciate in and of itself, and that it was as entertaining as it was is icing on the cake. Here’s to these cosmic misfits and the idea that superhero films don’t have to be formulaic to be successful.

8/10