Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 Review

     When Marvel released the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie back in 2014 it was quite the surprise. At the time nobody except the hardcore, comic fans really knew who these characters were. Fortunately for the studio, it was a huge hit and one of the most exciting Marvel movies to come out to this day. Audiences fell in love with the loudmouth, ragtag group. The marketing material for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 seemed to carry the tone and flavor of the first film. I had the opportunity of seeing a double feature of the first and new film at my local theater here in College Station. My excitement for this movie was quite high. Although the sequel is not quite as fun and charming as the original, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 offers a lot of emotional depth and effectively adds on to these characters audiences fell in love with in 2014.

     Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 continues the story and exploration of Peter Quill's (Chris Pratt) parentage...And that's really it. One of my biggest complaint with this movie is the story. When try to describe it to someone who has no idea what it's about, it is very difficult to do so. The story is very simplistic and formulaic, however the movie is nonetheless entertaining because of the characters. This film is very character oriented and really explores the gang well, old and new members. The standouts are Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Yondu (Michael Rooker). Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) will make audiences cry because of how adorable he is.

     Audiences are given a lot more backstory and depth with these guys. The story is very focused on Quill though and his relationship with his father Ego (Kurt Russell). The two have a great dynamic and director James Gunn does a wonderful job adding emotional depth to these characters. The stand out of this film is Dave Bautista as Drax. Drax was the surprise of the original due to the uncertainty with the casting of Bautista, however his comedic timing is really solid. Audiences will definitely be able to tell that they wanted to up the jokes with Drax and all the characters in general. Unfortunately, that hurts the film.
     The jokes are really witty and audiences will enjoy them but timing is a key aspect of comedy. There are a lot of jokes that are delivered and there did not seem to be any pacing. What I enjoy with the original and a lot of the other movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is they blend comedy really well. Guardians 2 doesn't seem to really give us any breathing room and goes a bit overboard at times.

     I don't necessarily know if the soundtrack for this one is better then the first but it is still an awesome mixtape. This one seems to have a more songwriting oriented tracklist where as the original was a little more guitar oriented. Both serve the and work in the story very well.
     This film is definitely more character oriented then story and while that's not necessarily a bad approach, the film's story could of greatly used some improvement. Thanks to some heartfelt performances and decent character development. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 is a fun time in the theater.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10