GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 **CONTAINS SPOILERS**

                                                                                                                                         by Jai Hutchison 


“I’m Mary Poppins Ya’ll!”  (Yondu)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Director: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Based on the Marvel comics by: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning 

The Guardians are back for what we hope will be a fun filled, action packed, side splitting adventure of a movie! And for the most part, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 holds up to that. Returning to our screens for this second instalment is Chris Pratt as our Guardians' leader Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as the stunning Gamora, Dave Bautista as the quirky Drax, the cocky Rocket voiced by Bradley Cooper, and melting our hearts is Baby Groot voiced by Vin Diesel. When we first rejoin our Guardians, they are mid-battle with an Abilisk: an inter-dimensional monster that eats energy sources. 

Baby Groot takes this moment to crank up the tunes and rock out to ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky, which makes for a very entertaining opening credits and fight scene. The Guardians of the Galaxy have been contacted by the leader of the Sovereign race Ayesha, played by Elizabeth Debicki, and asked to protect their Anulax Batteries from the Abilisk, in exchange for Gamora’s estranged sister Nebula, who the Sovereign have captive after Nebula attempted to steal the batteries. Anulax Batteries are among the most powerful sources of energy in the universe and are very valuable, each battery being worth thousands of units.

After they defeat the Abilisk and get Nebula, the Guardians set off only to be attacked by the Sovereign’s drones due to, as Drax reveals, Rocket stealing some Anulax Batteries. Oops! But thankfully a mysterious ship passes by, defeating the entire Sovereign drones, saving our Guardians and allowing them to make a sharp exit, and a crash landing on a nearby planet. This mysterious ship however follows the Guardians onto this planet, and we discover that aboard the ship is Ego the Living Planet, played by Kurt Russell. Ego is a celestial and a member of a primordial race with god-like powers, and beyond that, he is Star-lord’s father. This is where the main plot of the movie stems from: Star-Lord finding his father and discovering his celestial heritage. ​

Although the main story focuses on Star-Lord’s relationship with his father, there are several other stories that take place throughout the movie. In this more intimate sequel there is an ongoing theme of family. As well as finally discovering his biological father and going through a variety of emotions with this discovery, Star-Lord also goes through a journey of self-discovery and questions his relationship with Yondu, played by Michael Rooker. Yondu also goes through quite a transition in regards to which side he is on and what his priorities are throughout this movie. We are also given an analysis of the relationship between sisters Nebula, played by Karen Gillan, and Gamora, including how Thanos affected their history as well as their present relationship. In the first movie their sibling relationship was portrayed quite black and white with Nebula being the bad guy and Gamora the good, however it is a lot more complex than that, and we really get to see that in this movie. 

Although with a shift in their dynamic Rocket and Groot are back and on top form. In the first movie Groot looked out for Rocket and was a protector of sorts, and now they have definetley switched rolls with Groot returning as Baby Groot. I found the character Baby Groot had more to offer and was a lot more entertaining than Groot was in Guardians of the Galaxy. James Gunn explained in an interview with Comicbook.com what exactly makes Baby Groot so different and why he is perhaps a better character than his former self. Another character that as made some changes is Drax. Perhaps after spending some time with the other Guardians, his character has developed somewhat and has become slightly less literal, but he is still incredibly funny, if not more so than he was in the first movie. ​

As well as our beloved Guardians, there are also some new additions to the cast line up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As mentioned we meet Star-Lord’s father, Ego, and with him he brings Mantis. Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, is an empath and she also has the ability to manipulate the emotions of others. She has lived alone with Ego since a very young age and due to this does not know how to interact well with others. She does however bond well with the Guardians, especially Drax, adding to the awkward dynamic of the group, which works really well.

There was one new character that for me did not work. Actually let me rephrase that. I was not a fan of the actor playing the role of Stakar Ogord. I was really disappointed with this casting. I don’t know what happened here, I mean the guy can barely talk, never mind act. I think maybe his agent called up Sarah Finn (casting) and said something along the lines of “err.. Sly has always wanted to be in a Marvel movie, it’s on his bucket list, please?” Money talks right? For me Sylvester Stallone was the only thing in this movie that did not work and that I did not enjoy.

​Just like with the first movie, this one too is packed with visual effects. And if you are planning to see it, I recommend you do so in IMAX. The scenes are presented in an expanded 1.9:1 aspect ratio, which allows audiences to see 26% more of the image than in standard movie theatres. If that isn’t enough to convince you, you can watch director James Gunn HERE giving his IMAX explanation. Gunn also states that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will have “the biggest visual effect of all time”. Speaking with Empire Magazine about the sequel, the director spoke proudly of the work involving Ego The Living Planet and stated:
 
“We have over a trillion polygons on Ego’s planet. It’s the biggest visual effect of all time. There’s nothing even close to it. Which is cool.”
 
The movie is impressive visually and I would recommend that you see it in IMAX, but I don’t think it compares to what we saw visually in the MCU movie Doctor Strange. ​

As with most Marvel productions the costumes and make up on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 are incredible. My personal favourite is Gamora. You can watch a time-lapsed video of Zoe Saldana HERE getting into make-up, which in real time took almost four hours. Another impressive looking character in the movie is Ayesha; being head to toe in gold could not have been an easy task or an easy outfit to wear for filming in. Speaking to Comicbook.com Elizabeth Debicki talks about the complexity of her make-up and wardrobe for her role as the Golden High Priestess of Sovereign. What Debicki describes as “…an intimate process, like a carwash… with a lot of paint.” was definitely worth it, because visually she looks striking.

I always look forward to the end credits of a MCU feature. However this one was a little disappointing. There are five clips at the end of the movie, none of which gave away anything groundbreaking or that exciting. The first shows Kraglin, played by Sean Gunn, brother of Director/Writer James Gunn, trying out the arrow-controlling fin of Yondu. The second clip involves Stakar, bringing together old teammates; Aleta Ogord played by Michelle Yeoh, Charlie-27 played by Ving Rhames and Martinex played by Michael Rosenbaum. Along with Yondu and Vance Astro, these guys formed the original Guardians of the Galaxy, the 1969 team. I am hoping that this is just a fun clip in honour of that, because I couldn’t bear anymore of Stallone in the MCU. Unfortunately though, director James Gunn spoke with the Toronto Sun stating that he and producer Kevin Feige are working out the future of the MCU, and they plan to include Stallone in it, so it's not looking good. 

The third clip indicates a possible plot for the next Guardians movie, which has been confirmed by James Gunn. Gunn posted on his facebook page that there will be a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and that he will be writing and directing it. In the third clip we see Ayesha plotting her revenge, and stating that she has a weapon that will defeat the guardians- ‘Adam’. Adam is Adam Warlock who like Ayesha is a Sovereign but is an artificial being, created by Ayesha as a way to help her destroy the Guardians. 

​The final two clips are more just for entertainment value; we see Groot as a teenager, refusing to tidy his room and instead playing video games. This indicates that when the Guardians return, Groot will have grown somewhat. And finally the fifth clip is a continuation from Stan Lee’s cameo earlier in the movie where he is with The Watchers: some of the oldest beings in the universe who remain hovering throughout the universe, recording all events in time but never interfering. Lee has had a cameo in almost every Marvel movie; you can check them all out HERE. Meanwhile fans have devised a theory that Lee is in fact not playing different roles but is in fact playing the role of a single being journeying through space and time, perhaps even as Uatu the Watcher, and this movie is a nod towards that says Kevin Feige in an interview with Screen Rant.
 
As a sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was great. The plot was strong, the characters progressed well and it was all set to an awesome soundtrack. I cannot wait to see where Gunn and the team take the Guardians next. But before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 hits our screens, you can catch the Guardians next year in Avengers: Infinity War. 

​I give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 4 out of 5 Ben-Day Dots