Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

It seems like it was not long ago that Marvel took a humongous gamble by making Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie about a comic book property many didn't know about. But honestly, they got it perfect, with the right amount of humor and hitting every note possible that made it such an instant classic and one of the best of the cinematic universe. Naturally they'd want to make a sequel, but a sequel to such a movie would be tricky, very tricky.

They'd want to keep the same overall aesthetic, so they let director James Gunn return for Vol. 2. They'd want to keep the humor, so they let him write it again. They'd want to hit all those hits, so they kept most of the cast and hired newbies, and also made another great soundtrack. There's no way they could fuck this up.

Basically, it seems like the movie is all about going back to origins...Star-Lord going back to his father, being left without their backup for the most time, old crew joining forces for one last chance. And that all really works. The overall story is somewhat lacking and kinda slow to begin with, but it does a good job for what it is. Plus there's a nice heavy twist, and it does throw a lot on the line so it's not completely unnecessary in the end.

The cast is astonishing. The Guardians themselves are still fun and still chock full of great chemistry between them. Franchise newcomers like Pom Klementieff and Elizabeth Debicki add some depth to the lore, and Kurt Russel is homely...almost scary so, as Ego. It's also always great to see Sylvester Stallone in this day and age.

But this movie is nothing like its predecessor. It gets close, don't get me wrong, but it's still off by far. Yes, the slowness of the beginning is part of the problem, but my main issue is the fact that the movie does not feel nearly as memorable as the first one. With the first one, we were all struck with awe in the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy ended up being a great movie, and it stuck with us over the years. Now that we're more used to things, the movie doesn't try to take steps to wow us again in other ways to make up for it. It's not a bad movie, like I said, not by far, but it's not as good as it could be.

But that's really a minor problem, and if you're going to see the Guardians once again, you'll be happy. However, it only gets an 8.4/10 from me, because I know it could be better. I'd still rather watch it than Civil War though, that's for sure...and hey, James Gunn is apparently coming back for the third installment, so maybe they'll learn from their mistakes. But all in all, it's still good fun, and I'd definitely recommend a watch.