Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

RATING: A-

Why did most people (myself included) love the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie? Because it was something totally different for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and rather out there at times, while still containing the necessary elements to make a good and enjoyable movie: a good enough plot, surprisingly strong characters (with an even better cast) and often-hilarious dialogue. The old-timey soundtrack loaded with hits from the 70's helped for many as well. 

And thus, with the same director and little else changing the next time around, hopefully you were expecting more of the same because that's what you get for the most part. 

This installment, which starts out immediately with another action sequence loaded with humor and more 70's music, also starts out with a surprisingly thin premise in which this genetically engineered race called the Sovereign suddenly devotes literally all of their resources to destroying the Guardians... simply because Rocket stole a few batteries. It's quite fortunate that the Sovereign and their story line don't end up actually being the main one, because this movie would probably have been a little more underwhelming if it was. 

The real story here is when Peter Quill/Star-Lord's real father suddenly shows up out of nowhere--named Ego. Comic book fans *might* recognize that name, considering that despite having a human projection of himself that just so happens to be Kurt Russell... he's actually a planet. Yes, really. (It works a lot better than it sounds.) And also if you have read the comics (add maybe a vague spoiler alert here), you might be able to guess fairly easily what happens from there. Heck, I haven't read the comics and yet I saw the big twist concerning Ego coming a mile away.

That's probably this film's biggest issue, really, is its predictability. Depending on how informed you were, you probably guessed how this film was going to go before you even stepped in the theater. Fortunately, the film makes up for that aplenty. Beyond that, there's a bit of overdone CGI and coloring (particularly of Ego's planet) that can be annoying at times. And "Baby Groot" feels oddly a little sidelined at times (though I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised by that, seeing as a tiny Groot can't do quite as much as a big one).

But as previously said, it makes up for it with its characters, wit, and its action sequences--many of which are actually set to the various 70's hits, often to awesome effect. Among the cast members, it feels like Dave Bautista (Drax) and Bradley Cooper (Rocket) really embraced their roles even more, to great effect. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker all do well again too. Kurt Russell is also a great addition to the cast.

(Another spoiler alert of sorts here, though no names are named; skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid it anyway.) One criticism of recent Marvel films (particularly of Civil War) is the lack of stakes due to no characters ever dying. This film actually changes that, killing off a character in its final act; which in a sense was a breath of fresh air because it makes one feel like there actually *are* stakes to this whole thing, this whole cinematic universe Marvel has done. Perhaps they just haven't chosen to utilize said story tactic much yet.

In the end, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn't quite as good as its predecessor, in part because it isn't quite as fresh (yeah, I know that's been said a lot, but how else can one put it?). But even much of the same formula we've seen already still works, and what new stuff they actually do add to the mix works for the most part. Vol. 2 may not be regarded among the top tier of Marvel movies the way the first one is, but it won't be near the bottom either. It is still a fun sequel and anyone who loved Vol. 1 shouldn't hesitate to see it.