Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review

Today is National Superhero Day and I saw the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe today. I’m going to try keep low on spoilers throughout review but I apologise in advance if I accidentally reveal something that you didn’t want to know.

In my opinion this movie has succeeded at that rare thing, creating a sequel that betters the original. The things that everyone loves about the first one – like the humour, the music and Groot – are all back. Marvel seem to have thought about what made the first movie work and then given us more of that for the sequel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a very funny movie – there were lots of moments that made all the cinema laugh out loud. But this movie is also one of the most emotionally charged superhero/comic book movies that I think I have ever seen. There were a couple of moments in the cinema that I was actually very close to tears. If things about families make you emotional then I won’t be surprised if it makes you cry too.

With the main team already established in the first film this one has a lot more chance to develop the characters. This is really obvious with Drax, in the first movie he did little more than deliver one-liners, however this time it actually feels like he has become a fully rounded character.

I was pleased to see that Gamora has also been given a lot more character development this time round. In the first film it felt like (at times) she was only there as little more than the token woman on the team. However for Vol. 2 she has a very compelling character arc which also involves some interesting stuff about the nature of her relationship with her sister Nebula.

Nebula and Gamora aren’t the only women in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, this time we are also introduced to Mantis. She’s a bit unique amongst big screen female superheroes in that she is actually allowed to be a more emotional character instead of a battle hardened badass. Mantis is an empath, however unlike most on screen empaths she doesn’t just sense things in vague ways (looking at Deanna Troi from Star Trek The Next Generation), Mantis gets to be involved in the action. I’m intrigued to see more of her in subsequent Guardians films.

Another thing I like about the Guardians of the Galaxy films is how they exist (comparatively) separately from the rest of the Marvel universe. Yes they are a part of everything else, yes things are set up for subsequent film. But for the most part these movies don’t require you to have an in-depth knowledge of all that came before.

I realise that I’ve got quite far into this review without discussing much about the plot. I’m not sure how much I can actually say about this movie’s plot without actually giving something majorly important away. But I will say that it involves the Guardians saving the Galaxy again and the villain is one of the best we have seen from Marvel for a long time.

Basically if you didn’t like the first Guardians of the Galaxy you won’t like this one. However if you did enjoy the first one then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this second outing for the team.  It’s awesome!