Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Lots of laughs in fun, fast moving story

Cons: Some bathroom humor, characters could be sharper

The Bottom Line:

Guardians are back

Laugh filled and fast paced story

Delightful viewing

“Can We Put the Bickering on Hold till After We Survive the Massive Space Battle?”

I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed the original Guardians of the Galaxy, so I was really looking forward to seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2.  I finally got the chance to watch it with a couple of friends, and all of us enjoyed it.

As the movie opens, the Guardians are on a planet about to face a horrendous monster, and as we are reminded just how much fun they are as we are reintroduced to these characters, human Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aliens Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista), genetically engineered raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) a small tree.  However, before they leave the planet, one member of the team does something that leaves them facing a death sentence.  As they race across the galaxy for their very lives, they meet a surprising person.  How will this change things?

And yes, that is all I’m going to say on the plot.  Honestly, that’s more than I knew going in.  I wanted to go see the movie because I enjoyed the first so much, and I enjoyed watching the story unfold without any ideas of where things might go.

The story was very quick moving, with lots of action to keep us entertained.  I was never bored for a moment.  The amount of action did keep the characters from being fully developed, which made some moments late in the movie pack less of a punch than they might have otherwise.

The acting, whether from an actor or a voice actor, is great.  Considering how much of this movie is special effects, the actors have to really use their imagination to bring things to life, but they do a great job of it.

And the special effects?  They are outstanding.  No, that’s hardly a surprise in this day or age, but I always still appreciate it.  Yet they never got in the way of the story or characters.

And yes, there are plenty of hilarious lines.  It’s hard to remember all of them after just one viewing, which I guess means I have to go back and watch it again.  Oh darn.  I didn’t remember quite the level of bathroom humor we have here in the first one, and my friends enjoyed those jokes more than I did, but there was still plenty that all three of us were laughing at.

One aspect of the plot got dropped at the end of the movie, but considering the closing credits scenes followed up on this, it doesn’t really bother me.  I have a feeling it will be an issue in the next movie.  And speaking of those final scenes, the final one was quite possibly the funniest thing in the entire movie.

While not quite as great as the first movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 will still entertain fans of the first.  If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to fix that today.