Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 review: Dir. James Gunn (2017)

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 review: Round two for the Guardians and our first Marvel film of the year. Can it match the reception of the first film?

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 review by Paul Heath.

James Gunn brings the second instalment of his ‘Guardians’ series to screens with this, another massively budgeted, retro-soundtracked, hugely ambitious, behemoth of a picture that might just out-class the original.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 picks up the story shortly after the Guardians have saved the galaxy from the villainous Ronan the Accuser in the first film. Volume 2 opens to the crew, Chris Pratt‘s Peter Quill, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and baby Groot (Vin Diesel) seemingly having a little trouble with a monster called the Abilisk on a faraway planet . The sequence grabs your attention, the action focussing on the reduced-size Groot who dances his way around the frame to the tune of the Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr. Blue Sky. It’s an entertaining opening few minutes that instantly sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The story is simple; the bunch of intergalactic saviours have been hired by the golldened Sovereigns, headed up by Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), to protect a cache of valuable batteries from the aforementioned Abilisk in exchange for Gamora’s estranged sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). However, after completing the task, which happens just as the opening credits end, so no huge spoilers, Rocket swipes a handful of batteries that seem to be lying around, royally annoying Ayesha and her clan. The Sovereigns immediately give chase to the fleeing Guardians, which kicks off a chain of events that brings back characters from the first film, a bunch of new friends and foes, and a path that opens up to lead Peter to learn more about his true parentage.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 is bags of fun, pretty much from the off. Make no mistake, this is Marvel and director James Gunn at the top of their game, the talented filmmaker of B-movie shlockers (Slither) and off-beat comedies (Super) being allowed free reign over a world that he immediately made his own following the release of the first film back in 2014. Here, Gunn doesn’t have to worry about introducing new characters so seemingly has more time to develop the world in which they inhabit and who they truly are. The likes of Diesel as the younger Groot, Cooper as  Raccoon and Bautista as Drax are the true stand-outs, all of them given more material to create more depth to each of their characters. The same can actually be said of Saldana’s brooding Gamora and Gillan’s Nebula, the two allowed more screen time to develop their relationship, all obviously welcome.

Pratt is on form as the leader of the gang with newcomer to the series Kurt Russell as his long-estranged father Ego. The two are excellently matched, the latter perfectly cast as Quill’s alien parent, the god with a small ‘g’ brilliantly portrayed by an actor relishing the material. Michael Rooker returns as Yondu, this time given more to do and is as much as a stand-out as the aforementioned, the actor clearly enjoying his frequent collaborations with Gunn. The film’s other new introduction, Pom Klementieff (Old Boy) as Ego’s ‘pet’ Mantis also delights and gets a lot of laughs with her interactions with Drax. In fact, along with the music, which is stepped up a notch for this outing with very relevant story-driven tracks, Gunn’s unique brand of humour, perfectly executed by his talented cast is Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2′s biggest asset.

The visual gags and superbly written dialogue make for an absolute feast for lovers of the first film and Gunn’s previous work, but there’s obviously reach for the masses too. Gunn really has examined his first Marvel outing, built upon it and then knocked it out of the park to give fans what they want.

It’s actually hard to fault GotGVol2. I’ve seen opinions picking out elements of repetitive story arcs, and underwhelming sub-plot. While it is clear to see that the film draws heavy influence from other franchises, including several beats nodding towards the original Star Wars trilogy, specifically The Empire Strikes Back – of which I will refrain to mention specifics here – it’s hard to focus in on them when you’re having so much fun.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is weird and wonderful, fantastic, fantasy-fun, and quite possibly the best time you’ll have in the cinema this year. Arguably Marvel’s best stand-alone outing yet – yes, I’m putting it out there. I defy anyone not to get a kick out of what Gunn and co. have created.  Simply put, it’s bloody Marvellous.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 review by Paul Heath, April 2017.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 28th April 2017, and in North America on Friday 5th May, 2017.