Deeper cuts and daddy issues: welcome to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s other motley crew of superheroes is back with another saving-the-cosmos space opera mixtape of a movie, which plays out just that description suggests. With a baseline of ’70s rock-scored intergalactic battles, irreverent gags, and unconventional family dynamics already established in 2014’s first effort, the same components get another spin. Endeavouring to flesh out his realm, protagonists, concept, and style, returning writer/director James Gunn (Super) revisits what worked, retains the same tone, and hones in on a catchy theme; enjoying the journey is easy, as is diving further into this world, even if spotting the familiar refrain is too.
Indeed, it’s business as usual from the outset as half-human former ravager Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt, Passengers), trained assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana, Live by Night), vengeance-seeking warrior Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista, Warrior’s Gate), genetically engineered raccoon bounty hunter Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper, War Dogs), and the regrowing tree-like humanoid that is Baby Groot (Vin Diesel, The Fate of the Furious) confront a tentacled monster that’s trying to eat the power source of the Sovereign planet. Gunn revels in the sounds, antics, and vibe viewers will expect from the film’s predecessor, with ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” playing as the bulk of the gang attend to their task. The group bickers and banters along the way to make plain that little between this band of merry misfits has changed — and, as the combat and carnage plays out in the background, their growing sapling pal dances his way to attention.
It’s a fun yet also apt introduction. Soon, they’ll be incurring the wrath of the Sovereign’s gold-hued leader Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki, TV’s The Kettering Incident) when Rocket pockets some of the coveted batteries, fleeing across the very space they guard, and fighting foes of several kinds; however, they’ll also be doing so while probing the bonds that keep them together, as well as the blood and other ties of kin that they have throughout the universe. Mid-fray in their opening onslaught, everyone cautions Baby Groot about his actions, taking on the guise of parents. They’ll continue to do so, literally passing him around like an infant, but as Quill’s long-lost father Ego (Kurt Russell, Deepwater Horizon) arrives to offer help, his lifelong caretaker Yondu (Michael Rooker, The Belko Experiment) follows in pursuit, and Gamora’s similarly weaponised sister Nebula (Karen Gillan, In a Valley of Violence) chases them down with decades of sibling rivalry on her mind, they’ll come face-to-face with the connections that have brought them to this point.
He might only say three specific words with a variety of inflections, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s focus on family comes with clear echoes of Diesel’s other big franchise. Indeed, bringing together a ragtag bunch of misfits makes for box office success for an easy reason. Whether they’re criminals turned heroes driving fast cars around the world or flying spaceships between planets, the interpersonal hijinks of how their upbringings define their identities and how their relationships to each other — be it yelled-about antagonism, sitcom-style unspoken romance, or Quill’s grappling with finally having the dad he always dreamed of — shape their futures remains utterly relatable.
Gunn leans heavily on both, noticeably so; the film’s themes resound louder and beat harder than the plot, a disparity that its vibrant special effects and reliable stream of wisecracks toil hard to obscure. Still, finding the engaging, entertaining, and emotion-swelling balance more often than not, it’s an approach that works for Guardians of the Galaxy’s second outing. It enables Gunn to pump out another compilation — of unlikely allies, expanding both the usual suspects and their acquaintances; of action, still anarchic but more frequently grounded in character; and of tunes, largely eschewing the more blatant choices of the first film — while delving slightly deeper. And, it ensures that the narrative never feels like mere filler for the already-announced Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or the central quintet’s involvement in forthcoming Avengers movies, even though audiences are well aware that they’re all coming.
Amidst the feuding, the reunions, the hopping across the universe, and the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Cat Stevens on the soundtrack, casting a slightly wider net pays off best when it comes to the feature’s new additions and previous support players. Though the reinvented Groot steals the show from his fellow Guardians by cute, cuddly, and choreographed design, Russell and Rooker make the film’s patriarchal and familial pondering count beyond the screenplay’s easily foreshadowed developments. It’s the tenderness and gravitas behind the obvious, not easy things to conjure given the humour that otherwise guides the movie, that makes them stand out; they’re the same traits that serve Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 most successfully as a whole as well. First, the titular figures were space pirates with laughs. Now, they’re all of the above, but with an earned sense of heart.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Director: James Gunn
USA, 2017, 137 mins
Release date: April 25
Distributor: Disney
Rated: M
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