Star-Lord’s got daddy issues and the galaxy is at risk because of it in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, an entertaining sequel that more or less matches the quality and humor of the original, even if some of the stardust has dimmed.
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and several others are back for the James Gunn-directed action-comedy, in which they encounter Star-Lord’s dad–played by Kurt Russell–who has an interesting back story to say the least. The plot is refreshingly different than your standard Marvel fare–and a deviation from Vol. 1–though really the story simply serves as a means to allow the cast to banter and throw one-liners at each other for two hours.
The screenplay is once again sharp; while some of the novelty has dissipated, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is pretty damn funny at times. Bautista, easily the least known cast member, often steals the show with his hearty enthusiasm and character’s hilarious, awkward honesty.
The villain is a little more interesting this time around, though ultimately he still falls into the “forgettable Marvel bad guy” category. And while Guardians thankfully remains in a galaxy far, far away from the other Marvel properties (for now), you can already see the Marvel formula kicking into gear (that’s not a good thing). Further, the climax, though entertaining enough, is an overly long rehash of countless CGI battles that you’ve seen elsewhere. It’s not poorly done, but it’s utterly predictable.
If you liked the first one, and odds are you probably did, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is much of the same–a well-written action-comedy of cosmic proportions.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.