Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 – Teri’s Take
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in theaters nationwide on May 5th. The film picks up a few months after the first film ended. Returning for this film are: Peter Quill – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana – Gamora, Dave Bautista – Drax, Rocket – voice Bradley Cooper, Groot now as Baby Groot – voice by Vin Diesel, Yondu – Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan – Nebula, Kraqlin – Sean Gunn. New to this film are Elizabeth Debicki – Ayesha, Sylvester Stallone – Stakar, and Kurt Russell – Ego (Peter’s father).
The film opens showing the Guardians of the Galaxy doing what they do best saving the world and wreaking havoc at the same time. The team is taking jobs to try to keep themselves out of trouble by helping those that are not able to protect themselves; but ultimately shooting themselves in the foot by doing something wrong and then being chased by the very people they saved. Narrowly escaping with the help of a mysterious newcomer, the Guardians discover more about themselves and eventually come together again to save the universe from an unforeseen enemy with some additional help. That additional help is not who you think, but it was a nice surprise.
Just as the first movie was to “Awesome Mix Tape #1” this movie is set to “Awesome Mix Tape #2 which consists of a new set of rock music from the 70’s. It is really impressive at how well the soundtrack ties into the movie, listening to the soundtrack as I type, I can visualize scenes from the movie and it makes me smile. While there are a lot of great songs, there are two that jump out to me. “Mr Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra” which plays during the opening scene and then “Guardians Inferno – The Sneepers ft David Hasselhoff”.
This film keeps the action, excitement and humor of the first movie. This time around we explore the family dynamic of the Guardians more. Peter’s history is delved into a bit and his father “Ego” is introduced and plays a pivotal role in the movie. You learn more about the relationship between Gamora and Nebula. Also revealed are details of who Yondu and Rocket really are and a look into Yondu’s back story.
I found Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 to be very enjoyable. It was laugh out loud funny, filled with lots of action and adventure and heartwarming watching the characters develop even further. It is a different experience than the first film. The movie had a different flow and feel to it. For example the humor is there but instead of one-liners all throughout the movie that kept you giggling, there were laugh out loud scenes. Then other sequences that were purely action packed. Volume 2 featured more emotional scenes which really stood out to me. I was not expecting them based on my memories of the first film.
Being a new mom, anytime something happened to Baby Groot, I immediately saw my son and just wanted to save him, at one point it brought me to tears. I was not expecting to cry at this film. That being said if you were a fan of the original you will not be put-off by this film just expect to be a little surprised.
***Make sure to stay until the lights come on, there are so many awesome scenes throughout the credits that you will not want to miss
I never thought I would be saying this, but overall, I found the movie to be heartwarming and emotionally mind-blowing.