Fox on the run!

(Note: This will be a two-part review. Punisher and Uncle Willy viewed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 separately and wanted to give their thoughts on the movie.)

Punisher (Podcast Personality)

To start off, there WILL be spoilers towards the end of my section. I will note when it’s coming up.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was just amazing. James Gunn did it again IMO.

This movie starts off two months later. The team, as always, is talking smack to each other during a mission. And, of course, BABY GROOOOOOTTTT (Vin Diesel)!!!!!!!! This little fucker steals the movie right from the beginning by being fucking cute.

This movie was a huge mix of emotions and done right. You leave satisfied and wanting more. Hell, Uncle Willy and I want to go back and see this movie again! This movie touches you in such a way that it’s almost too real.

Peter Quill, aka Star-lord (Chris Pratt), is faced with some serious issues in his life when he encounters his Father, Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell). Ego has pretty much been searching space itself for his son, and Peter wants answers as to why he left his mother. During the movie, Ego explains why he left and how much he loved his mother.

We meet also Mantis (Pom Klementieff) who is pretty much Ego’s sleeping aid in this movie. But there is more to Mantis; she can touch you and feel the feelings your feeling. Throughout the movie, we see Mantis and Drax’s (Dave Bautista) chemistry at work. They bring the jokes, but Mantis was not completely honest with the team and had a secret.

I bet you guys are wondering about Yondu (Michael Rooker). Well, it seems like Yondu’s band of Ravagers is searching for Star-lord for what he did in the last movie. The only problem is the Ravagers getting upset at him because he’s giving the Ravagers a bad name and betrayed their code of honor. The last bit is delivered by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone) when they come across each other. Meanwhile, Taserface (Chris Sullivan), a member of Yondu’s Ravagers, is talking shit about Yondu and wants to mutiny.

Ok, I can’t hold off anymore. The spoilers are coming, and you better not read and complain later that why I said this and that. You were warned!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, you have my permission to cry, because this movie is going to touch you. When you find out that Ego was the reason Peter’s mom died, Peter snaps into reality and starts shooting Ego. I don’t blame him at all. Hell, I would have done the same. But the only thing that bugs me is, why would he tell him that? If he would have stayed quiet and not said anything, Peter would have done anything for him. Ego was searching for him because Peter has his genes and Ego is a god. With a small g. Yes, you heard it right. Peter is half a god and Ego is too old and a little weak for what he really wanted to do. He wanted to turn all the worlds in the universe into him. Yup, Ego is the main villain of this movie and not the Sovereign and Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki). Peter and the team start fighting Ego but come to find out the only way to defeat him in destroying the brain in the core of the planet. Everyone is fighting a fucking planet!

Now get ready for the cry, kids. After Baby Groot does as told and plants the bomb by the brain and blows it up they barely have time to escape. Rocket asks Yondu to go to the ship, but Yondu wants to go and save Peter. But Rocket only has one rocket back and one suit for space. Yondu wants to save Peter even if it kills him. Peter gets saved by Yondu and says the best line ever when referring to Ego: “He was your Father, but he wasn’t your Daddy” So in space, they are floating and Peter is watching Yondu slowly die in space. Peter is trying to save him but can’t. Yondu pats Peter’s face until he dies with a smile.

Excuse me while I dry my face up.

In the end, I say this was fucking awesome. I’m giving it and saying it a 10 outta 10. The only part that bugged me was just Ego telling Peter that he put that tumor in his mom’s head. There was no reason for him to say that but then again what would he care? He loved her as he said but who knows if he really loved her. But everything else was great! The movie, action, comedy, romance, and drama. James Gunn, you did well and I can’t wait for what else you have for us.

Uncle Willy (Editor-in-Chief, Podcast Personality)

Sequels usually find the going hard when compared to its original source material. The list of sequels that supersede their antecedent are very few: Terminator 2 and Aliens come to mind as the only examples. The movie landscape, however, is littered with the corpses of sequels that dared measure up to the originals and failed. Movies like The Neverending Story 2 and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 are just two examples. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I don’t feel as if the sequel bested or shamed the original. Instead, I feel the sequel stands beside its antecedent as an equally good movie, and for different reasons.

Whereas the original was mainly lighthearted and focused on humor, Vol. 2 brings heavy feels and is weightier. The humor is still there – the way Mantis and Drax play off each other, and Rocket’s general dickishness – but this movie delves much deeper into almost everyone’s backstory. The only ones who aren’t really fleshed out are Drax, Baby Groot, and Mantis. Drax gives up some morsels, but not as much as the others.

The best performance, in my opinion, was Michael Rooker’s. Yondu is given a ton of backstory, and his motivations, which were somewhat nebulous in the first flick, are much more focused here. He’s cast out from the Ravagers and wants to redeem himself, plus he shows he cares for Peter. Oh, and he’s still a badass!

Visually, the movie is a treat. I think James Gunn has a 1,024,768-color Crayola box, and he was determined to use every single crayon on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Everything looks gorgeous. The soundtrack, though not as energetic as the original’s “Awesome Mix”, is still stellar. It’s moodier, which fits the movie’s tone. I couldn’t help but sing along with some of the tracks. Yes, I was that guy.

Other than Ego’s heel turn, I found little to fault the movie. Still, when I compare it to the original movie, I prefer the first one. There’s nothing wrong with the movie; in fact, I loved the more somber mood this movie’s story portrays. The story has a lot of moving parts, but they’re not difficult to follow. And the story’s weight makes you really feel for the main characters. By the end, the room was quite a bit misty.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a strong sophomore effort. James Gunn took what made the original movie so awesome – the craziness, humor, and soundtrack – added some serious emotion, and weaved together a great tale. If I had to give it a score, I’d settle on 8.5, with the original scoring a solid 9.

As Punisher said, we WILL be going back to see it a second time. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and can’t wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray!