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Go Galactic With 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2'

A review of the second film from the out-of-this world Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

By Jacob ElyacharPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
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(Photo property of Marvel Studios)

Three years ago, Marvel Studios presented the first adventure of Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, and Groot. Together these heroes are known to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans around the world as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Their debut film grossed over $773 million worldwide, and fans wanted more adventures of this dysfunctional quintet.

Fans’ prayers were answered as Marvel Studios revealed that Guardians of the Galaxy’s sequel would be released on May 5, 2017, at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International.

For Guardians of the Galaxy-Volume Two, the Fab Five of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) faced their biggest challenge yet: facing their past.

Warning! Spoilers are ahead…

Star-Lord has always been haunted by one single question: “Who was his father?” The Guardians sequel answered that defining question as Peter and company met Mr. Quill’s celestial father: Ego (Kurt Russell). Ego has been looking for his son for decades, but when he heard about how a mortal was able to channel the power of an Infinity Stone…he knew that it would lead him to his son.

While Star-Lord addressed his father issues, several of his companions also struggle with their inner demons. Gamora is reunited with her sister, Nebula (Karen Gillian), and both of Thanos’ “daughters” competitive spirit is unleashed. Quill’s father figure, Yondu (Michael Rooker) is expelled from the Ravagers and faces a mutiny from his crew. In addition to tending to Baby Groot, Rocket is also trying to hide his tough guy façade from his teammates, and his temptation for thievery infuriates Ayesha (Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer Elizabeth Debicki), the leader of the golden-skinned Sovereign race who immediately targets the Guardians of the Galaxy.

As the team remains blissfully unaware that the Sovereign race put a bounty on their heads, Gamora and Drax accompany their leader and his father to Ego’s peaceful planet where they meet Mantis (Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer Pom Klementieff), a being that Ego adopted who specializes in empathetic powers and only knows of what Ego’s true insidious purpose behind his reunion with Peter Quill.

Just like its predecessor, James Gunn wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume Two. One of the big recurring themes that GEEKS picked out from Gunn’s excellent story was “character growth.” Several of the main and supporting characters faced many crossroads throughout the two-hour and 16-minute film. Before the events of this film, fans might put Nebula and Yondu into the villain and anti-hero categories respectively. Thanks to Gunn’s screenplay, these two characters found heroic elements to them and changed their fates in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gunn was also very crafty with tying Ego to Peter Quill as the celestial being is not related to Star-Lord in the central Marvel Comics universe. Fans would be satisfied how the Celestial met Mrs. Quill and will be outraged how Ego played a role in her death.

There were several solid performances from the Guardians acting ensemble. GEEKS would like to recognize Bautista, Gillian, Russell, and Rooker as the film’s MVPs. We would also like to give a special shout-out to Sean Gunn, who portrayed Kraglin, Yondu’s second-in-command and possible new team member for the third installment of the franchise as the franchise’s most improved actor.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume Two features numerous Easter eggs that set up the future of the franchise such as the introduction to characters that actors Sylvester Stallone, Michelle Yeoh, Michael Rosenbaum, and Ving Rhames portray in the first and final acts of the film. Fans would also be impressed with the latest cameo from legendary Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee as it involves an alien race that is integral to the Marvel Universe. Finally, to all you 80s and 90s babies, Knight Rider and Baywatch’s David Hasselhoff has a hilarious cameo somewhere in the film.

Final thoughts & grade:Guardians of the Galaxy-Volume Two is an impressive film that still shows the mighty power of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also establishes that the Guardians might take over for the Avengers as the franchise’s key superhero group. We highly recommend that fans should see this movie. A-

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About the Creator

Jacob Elyachar

Jacob Elyachar is an award-winning journalist, pop culture fanatic, and social media lover. He writes for both jakes-take.com and Vocal. When he is not writing, Elyachar does CrossFit, listens to music, and volunteers in his community.

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