The a-holes are back with a big bang of colour and euphoric family bickering that falters with a little whimper, riding the tails of the first in order to make Vol. 2 an eggtastic success with the scene-stealing baby Groot and an emotionally touching shocker that tugs lightly at the heart strings as well as taking you by surprise.
If there is one gripe to be had, it’s the fact that director James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 tries too hard to replicate, hell even beat what made the first a success. It’s full of acidic witty banter between the bunch of misfits that have become oddly like any normal family, but it’s splitting the film into two almost three different stories which in ways are not remotely connected leaves a lot of room for a flatness in momentum to take a stranglehold, feeling like an overload of too many distractions, however saying that it’s still one hell of a firework ride.
As with the first, 80’s rock/pop music takes a life of its own and has ELO’s Mr Blue Sky accompanying the Guardians in a battle against a giant octopus in one of its opening sequence, a battle in which this bunch of outcasts take every last hit and slash in their stride, it’s almost like they are writing up a shopping list as they take on this beast, while the now sapling Groot, whilst looking adorable wiggles his tiny tush.
Also on the menu is an origin story of sorts, a sequence in which impressively sees Kurt Russell undergoing a digital enhancement to his younger days, dating Peter aka Starlord’s mother which sets the tone of what’s to come, a story of a young man who meets’s his father for the first time, blinkers on and in complete awe without even a regard of scepticism. Family issues are very much the key to the underlying plot theme throughout; there is the obvious battle of the green-eyed monster between Zoe Saldana’s Gamora and her sister Nebula and Peter’s daddy issues with Ego (Russell) and the connection with his adoptive father Yondu (Michael Rooker).
After making his entrance on an egg shaped craft, Ego in all his glory take Peter, Gamora and a Drax that gives off that loud booming laugh at any given moment, to his own self-made planet of childlike mess of colour for a history lesson oozing in his self-importance, whilst Peter is enamoured with his new found God like father, Gamore isn’t so convinced that there isn’t something a little more devious is going on in Ego’s quest to “hand over the reins” to his son. On the other side of the story, Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) are heading for a bumpy ride when they team up with the blue-skinned bandit Yondu who has been outcast by his crew at the hands of Taserface for being soft. While somewhere in the middle the golden priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), is after the Guardians blood after Rocket, steals a handful of precious batteries.
Exuberant in its delivery of showy extravagance, ego’s and bickering are put to one side as we lose an important character, one that will almost choke you to tears in a touchingly poignant moment, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, whilst just as fun, tries to outclass its predecessor with a magnificent light show, however, its willingness to cram so much into one film helps it fall short.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is in cinemas April 28th.