“Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” Rocks the House

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 starts out in 1980, Missouri. We finally get to see the romance between Peter Quill’s parents (exactly how does a living planet hook up with a girl from Missouri?). Cut to 34 years later, and we see that battle scene that’s been in all of the previews (so relax, that isn’t the climactic battle scene – in fact, they appear to have left the best parts out of the previews, which is a refreshing change). Chris Pratt is back as Peter Quill/StarLord, as is Zoe Saldana as Gamora. Dave Bautista supports as Drax, with Baby Groot and Rocket voiced by Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper respectively.

Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) also play major roles, and both manage to greatly expand their characters and backstories, which was great to see. Yondu and Nebula probably have the greatest character development overall, but appropriately, there’s a huge role for StarLord, when his past catches up with him. Pom Klementieff appears for the first time as Mantis.

The music is always a huge part of the GotG movies, and it does not disappoint in the sequel. The soundtrack is already available for download on Spotify and iTunes, and includes such classics as ELO – Mr Blue Sky, Sweet – Fox on the Run, and George Harrison – My Sweet Lord (which has particular poignancy in the story).

There’s a heap of cameos around the place, plus suggestions they won’t just be cameos! Sylvester Stallone is a big character, Stan Lee appears not once, but twice, and as long as you’re going to be seeing it anyway, play the “Spot the Ben Browder Cameo”. A couple of other Marvel characters also pop up. Also, stay for the end credits – there is not one, or two, but four post movie scenes in the credits. One starts the credits off, one finishes them, and another two are scattered throughout. Also, try to count how many times “I am Groot” appears in the end credits, while watching crew members dance.

GotG 2 has been released in Australia and Italy on April 25th, in the UK on April 28th, and in the USA on May 5th. Overall, several other viewers of the new movie stated that it was “visually stunning” and “not just stunning, but had a decent plot!” The visual effects were amazing to watch, but also made quite amazing backdrops for even the more mundane of scenes. The level of detail was on point.

The Guardians have been confirmed in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War which is currently filming. So we have that to look forward to.

In closing, I will leave you with one word – Hasselhoff. You’ll figure it out.

-30-

Susan Chester-Woods