Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista

Synopsis:
After running afoul of a client, the Guardians of the Galaxy are split while Quill is reunited with his long-lost father and Rocket is captured by the Ravagers.

Impressions:
It was out of sheer stubbornness that I didn't go watch the first film in theaters even though it deserved it, so I wanted to be sure to make it up to the sequel by catching it opening week (here in Japan, that is). I'll admit to feeling a little conflicted about it, though. Don't get me wrong. I liked it and I recommend seeing it, especially if you're a fan of the original, but I do feel that sequel escalation takes away some of the charm that made the first film so easy to watch and rewatch. There are some interesting things done in terms of character development, but particularly the rift between Quill and Rocket seems like a little too much conflict ball for my taste. As for Baby Groot, I didn't mind him, but some viewers might find him cloying.

The themes of family are tackled in an interesting way with a number of the characters. The appearance of the original comic book Guardians has me intrigued and I hope to see more of them than the mere tease we're given. The returning cast all do well and as far as newcomers to the series go, Kurt Russell delivered a strong performance as Ego the Living Planet and Pom Klementieff brings some delightful naive awkwardness to Mantis. There's also some really cool tech on display, which should appeal to any scifi nerds out there.

While in the final tally, I don't think it leaves as much of an impact as the original, I think that may be more to the novelty factor being gone than anything else. I definitely think it's worth seeing and most fans are bound to want it in their collection. Go out and give it a watch at the very least. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Watch It