Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Under attack from the people they just robbed, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voice: Bradley Cooper), and Baby Groot (voice: Vin Diesel) are rescued by Ego (Kurt Russell), Peter’s long lost father. The team splits, with Peter, Gamora, and Drax going with Ego and his sidekick/slave Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to Ego’s personal world where Peter can bond with his father, while Rocket and Baby Groot become involved with Nebula (Karen Gillan), Yondu (Michael Rooker), and the violent infighting of the Ravagers.

Film reviews can be both useful and insightful, but with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we are approaching pointless. Before seeing this film, you should have seen 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy along with at least a half a dozen other Marvel Cinematic Universe films. So unless Director James Gunn really messed up or started hanging out with Zack Snyder, you know generally what to expect and if you will like it.

And James Gunn did not mess up.

Which means if you liked the first film, go see this one. If you didn’t like the first film, you are an inhuman monster who should meet your end at the hands of the coolest of all heroes, Mary Poppins.

What can I add? Well, not only did Gunn not fall apart, he improved. Guardians 2 is more fun than its predecessor. It is the first MCU film that I’d label a comedy. There is a constant stream of jokes and they are all funny. Yet we don’t lose the characters in the humor. Gunn is approaching Joss Whedon (The Avengers) in his ability to work with an ensemble. Every character gets his time to shine. This is done by not wasting a moment. Every joke also reveals something about the character. Every fight has an emotional core. Every action serves two, three, or more purposes. This is efficient filmmaking. A violent and exciting fight between Gamora and Nebula is about the nature of sisterhood, while being a call back to Alfred Hitchcock and The Fast and the Furious franchise, and also a frame for over-the-top humor, and a way to expand Gamora while completely changing our perspective on Nebula. Now that’s how you jam ten stories into a two hour movie.

The music is front and center again. Hopefully you like Looking Glass’s Brandy. It is part of the soundtrack to my childhood, so I loved it. Brandy and Come A Little Bit Closer are the standout numbers, not only musically but how they are utilized, but fans of the first film’s music should be happy with all the songs.

Baby Groot is as cute as they come (and I find human babies ugly as sin), the new characters all work, and there are dozens of repeatable lines. But there’s no point in me dwelling on any of them. Just go.

And yes, there are five—FIVE—“post” credits scenes.