8/10

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2017)

A couple of months after the events of Vol 1. the Guardians of the Galaxy have been hired by an alien population to defend their world. Despite a successful job, a disagreement between the Aliens and the Guardians puts the team in danger. That is when Ego (Kurt Russel) comes to rescue them and reveals himself as a celestial being and Peter Quill's father.
Despite having every reason and possibility to fail and become a complete spectacle mess, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2." is another gem in Marvel's crown of wonderfully diverse films and another reason for their utter mastery in the genre.
Once again we have a film that despite being a gigantic, out-of-control production, it represents good cinema and respectful storytelling. As in all of their recent films, Marvel has embraced the notion of telling stories and giving artists the possibility to realize their vision. Vol 2. has its problems and, as said above, they could have made the film a complete disaster, but once again thanks to the brilliant Marvel philosophy, the film is held together by the addictive passion and heart that is embedded in these characters by James Gunn. By starting on character and emotions and by worrying about telling a heartfelt story first Marvel has just made another great piece of blockbuster cinema.
The film goes in many directions, some very welcome some unwarranted. There are many story lines being developed at once, there are some inconsistencies in exposition and mythology, the molding of tones isn't always seamless, some visual and world building ideas don't really pay off the way they should: the whole film is slightly uneven and there isn't a solid balance to all of these elements. Yet, when it comes down to it, it does not matter in the overall experience exactly because of what Gunn does with these characters.
He manages to infuse such heartfelt emotion in these people that the problems there might be in the structuring of plot or mythology take a second place to all of the glorious, entertaining material being presented to you. Gunn takes us on a tour de force of character archs here, everyone of them is given a dynamic that is developed throughout the whole duration of the film. The surprises hit you, every emotional beat hits its mark, every laugh delivers.
There is a beautiful variety of emotions that you are taken through and it is always such a pleasure to see a director tackle both comedy and drama to these emotional heights and deliver on both effectively. There are so many relations new and old that are developed and all of them give the audience a different flavor, probably the best one remains for me the one between Gamora and Quill or Gamora and Nebula.
Then to top all of the heartfelt storytelling off, Gunn spices the whole picture with an incredible variety of quirkiness, great music and stunning action sequences that almost always manage to enhance the conflict between the characters. The space battles might still be a weak point of his, but it is hard not to be taken into the seamless, amazing work of the visual effects team.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is a beautiful, touching picture filled with powerful emotions and breathtaking laughter and entertainment, one that is so good at doing what is does that it overcomes its flaws and doesn't let the spectacle overcome the heart of the film.