The Guardians are Still Fun and Still Rocking

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2017)

Three years ago, the earthling Peter Quill A.K.A. Star Lord (Chris Pratt) acquired a mysterious orb that put his life in danger. Hunted by the villain Ronan the Accuser, Quill assembled a team of intergalactic misfits who teamed up to stop Ronan and save the galaxy in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Quill was accompanied by Gamora (Zoe Saldana) a green orphan from an alien world raised to be an assassin; a physical brute named Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista); Groot (Vin Diesel) who is basically a giant walking tree with limited communication skills; and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) a raccoon bounty hunter / mercenary.
Groot is back and adorable. Though the giant tree perished in Volume 1, Rocket replanted a piece of his friend that has produced the offspring, Baby Groot for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. The unspoken sexual tension (ala Sam and Diane from Cheers) between Quill and Gamora is palpable, but endearing and sweet. And, as expected, another epic soundtrack accompanied this movie, including the ending credits from David Hasselhoff. As a child, not knowing who his father was, Quill would tell other children that the Knight Rider was his dad. But Volume 2 answers that question for us.
We don't learn too much from the preview. We can tell the action and animation is at least on par with Volume 1. It was. We saw that the humorous one-liners would be flowing plentifully. They were. We know all our favorite characters are back and some new ones will be introduced. But, we don't get too much of a plot reveal from the preview. Well, if you don't want any spoilers, here where you stop reading.
Volume 2 opens with Ego (Kurt Russell) and Meredith (Laura Haddock) driving in 1983 with the radio blasting and Meredith singing, truly where Peter got his passion for music. The two young lovebirds run into the woods where Ego shows her a beautiful exotic blue plant. As he vaguely describes what it is, she says she doesn't understand what he's saying but loves the way he says it. She can't believe she fell for a space man.
Thirty-four years later, Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians have been hired to fight off an intergalactic monster trying to steal a valuable source of power. It's a cute seen that is pretty much Baby Groot dancing while the Guardians take down the beast. They return to collect their prize for a successful mission: Gamora's sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). They don't get along and Gamora is going to turn her in for the bounty on her. They don't make it that far as their ship is attacked by the very same creatures that employed them because Rocket, couldn't resist stealing some of the valuable cargo they were tasked to protect. They set their course for the nearest safe planet, but they were outnumbered and it looked like all hope was lost until one solo ship appeared and the pursuing armada was completely decimated in an instant. After crashing on the planet, their savior ship appears and Ego emerges, immediately revealing himself as Peter's father. Ego, with his companion Mantis (Pom Klementieff) convince Peter, Gamora and Drax to return to his planet for further explanation while Rocket, Baby Groot and Nebula stay behind with the damaged ship.
That's where the big reveal happens. Ego is not a human. He is a god. The planet is his and he is the only inhabitant, other than the alien orphan he has with him, Mantis. He has fathered many children throughout the galaxy, but Peter is the only one who carried his god-gene that Ego needs to take over the universe. The epic battle ensues on many levels, but culminates on Ego's planet as the Guardians again must save the Galaxy. I won't tell you how it all ends, I think I've revealed enough plot-spoilers at this point.
Most of the star prediction was based on Volume 1 since the preview didn't reveal much about Volume 2. But it was a successful preview for two reasons. First, there was just too much to reveal. I just scratched the surface of all the plot twists and reveals that are jam-packed into this sequel. In addition to that, there are more characters and special appearances in the film. But, if the preview clued you in to their roles, it wouldn't have been as fun when they popped up on screen. So kudos for keeping those nuggets to themselves. Second, it gave you enough to make you want to come see it. Basically, the preview said, if you liked the first one, everything you loved about it will be in the second one. And it was all there. It was fun, original, enjoyable and more than just a sequel. I gave Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 a 3.5 star prediction: worth the money in the theatres, something I'd watch again, and a contender for my home collection. I was right on and I'm sticking with my 3.5 Stars. Fans of the comic, fans of sci-fi action movies, fans of Marvel, fans of the first movie, they will all be quite pleased with Volume 2. So, what movie