Aaahhh, the Guardians of the Galaxy. Possibly Marvel's most beloved superhero group, above the Avengers and X-Men. The first film of this series proved to be so strange but such an audience favorite back in 2014. It contained the most lovable and amusing cast ever assembled, including Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt), Gamora (played by Zoe Saldana), and of course Rocket Raccoon and Groot (Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, respectively). The outstanding reaction from this film surpassed even Marvel's expectations, and certainly cemented its place in superhero film history. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, however, did not live up to the hype and standards set by its intergalactic predecessor.
Marvel have proven themselves to be royalty in the land of making fun and enjoyable films. And this film is just that: fun and enjoyable. It does not, however, play a big part in the wider universe that Marvel is building with Thanos and the Infinity War, but instead takes its own path with a very simple and, at times, ridiculous plot lines. That was the main issue with this film, was the storyline. As Peter and the gang does small missions for different people throughout the universe, they stumble upon a man named Ego on a distant planet. This man turns out to be Peter's father, who had been searching for him since he was a child. Through their trials and discoveries of Ego's motivations, it is revealed that he does not care too much about Peter as a son, but rather as an instrument for universal domination. Long story short, Ego is actually the entire planet and the Guardians have to destroy him in order to save the galaxy once more. My problem with this plot is that we have seen it dozens of times before, especially in the superhero genre. A maniacal villain poses as a guy with good intentions but is actually only trying to (literally) cover the universe with himself. It gives "taking over the world" its literal and basic meaning, not expanding on any other motivation points about Ego, other than that he is a crazy madman.
Another problem is surrounding the Ravagers, the group that Yondu is the captain of. His group is introduced in the film as being ostracized by the other Ravagers for betraying their code and honor. This leads to Yondu's men having an uprising against him, which was an enjoyable sub-plot of the film to follow. However, there are so many new characters that were introduced that are given zero introduction as to why they are there or what their purpose was. This was one of the problems, that this film tried to have so many cameos, there was no room for development for them. Such cameos include Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rosenbaum, David Hasselhoff, and even Miley Cyrus. There comes a point, I feel, when you need to stop adding so many people just for the sake of it and work on the characters that audiences already adore.
Even though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 did not have the best plot or consistent focus, it succeeded in character development. Take away the awful plot and bad elements and you are left with two hours and sixteen minutes of unadulterated character development, which I am 100% in favor of. What the Marvel Cinematic Universe desperately needs is decent development time, as they give so many characters their own films, they often forget about what critics and moviegoers alike pay to see. I was very nervous that, given its advertising and excessive marketing, that Baby Groot would be the main focus of the film, but thankfully he was not. Every single character was given their own developmental phase in the film, and that was amazing to watch unfold. Gamora's relationship with her sister, Rocket and Yondu's bonding time together, introduction of Mantis, comedic relief through Drax: all of these were so important for their characters, and that's what this film did best. One character in particular that I felt developed the most was the (almost) new Kraglin, played by Sean Gunn (actually the director's brother). While he had a small role in the first film, his character was much more important in the second, as he practically took over the role of Yondu, his former mentor. Seeing him rise to that spot and his assistance with the Guardians was great to experience.
Even though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had a less-than-mediocre plot and very gratuitous cameos, it is a fun film to watch, especially being a fan of the group of ragtags. Just try to focus on the characters themselves and not the bigger picture, or else you will be disappointed.
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