“… I had so much fun that I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

I know that a movie like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will have thousands of reviews written about it, and honestly there is no reason why you should read mine over anybody else’s. Marvel movies present this strange “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” environment because if you hate it you’re just dying to be edgy, but if you love it you’re a circlejerking hack who is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the state of Hollywood today. I’m going to get this right out of the way and say that I loved Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and you can call me whatever you want because of that. Everyone knows what Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is about, so let’s just go ahead and get into specifics.

It’s a strange feeling going into a movie knowing that if you like it you will be a walking stereotype. I’m not going to go into exactly why there is so much hate on both sides of the fence for Marvel movies (or movies in general), but I just wanted to point out that it does feel weird. Removing that feeling from the equation, I don’t know that I’ve fallen in love with a movie faster than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Now this is probably due to a number of factors, one of which is the fact that most Marvel movies are similar enough that if you like one you’ll like them all, but as soon as the title sequence started I was in love. Watching a baby Groot dance around while some crazy action was going on in the background was everything I could have wanted from a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, and the rest of the movie lived up to that feeling as well. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 gave us more of exactly what we wanted: more laughs, more action, more kick-ass music, great special effects; it was all there. Now a big fear of mine going into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was the thought that characters such as Drax and Groot (especially in baby form) can easily become crutches of the film. Whenever a joke is inserted in the script it is much easier for writers to say “Have Drax yell” or “Have Groot do something cute”; but luckily this fear never became a reality. Sure Drax and Groot both have fairly big parts in the movie, but that is not only because they are fan favourites, but also because the characters are getting more comfortable with one another. There are more jokes being thrown around because everyone knows each other by now. It makes sense. I was a little sad that other characters, specifically Gamora, didn’t get their moment in the sun, but the movie did a good enough job that I didn’t feel robbed by the lack of anything. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was shaping up to be just another Marvel movie until the ending came around. Now I honestly can’t think of a Marvel movie that has moved me to tears, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 did just that. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I just want to say that the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 proved that these movies can have heart if they want to. I also quickly want to discuss the music in the film because although the film had an amazing soundtrack, just like the first film, the music didn’t seem to flow as well as it did in the first film. Now this could just be a matter of perception, with me anticipating a great soundtrack instead of being surprised by it, but the music use of the music in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. seemed a little hamfisted at times. This didn’t sour my thoughts on the movie, especially because the music being used was phenomenal, but it was something I noticed throughout the film.

As I’m sitting in my room writing this review, roughly four hours after I left the theatre showing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I have to admit that though I loved the movie, it wasn’t very memorable. Trying to think back and remember specific parts of the plot is kind of like trying to remember a dream; I remember the most recent thing that I experienced but everything else is just a blur. Now this brings up an interesting question: Is a movie’s lasting impact important? I would argue that no, it is not. See, even though I would be hard-pressed to give you specific plot points in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 what I can tell you is I had fun watching it. Sure the movie had problems like some unexplained plot points or the over-abundance of after-credits sequences, but through all of that I can say that I had so much fun that I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 a perfect movie? Absolutely not. Forgetting the fact that it is almost identical to every other Marvel movie, it had too many issues for me to even consider calling it “perfect”. But then again, what movie is perfect? The point I’m trying to make is I had fun while watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; and isn’t that all that matters?

I give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 an A