Guardians of the Galaxy 2 entertains fans with more silly fun and incredible special effects

Movie Title:  Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

Grade:  A

Rating:   PG-13, 137 minutes

In a Nutshell: I loved the first Guardians Of The Galaxy and have been sooo excited to see this next one!

I wasn’t disappointed.  James Gunn's Volume 2 sequel is creative, fun, wacky, action-packed, and extremely entertaining.   

Because it's Volume 2, there are 2 times the action, 2 times the explosions, 2 times the gags and laughs.  One of the planets in the movie was created with a trillion polygons, the biggest special effect ever made to date.  Double wow.  It's also the first film to be shot in 8K (Red Weapon camera system).

As Groot says, “Welcome to the frickin Guardians Of The Galaxy!” (Although he didn’t use the word “frickin”.)

Uplifting theme: 

• “There are 2 kinds of beings in the universe: those who dance and those who do not.” – Drax (Dave Bautista)
• “I wanted more.  I desired meaning.” – Ego (Kurt Russell)
• You need to dance more.
• Family isn’t always just what you are born into.
• Friendship, sacrifice
• “Sometimes the thing that you’re searching for your whole life is right there by your side all along and you don’t even know it.” - Peter Quill/Star-lord (Chris Pratt) 

Things I liked:

• The opening credits alone were awesome and hilarious.  That’s what I’m talking about!  What a way to start the ride.
• Groot!  Oh my gosh, he’s soooooo awesome!
• Chris Pratt sure has come a long way since his flubby days on Parks and Recreation: The Complete Series.   Female fans even get to enjoy his new six-pack abs when he takes his shirt off. He lost 60 pounds for the original movie and has kept in shape ever since.  
• Kurt Russell!  Nice job on the scenes in the opening of the movie when he was younger.
• Harpulary Batteries.  Ha ha  We learn so much more about Rocket and his motivations in this one.
• Sylvester Stallone! 
• The music soundtrack Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a lot of fun and plays an important role in the story, like in the first flick.
• As expected, a lot of slow motion shots.  Hilarious.  Epic.
• Talk about a sister feud.  Jeez.
• I love that Marvel always puts Stan Lee in their movies.  He actually shows up twice this time in Volume 2.
• Really great special effects.
• The talented cast includes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Michael Rooker, and Kurt Russell.
• Taserface.  Ha ha
• There was actually a lot of character development and backstory information about our heroes and even some of the villains.  It really adds depth to the movie and care even more.  Chris Pratt's own father died and he said that making this movie helped him deal with that trauma better.
• In the last movie, Kevin Bacon got some funny shout-outs.  This time it's David Hasselhoff.  Ha ha
• Zune.  300 songs.  Ha ha
• Keep watching after the credits start to roll at the end and stay seated until the very, very end.  There are quite a few scenes to watch.

Things I didn’t like:

• A lot of inappropriate jokes.
• Some of the lines and scenes in the trailer are different from the actual movie.  That always bugs me.
•  To truly appreciate it, you need to have seen the first Guardians Of The Galaxy.
• The "gold" people look cool, but I didn't quite get into what they were all about.
• As much as I enjoyed it, it's still not as good or fresh as the original.  Sequels rarely are, right?

Interesting lines:

• “All you do is yell at each other.  You’re not friends.” – Nebula (Karen Gillan)

“You’re right.  We’re family.” – Drax

• “When you’re ugly and someone loves you, you know they love you for who you are.  Beautiful people never know who they can trust.” – Drax  (In the first movie, it took up to 4 hours to apply his make-up, but they got it down to only 90 minutes in the making of the sequel.)

Funny lines:

• “So, we’re really saving the galaxy again?” – Rocket (Bradley Cooper)

“I guess!” – Peter Quill/Star-Lord

“Awesome!  We’re really going to be able to jack up our prices for 2 times galaxy savers!” – Rocket

• “Yes, I prefer to make people the old-fashioned way.” – Peter Quill/Star-Lord
• “I’m sorry.  I’m using the wrong eye again.  That was supposed to be behind your back.” – Rocket after calling the high priestess a douche-bag and then winking.
• “Don’t call me a raccoon!” – Rocket

“I’m sorry.  I took it too far.  Trash Panda.” – Peter Quill/Star-Lord

• “Like they say, you’re out of luck until you go duck.” – Howard the Duck (He made a surprise and funny appearance at the very end of the first movie, voiced by Seth Green.) 
• “Ha ha.  You look like Mary Poppins.” – Peter Quill/Star-Lord

“Is he cool?” – Yondu (Michael Rooker

            (Standee advertisement at my local Regal theater)

Tips for parents:

• There is a lot of crude humor.
• Some profanity.
• Lots of violence.
• SPOILER ALERT:  You’ll laugh out loud and be able to relate to the teenage Groot at the very end.  Ha ha   Loved it.