GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 REVIEW



I think in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, James Gunn has written a very poignant movie; a tale of fatherhood (and by extension, parenting in general) and what it means to be a family. Warning: very, VERY minor spoilers ahead!

The first thing to note about Gunn’s second outing with the Guardians is how it is so much about friends becoming family, in this case Star-lord and his band of brothers and one ‘sister’ have gone from a rag-tag team of bandits to essentially a family unit. Matter of fact, in one poignant scene Gamora reminds Peter that she thought he already found a family in the Guardians.

Peter a.k.a Star-lord finally finds his biological father, very early in the movie, which I thought was surprising, but turns out plays to the movie’s strength. Peter is excited as is any child when meeting a long lost father. He’s also apprehensive at the same time for obvious reasons. When Peter’s father turns out to not be what he expected, the movie teaches us its first lesson: sometimes the people who are family are nothing like us and at worst, people we would rather not become or be with for whatever reason and sure enough, Peter finds a very strong reason to abandon the father he’s being looking for for so long. It’s at one time tragic, but at the same time a moment of relief for anyone who’s been bugged down by their own family. This moment resonated with me a lot!

The other Guardians meanwhile struggle with their emotions for each other as well, including a few outsiders. Gamora is forced to deal with her adoptive sister, Nebula’s emotions as we see a crack in the latter’s armour and Drax begins to slowly move away from the loss of his family, not through revenge as he did the in the first movie, but this time through affection for a newcomer. Rocket is beginning to understand and accept that he is as broken as the rest of them. The only one not dealing with any kind of emotional turmoil is Baby Groot, who has child-like issues to deal with.

And amidst all these emotions, comes the movie’s second lesson, one I ultimately believe in more than anything when it comes to family: that family is actually the people you choose more so than those who you’re related to by blood. As Peter faces up to his biological father and the latter’s shortcomings, he realizes that Yondu, the man who ‘kidnapped’ him as a child with all his own shortcomings was more a father to him than his biological. We also find out why Yondu kidnapped young Peter in the first place and why he never delivered him to the individual who paid for him. It’s a very heart-wrenching story with a climatic, yet somber ending.

James Gunn has managed to tell a great family drama through, of all things, a Marvel space movie featuring a family of assassins and space thieves that includes a talking raccoon and a precocious growing tree. Well done, sir! Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is definitely worth the watch and worth its replay value. Can’t wait to see it again! I. AM. GROOT!

P.S. The first James Gunn movie I saw was Slither. Absolutely hilarious!

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