Gaurdians Of The Galaxy 2 Review: Unspoken Connections

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

Our heroes/anti-heroes Star‑Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and (Baby) Groot return in another fun, charming adventure in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. . Many elements that fans loved from the first film are repeated with success: 80’s music soundtrack, quotable one-liners, gorgeous imagery, and overall cheeky attitude are replicated with great success. The overall strength of the film lies with is character development and exploration of relationships between them. There are the original five Guardians who have teamed up in the first installment and have a mostly comfortable rapport amongst each other. By the end of this film they define themselves as a family. But between each other individually and with other characters there are a number of very different kinds of relationships that are portrayed . There is, of course, Peter and Gamora’s classic “Will-They-or-Won't-They?” questionable romance. In a self-aware remark, Peter compares themselves to Sam and Diane from Cheers, to which Gamora frustratingly points out that she doesn’t know what Cheers is. Likewise, there are the connections made between Peter and his newly found father, Ego. Peter lost his mother at a young age and was kidnapped and raised by Yondu. There is genuine conflict within Peter as he struggles to connect with his biological father. There is doubt, questions, amazement, betrayal, all of which are traversed while building this new relationship. Alternatively, there is Peter’s relationship to Yondu, who had effectively raised him. In the first film, this was recounted as simply carting the boy around under constant threats of cannibalism. However it was refined deeper than that as Yondu acted tough for his crew but genuinely cared for Peter’s safe-keeping. Gamora and her sister Nebula revisit their torturous upbringing at the hands of Thanos and realise that they are mutual survivors and comrades. Rocket and Yondu connect over their identical coping strategies for their anxieties and fears. Drax and Mantis just seem to enjoy each other’s company. Drax is reminded of his late daughter through Mantis, and Mantis takes everything Drax says to heart, learning his apparent wisdom. There’s blood related family, adopted family, friends, mutual kindred souls, courteous acquaintances. There are just so many connections between these characters, and they are all presented beautifully. They develop and either strengthen or fall apart based on actions the characters take and conversations they share. In a film so full of action and comedy, such development of these details are so refreshing and build a strong foundation for explore the characters more in the future Marvel Cinematic Universe installments.