"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" - SPOILER ALERT

Well, here we go again. Round one of "Guardians of the Galaxy" was not my favorite in the MCU. That's a major understatement. No sense rehashing that here. You can refresh your memory from my review on that one.

I am pleased to say, however, that my experience with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" was much, much different. I enjoyed the sequel so much that I want to go back and watch the first one again. Now that I know how the story unfolds (I think character development with all of the main characters helped with that), I might appreciate the previous one more. I can't say I'll get over the foul language, though. Thankfully, that was not as much of a problem in the second one. It might have helped that I watched the second one when it aired on t.v. Therefore, some of the foul language was edited out. Even though I could lip read the original language, it helped that I didn't have to listen to it. I still say the movie would have been more enjoyable for me without it, though. But that was its only major flaw, in my opinion.

There was one part that reminded me of "The Avengers" (the first one) when it turned out Iron Man made it back to Earth. (Whew!) That wormhole did not lock him out after all! Remember that? (Do you know the similar scene in Galaxy 2 that I'm referring to?) I thought it was a bit redundant to have something similar happen in this movie. That was minor for me, though.

In the first "Guardians of the Galaxy", Groot was my favorite character and I was sad that, the way I saw it then, he was killed off and replaced. Or was he? Baby Groot was probably still my favorite character in this second one, if I had to choose one. However, my favorite character was not as clear cut as it was in the first Galaxy. In "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", I connected with all of the main characters in a way I didn't in the first one. I even came to appreciate Rocket and have empathy for him. He was someone I couldn't take seriously in the first one. It's like one of my favorite t.v. shows of all time, though, which is Friends. You cannot have one friend without the other. No one is the star of the show. It's their chemistry together that makes it work so well.

I loved that the plot surprised me. I was beginning to admire the father/son relationship between Ego and Peter. The scene where they were playing catch with the ball that Peter thought into existence was one of my favorite moments in the entire movie. It reminded me of what I've been witnessing almost everyday since the current quarantine began - a father and his young son playing basketball together. Everyday behind my building (which I can see from my balcony) they put up a portable basketball hoop and they practice. It's heartwarming to see the father teaching his son how to play.

Silly me; I should have had my suspicions about Peter's evil daddy from the beginning. With a name like Ego, he couldn't be all that!

What Ego and Peter's relationship did not become, Gamora and Nebula made up for it. It was comforting to see their bond develop in a positive, but still tense and believable way. I also was touched by the "unspoken thing" between Peter and Gamora in this movie. In fact, words cannot adequately speak to how I felt about it. So I'll just leave it at that.

The plot point at the end when Yondu sacrificed himself was reminiscent of something similar that the father did in the movie "Armageddon". It was a beautifully heart-breaking scene in "Armageddon" and it touched me much in the same way in Galaxy 2. I also loved the tribute to him at the end. With the right kind of music playing and all the colors floating, it was pure magic. A fitting tribute for someone we got to know better in this movie.

Galaxy 2 also had the signature humor that most Marvel movies do. I laughed out loud when Peter Quill said, "You shouldn't have killed my mom and squished my Walkman.". That was a sad and poignant statement that was also very funny to me!  And then there was the tape scene where we could hear Peter asking everyone if they had tape. Hilarious!! Maybe I just laugh at silly nonsensical things. But what's life without that kind of laughter? I've come to rely on Marvel movies to take me there.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" had it all - heartfelt emotion, all around character development, an interesting and surprising plot, eye-catching cinematography, a memorable musical score, and laugh out loud, tasteful humor. Apart from the foul language, it was perfection in my world.