Just as visually arresting, vibrant, joyous and funny as the original, we meet up with the team months after their 2014 adventure. They’re still a squabbling, wonderfully imperfect band of misfit underdogs but this time we’re thrust into the action almost immediately. Wham! No messing about, no foreplay, just straight into the mayhem.

And what mayhem!

With baby Groot dancing, oblivious to the crazed conflict that is happening around him the focus is squarely on the light-hearted innocence of a character who’s face will grace toy shelves, lunch boxes, soap-on-a-rope and lollypops the world over. The original team are mainly unchanged but each get enough chance to shine.

Peter Quill may be our window into Marvel’s cosmic side but the way in which the team is split for a sizeable chunk of the movie means we get Gamora and Nebula’s sibling rivalry come to a head, Rocket and Yondu off on their own adventure, while Drax gives the kind of welcome to newcomer Mantis that could only come from such an emotionally tone deaf character.

Almost as a way of overcompensating for the lack of impactful “big bad” in the original, this sequel contains several villainous entities. A weird, gold, alien master-race fail to stand out despite Elizabeth Debicki’s decent turn as their Empress. They’re an interesting bunch but just aren’t given enough to do. Also, Taserface comes across more comic-relief than de-facto villain, like Beebop and Rocksteady but looking like an oversqueezed nut-sack.

The makeup and costume design are outstanding; the Sci-Fi Fantasy aesthetic is jaw dropping and the IMAX 3D is without a doubt the best I’ve ever seen. Along with Tyler Bates triumphantly hummable score and exceptional soundtrack, GotG2 is a heady assault on the senses. To complain that a Summer blockbuster is overbearing seems a bit silly but if I had one issue with GotG2 it’s that James Gunn’s kitchen sink approach is most definitely too much to absorb in a single viewing.

There’s all the thrills and spills one has come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with an emotional poignancy in the final reel that actually feels earned. Within the confines of the MCU I’ve often heard that Guardians of the Galaxy regarded as a standalone movie, while this is mostly true for the sequel there does feel as though there’s a barrage of set-up for vol.3 during the movie’s close which is a very exciting prospect.

I had an amazing, sugar-rush of a time with GotG2. The nods and Easter eggs are an embarrassment of riches, but I just wish I’d been more readily prepared for the sensory assault, which at times was overwhelming.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2 is out now.

 

Check out the Sudden Double Deep podcast review, available on all good pod-catchers!

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