This weekend, my family and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

To put things in perspective, the first Guardians of the Galaxy is my favorite comic book movie ever made. I always clarify this by saying that although The Dark Knight is a better movie, I put that in its own category. The Dark Knight transcends comic books. It is an excellent vigilante vs terrorist movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy on the other hand is the perfect motion picture interpretation of what I love about comic books. It was full of action, humor and emotion. There were dazzling visuals which helped propel interesting characters through an engaging story.

As a result of my love for the original, Vol. 2 had quite a high bar to measure up to. The film did not disappoint at all. Obviously, I knew that I would not like it as much as the first (that would be nearly impossible). I was merely hoping for an engrossing story filled with fun, action, humor... while still maintaining its soul. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 delivered in each of those areas.

Action

There is plenty of action in this movie. The movie opens with a fantastic battle matching the Guardians vs an Abilisk ( a giant multi-tentacled monster with nearly impenetrable skin). As in the original, the writers mix in humor with this epic fight. Although it did not have as much action as the first movie, the sequel had enough to ensure that no one in my family was ever bored. There were melee, space and gun battles as well as a prison escape. The writers even managed to include a couple of action sequences that I had never seen before. Considering I have seen 40 years of action, seeing something new always scores huge points with me.

Humor

Yes. Yes. One million times yes! I honestly could not tell you if there were more action scenes or funny ones. Either way, the combination was nearly perfect. I say "nearly" because a couple of the jokes seemed a bit forced. It was almost as if the writers thought, "Oh man, we really made the audience laugh last time. It has been a few minutes. Make Baby Groot do something funny." Even if this were the case, it was OK because Baby Groot was hilarious. My kids LOVED him. Heck I loved him.

Because there are so many fun characters, the writers never had to force the jokes too much. Drax (the superhero on the Autism Spectrum) continued to provide unexpected laughs generated by his overly literal interpretation of... everything. Chris Pratt again shows his comedic talent by delivering hilarious one-liners while adding a certain air of innocence to his heroic character. Pratt plays Star-Lord as an almost overgrown teenager who over compensates for his insecurities and still sees the world as a place filled with wonder.

Emotion

Oh boy. If you are a sap like me, you may even cry during this movie. I almost did. My 10 year-old daughter definitely did. My 12 year old son would never admit it if he did... so I'm not sure about him.

There are two different father and son story arcs as well as an almost Frozen-like sister story. If that isn't enough, a couple of characters explore their insecurities and come to terms with why they attempt to scare everyone away. Even Drax shows as much emotion as he possibly can as he talks about his fallen loved ones.

Thanks to the heavy father son story lines, there were two occasions when I wanted to grab my 12 year old son and hug him. Since this would cause him to literally die from embarrassment, I chose to just nudge him with my elbow and nod at him. He got the message.

Oh and Baby Groot cries! That is when my daughter lost it.

Visuals

I saw the movie in standard 2D (I hate 3D). The visuals were so stunning that I don't think my eyes could have handled the 3D version. Marvel has become so adept at creating perfect special effects that it almost seems unnecessary to point out how amazing they are. I seriously do not know how much further special effects experts can go. Two of the five main characters do not even really exist and they still look absolutely perfect. The monsters, ships, planets, and weapons are all flawless. Once again, Marvel has created a movie that would work extremely well as a video playing without dialogue at a loud dance club.

Story

I did not read the comic book arc on which this movie is based. Therefore, I can only write about it from the perspective of a clueless movie goer. From that point of view, the story was great. It was complicated enough that my daughter was confused a few times and required an explanation from my son, but not so complicated that teenage or adult viewers would be lost. Although the action, humor and emotion are the true stars of this movie, the story did a fine job as a vehicle for those aspects. It followed the typical dramatic structure with exposition (with a dash of action to ensure audience engagement from the start), rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. I can't say the story was spectacular, but it did its job: it did not get in the way of the fun!

Appropriateness for Kids

The movie is rated PG-13 for a few reasons. Action in a comic book movie is a double edged sword (pun intended). With the action comes some violent scenes and even some deaths. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has both in spades. Although none of the deaths are graphic, they are still numerous.

In addition to the violence, there are several incidents of inappropriate language. Although none of the "big ones" are used, there are a few minor swear words as well as the use of the term "douche-bag" as an insult. The characters talk about sex on a couple of occasions but it is done in a stealthy way so my daughter did not pick up on it... I think.

I have to say, that if my daughter were my first child, I don't think I would have taken her to see this at age 10. Growing up with an older brother has "afforded" her an opportunity to experience some things at a younger age than I honestly would like. Thanks to him (and me I guess) she is used to unrealistic battle scenes and some more mature interactions. On the way home, my wife and I felt the need to discuss the inappropriate language. In the end, it sparked a good conversation so I won't count the language against the movie too much.

Make sure to stay in your seat for all FIVE post credit scenes.

Bonus scenes

There are FIVE extra scenes during the credits. In order to help keep you interested while waiting for each of the five, there are funny "easter eggs" as the credits roll. These include some interesting images in high school yearbook type photos as well as words in the credits themselves. Do not leave until you have seen all five. Each is either very entertaining or gives you a hint at what is to follow in future movies. The one with Groot is my favorite... but I won't spoil it.

In short, if you enjoyed the first Guardians of the Galaxy you will definitely enjoy this one.

Geeky Dad's Movie Guide

Number of times I fell asleep: 0
Number of eye rolls: 0
Number of face palms: 0
Number of times my kids asked to go to the bathroom or get food out of sheer boredom: 0
Number of times I checked steemit: 0
Number of times I said "That's ridiculous": 0
Did my kids like it: 12 year old son: Yes!!!! (He said it is his new favorite movie of all time) 10 year old daughter Yes!
Would I see it without my kids:Yes! On opening night! (Possibly dressed as a giant tree.) It was awesome! Although my wife liked it, she liked The Captain America series better (I'm sure it has nothing to do with how dreamy Chris Evans is...)
Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Full price ( I will be paying full price to see it again very soon)

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