Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 film review ★★★★★

Guardians of the Galaxy was the pièce de résistance of what will surely be referred to as the Marvel Movie Renaissance Era (someday, at least – we’re getting there). The space rock opera somehow managed to synthesise (with emphasis on the synth) interstellar skulduggery with superhero-dom and talking animals with machine guns, all against a soundtrack strong enough to knock your socks off.

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the beloved band of merry misfits are still together: Chris Pratt plays sexy space cowboy Peter Quill; Zoe Saldana is back as green faced space hit-lady Gamora; Dave Bautista a blue, tattooed space Drax; Bradley Cooper voices Rocket, a perpetually peeved trash panda with a penchant for explosives; Vin Diesel voices adorable marketing dream personified, Baby Groot.

The team immediately find themselves in hot water after appropriating a bunch of batteries from an empress named Ayesha (played by a very regal Elizabeth Debicki) who single-handedly redefines what it means to walk into a room dripping in gold. Chasing the Guardians through space with her pack of space pods, matters deteriorate quickly. Nebula (Karen Gillan, a cyborg) catches up and subsequently decks it out with her adoptive sister Gamora. Michael Rooker’s badass cobalt-blue pirate Yondu has a mutinous crew on his hands led by the nefarious Taserface.

Fortunately, Kurt Russell is there to do the saving of the day. His character’s name is Ego and he lives on a planet that he literally made and nothing can go wrong with this plan. (Spoiler: things go wrong and the galaxy is once again in jeopardy).

Guardians of the Galaxy is a hard act to follow. It’s the shoot-em-up space Western we didn’t know we needed. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 showcases the aspects of James Gunn’s directorial prowess that made the first one such a success; even when constructing a mega-blockbuster, franchise-owned sequel he can create a captivating world that sparks imagination without turning to the formulaic austerity that tends to characterise Marvel movies.

It's hard not to sympathise with his camera, which points in the direction of wonder and amazement. Carnage wrought by Yondu's neon-trailed arrow becomes not only aesthetically pleasing, but a sight to behold. Lingering on snowflakes, bubbles, and dancing Baby Groot, Gunn's transformative cinematic powers can transport audience members to the deepest, limitless reaches of space.

Jerry Seinfeld once postulated that there's no such thing as fun for the whole family. Once again, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 presents hard evidence to the contrary.