Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and the 15th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It premiered in Tokyo on April 10, 2017, and was released in the United States on May 5, 2017, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, will be released on May 5, 2023.

Plot
1980s, Meredith Quill's lover Ego takes her to see a strange flower, which he claims one day will expand through the universe. Back in the present, the Guardians of the Galaxy, now a gang of mercenaries officially recognized by Xandar, are hired by the Sovereign race to protect their batteries from a giant monster. After they succeed, the Sovereign leader pays them by handing them over Nebula, who had tried to steal batteries as well. The guardians plan to deliver Nebula to Xandar where she can be imprisoned and claim the bounty, but on their way out they're attacked by the Sovereigns because Rocket stole some batteries. As they attempt to flee the attackers, the Guardians are suddenly saved by a strange ship but they crash-land into a nearby planet.

The ship that rescued them turns out to be owned by Ego, Star-Lord's father. Originally Ego had hired Yondu to deliver Peter to him after Meredith died but Yondu decided to keep Peter for himself, ever since Ego had been looking for him. After news spread about a human holding an Infinity Stone without dying back during the Xandar war, Ego immediately knew that had to be his son so he tracked the Guardian's moves to find him. Meanwhile, the Ravager's leader decides to exile Yondu because of his recently heroic actions and due to Yondu's previous involvement in child trafficking, causing Yondu's crew begin to doubt his leadership. The Sovereign queen arrives and hires Yondu to capture the Guardians.

Ego invites Peter to his private planet. He, Gamora, and Drax decide to go while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to fix their ship and keep Nebula in check. On their way to Ego's planet, they meet Ego's maid Mantis. At the planet, Ego explains that he's actually a Celestial; an extremely powerful race of aliens that can live eternally, and in fact the Planet IS the real Ego. Ego's real form is a giant Brain like creature with matter-controlling powers, he had used those powers to build a shell for himself which continued to expand until it evolved into the planet. What they are talking to is a physical avatar, which Ego uses to interact with other species.

The Ravagers attack Rocket, Nebula tricks Groot into releasing her but she quickly betrays them. Yondu captures Rocket but reveals that he plans to help them escape the Sovereigns; at that point Taserface starts a mutiny against Yondu, and Nebula destroys Yondu's prosthetic Fin he used to control the Yaka Arrow. Yondu, Rocket, and Groot are taken prisoners while Nebula takes a ship and goes after Gamora.

Ego explains that long ago he used his physical avatar to explore other worlds and find lifeforms in the universe. In his travels he met Peter's mother and fell in love with her, however his avatar can't stay away from the planet for too long so he had to leave shortly before Peter's birth. He also reveals that Peter inherited Ego's Celestial powers thus he's also immortal; that's why he didn't suffocate in the vacuum of space and why he could hold the Infinity Stone. Peter is angry at Ego for never visiting him, but Ego begs for his forgiveness and tries to be his father.

After some practice, Peter begins to showcase some level of control over Ego's planet. Meanwhile Drax and Mantis begin to form a close friendship. Gamora on the other hand suspects something's fishy with Ego's planet after noticing Mantis is afraid of Ego. Suddenly she's attacked by Nebula. After a brief fight in a cavern, Nebula breaks down and admits all she wanted was to stop losing to her sister over and over and over. Gamora forgives Nebula and offers her to join the Guardians of the Galaxy. While trying to get out of the cavern, the two find a giant pile of skeletons and realize Ego's dangerous. At the same time Ego offers Peter to show what his plans are for the two, much to Mantis' horror.

While in prison, Yondu and Rocket begin to bond over how both are jerks towards everyone and Rocket questions why Yondu didn't deliver Peter to Ego. With the help of Groot and Kraglin, Yondu gets a new fin to reactivate the Yaka Arrow. Using it, Yondu kills the entire Ravager crew that betrayed him and gets a ship so he, Kraglin, Rocket, and Groot can go save Peter from Ego but not before Taserface tells the Sovereign where the Guardians are headed. During the escape Yondu and Rocket become close friends.

Ego tells Peter that he plans to expand his consciousness across the entire universe to conquer it, but he needs a second Celestial to do so, therefore he had offspring with every species he encountered hoping one would have Celestial powers and killed the children if they didn't, Peter being the first one who did have Celestial power. Ego also admits that he was the one who killed Peter's mother by implanting a cancer into her Brain. Enraged, Peter attacks Ego only to realize Ego's physical form can regenerate and begins to extract his Celestial power to activate the flowers he's been seeding all over the universe. At that moment Yondu's ship crashes into Ego, rescuing Peter and they reunite with the rest of the Guardians, Mantis, Yondu, and Nebula whom they reluctantly decide to trust. Mantis fears that even if they escape Ego will just go after them again, their only option is to destroy Ego's real form within the planet's core. Rocket remembers he still has the Sovereign batteries and he uses them to build a bomb powerful enough to destroy Ego. Yondu also admits that the real reason why he kept Peter for himself; because he found out what Ego did to all the previous children and couldn't let that happen to Peter.

The Guardians take the bomb into Ego's core, but Ego's control over the planet slows them down, his avatar appears to attack them, and the Sovereigns arrive still pissed off at the Guardians. In the middle of the battle Groot takes the bomb to the core, Mantis temporarily forces Ego to hibernate, and her, Yondu, and Nebula officially become members of the group. However Mantis is knocked unconscious allowing Ego to reawaken and attack again. Yondu calls Kraglin to bring the ship so they can escape before the bomb goes off while Peter keeps Ego distracted by using his own Celestial power to counter Ego's. As the group reaches the ship, Yondu and Rocket realize Peter won't make it to the ship in time if he keeps fighting Ego and that they only have one spacesuit left. Yondu offers to stay behind and rescue Peter, Rocket reluctantly agrees and leaves with Groot knowing Yondu won't survive

Everyone else reaches the extraction ship only for them to realize Peter and Yondu haven't arrived yet. Gamora tries to go rescue them but Rocket stops her and forces the ship to leave. Back at the core, Ego desperately begs Peter to stop the bomb and says that if he dies, Peter will become mortal; to which he simply responds with "What's wrong with that?". The bomb explodes, Ego dies, the planet collapses, and Yondu rescues Peter at the last second, however there's only one space suit for the two, which Yondu gives to Peter. As the two leave Ego's atmosphere, Yondu and Peter acknowledge their father-son relationship, and Yondu dies suffocated in the vacuum of space.

Sometime later, the Guardians hold a small private funeral for Yondu when all the Ravager fleets arrive and give Yondu a proper Ravager funeral. Nebula is welcomed to the Guardians but she decides to leave and continue fighting Thanos, though she promises to join the group when the right time comes.

Why The Guardians of the Galaxy Will Return

 * 1) Like the previous movie, it has great blend of comedy and action.
 * 2) Cool soundtrack. Just like the first movie, the classic songs often fit the situation and blend well into the narrative.
 * 3) While mostly comedic, the movie still has intense and emotional moments with a general theme about the importance of family and parenthood.
 * 4) The Sovereign are funny antagonists.
 * 5) Just like in the last film, the acting is tremendous, particularly from Kurt Russell and Chris Pratt, the latter of whom delivers possibly his best performance as Quill in the MCU to date.
 * 6) Mantis is introduced as a new member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, while Yondu and Nebula served as temporary members, the former of whom being portrayed by Pom Klementieff. She is also adorable.
 * 7) *Nebula later rejoins the team in Avengers: Infinity War.
 * 8) The scene where Drax says to Mantis "When you're ugly and someone loves you, you know the love who you are" This scene alone is a message for those who are not human beings like disabilities, color of their skin or/and even ugly faces who are not injuries during birth, are better and be themselves.
 * 9) Yondu has a much more prominent role than in the prequel. His scene with the Yaka arrow is very memorable.
 * 10) This version of Ego the Living Planet is one the most creative villains the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come up with.
 * 11) *Plus, considering his actor Kurt Russell usually portrays heroes or anti-heroes, it only makes his reveal as the main villain all the more surprising and heartbreaking.
 * 12) Yondu's death was unexpected and his funeral was very emotional. The death scene itself was made even more heartwrenching by Quill's cries of anguish, delivered brilliantly by Chris Pratt.
 * 13) Baby Groot is very cutely designed and funny. He also serves as a surrogate son for most characters in the movie, which fits well with the movie's overall theme.
 * 14) Perfect casting for Kurt Russell as Chris Pratt’s dad, which also matches the 80's theme (e.g. Escape from New York and The Thing).
 * 15) Awesome and gorgeous cinematography, just like the first movie.
 * 16) It confirms that Stan Lee indeed always portrays the same character in every MCU movie. He's an informer for "The Watchers", which explains how he keeps appearing as different people in different time periods and even different planets.
 * 17) The members of the original Guardians of the Galaxy make a cameo appearance.
 * 18) Adam Warlock gets teased in a post credits scene.
 * 19) This.
 * 20) "Mantis, look out!", and “Alright I know that sounds bad” are quite memorable lines in the movie
 * 21) Taserface is a funny and laughable word and name of a villain who everyone laughing contagioulsy.
 * 22) Great direction by James Gunn, like the previous movie.
 * 23) Yondu's death was a very emotional scene.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Nebula was flanderized because she never became a heroine in the comics, though this is intentional. Thankfully, she changes and becomes unflanderized later in the film.
 * 2) *Gamora was also flanderized into a neat freak, jealous, and naggy in this sequel, when she yelled at Peter and Rocket for being a reckless (though it is understandable, but her characterization was completely backfired), being jealous to Peter for no reason, and wanting them furiously to save Peter in danger. Until she redeemed herself in the end of the film.
 * 3) The film sometimes has pacing issues or else other parts feel a bit rushed.
 * 4) It changed much of Star-Lord's father (J'son), who is replaced with a living planet, Ego.
 * 5) Unlike the previous film, there is a lot more pop culture references.

Reception
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was well received by critics, audiences and fans alike, with praise for its visuals, direction, soundtrack, humor, and performances (particularly those of Rooker and Russell), though some critics deemed it inferior to the original. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an 85% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.26/10, based on 409 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's action-packed plot, dazzling visuals, and irreverent humor add up to a sequel that's almost as fun—if not quite as thrillingly fresh—as its predecessor.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 93% overall positive score and a 77% "definite recommend".

In 2018 James Gunn was fired from Marvel Studios, leaving the future of the planned Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 uncertain. However, he was reinstated in March 2019.