I loved the first Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was skeptical when I saw the movie posters at first, but then I got the DVD for Christmas and loved it. I loved Rocket the Raccoon, Groot (the moving tree) and the more than the slightly dysfunctional relationship that formed between the various humanoid guardians of the galaxy as the film developed. It was quirky, it was tongue-in-cheek, and it was unexpected. I listened to the movie soundtrack whenever I wanted to lift my spirits.

Then they had to go and make a sequel…

Now, naively, I thought that since Marvel’s recent movie sequels are such a tremendous success, this wouldn’t be that bad right?

Wrong.

There were some amusing moments in the movie, mostly involving the young Groot, and some involving the genetically streamlined race of the Sovereigns who are bred for perfection – but not for correctly estimating the length of the red carpet their supreme leader is supposed to walk on.

But the film mostly involved the human Peter Quill’s weird Dad who is a heartless god-like alien responsible for implanting cancer in his mother’s brain. Yes, you read that right. It all seemed strange and vaguely unnecessary.

There was also some sisterly drama for Gamora and Nebula, and some self-alienating behavior from Rocket the Raccoon. All was sweetened by Disney’s insistence that if we argue all the time, we must be a family. Only Peter Quill had to kill his real dad, of course, since he had killed his mum previously.

I am not sure what Disney is trying to tell us with this?

No, no matter how I look at that plot line, it’s just too bizarre.

Basically, the only good consequence of this film was that I feel I must re-watch the original Guardians of the Galaxy to remember how good it was, and forget that the sequel has ever appeared to ruin it.

The best scene in the entire movie is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VimTTtmTbmQ

Save yourself some money on cinema tickets and stick to this clip.