Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 features the same band of misfits saving the universe as they did in the first installment. Chris Pratt, who plays Peter Quill, discovers new powers about himself and puts his friends’ future in jeopardy when he discovers his father, Ego, played by Kurt Russell, and his immortal vision for making the entire universe into himself. Meanwhile, Rocket the raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper, is up to his old thieving self, stealing high powered batteries, which sends the high priestess of the Sovereign to kill him. This adds many obstacles to the main goal of defeating Ego, including the gangsters of the galaxy, the Ravagers turning against their leader Yondu. Guardians 2 is full of good old Marvel humor, stunning visual effects, and a storyline that has viewers hooked from the beginning.

The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) hits another home run with this one, like the many movies they’ve released in years past. Guardians 2 picks up where the first one left off, and explains something fans of the series were wondering since the first edition: what happened to Peter’s father? Ego is an immortal being who created a planet through his own mind and soon wants to create the whole universe in his image, but he needs Peter’s help. Many characters play a very key role in the story and defeating Ego, including Rocket, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), but especially Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Marvel announced that the Guardians will return for a third movie, presumably after they meet up with the Avengers in the 2018 movie Avengers: Infinity Wars Part 1.

Overall, the movie is a well put together story of family, persistence, friendship, and discovering what you’d sacrifice to have it all. Like all superhero movies, it’s not just cool effects and guys blasting each other with guns. There’s always meaning behind movies like this. Guardians displays Marvel at its best.