"I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!"
- Yondu Udonta

Unlike its predecessor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is movie that’s deeply personal to me. This wasn’t initially the case, as at first I just simply thought it was better than the first one. But within a couple of months I dug deeper and found the reasons why I felt a connection with the film. While the first film was about broken people finding a family, this sequel further expands on how most of them were broken in the first place and how far they still need to grow. It’s themes of abuse and “complicated” parent-child relationships greatly resonated with me and helped me cope and understand feelings and struggles I have had in my own life. One of the best things this movie does is further the theme of redemption by taking two minor antagonists from the first film, Yondu and Nebula, and makes them fully realized sympathetic characters you love. And in the case of Yondu, he becomes the heart and soul of the film. Nebula ends up becoming more interesting than Gamora and I’m eager to see how her character arc ends in Endgame. Kurt Russel’s inherent charisma and charm as Ego makes the character really likable until the ugly truth about him is revealed, and he’s a great catalyst to further Quill on his character journey. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a really fun and emotionally touching film, even if the jokes don’t land 100%, and I get choked up more and more by the ending on every viewing.