***Spoilers***

Sure, it's brightly colored and set to a light, airy 70’s soft rock soundtrack but this movie is as dark as they come from a storytelling standpoint. It’s not dark from a fantasy standpoint either, as it’s all rooted in very real and relatable human issues. In fact there’s a startling amount of abuse in here that seems to go beyond standard hero/villain dynamics.

-Rocket’s self-loathing. He reminds me a lot of Jackman’s Wolverine in this regard. There’s a depth to his loneliness that comes across very well. He’s essentially a “thing”. A science project. It’s one thing to be different, but to be so consistently reminded of just how different you are, it can make for an incredibly difficult existence.

Like many things in this film, that weight is muted through humor, such as when Mantis mistakes him for a pet dog or when Quill fires off one of the funniest insults in all of the MCU when he calls him a “trash panda”, but those are deep cuts for Rocket.

-The revelation of Yondu trafficking children to be murdered by their father.

-Ego having kids for the sole purpose of furthering his plan of universal genocide and murdering them for being unable or unwilling to serve said purpose.

-Quill is one of those children. Not only that, he finds out pops didn’t just leave his mother… he murdered her.

-The revelation of the extent of the horrific physical and emotional abuse suffered by Nebula as a child and Gamora’s unwitting complicity. Lose a fight, get a body part torn out and replaced with mechanical parts.

-The way the Ravagers treated by baby- toddler?- Groot. It’s awful enough given his inherent cuteness but when you realize Groot is a sentient being and view him the way you would any human child, that’s a gut wrenching scene.

Strip way the bright colors, fun soundtrack and all the jokes and this is an incredibly morbid film. Keep the same story and dialogue for Rocket but replace Bradley Cooper with Jackie Earle Haley and he is, quite literally, a whole different animal.

Frankly this is the template for what a sequel should be.

I see some tepid reviews but this is one of the most multifaceted films in the history of the genre and I think time will be kinder than the initial reviews seem to indicate. Gunn pulls of an incredible elemental balancing act here.

-Everyone got meaningful screen time.

-Multiple threads from the first film got a proper and sensible payoff. I.E, despite Yondu’s status as a villain, Ravagers in both films become increasingly angry at Yondu for being “soft” in the way he deals with Quill and here we see why. He got a well-executed arc that upset me for all the right reasons.

-At least two satisfying redemption arcs that I can think of off top.

-Every character is likable and deeply relatable in ways that, IMO, absolutely surpass their Avengers counterparts. Every character grows from their first iteration to some degree, except perhaps Drax.

This isn’t to say the movie is flawless or above criticism, but there’s an awful lot to gush about. There are plot and story issues but so many elements are so well balanced at such a high level, those flaws look incredibly minor by comparison. It’s easily the best character piece in the MCU and I’m not sure it’s close.