GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
This family is messy — and this sequel is for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 is an often funny, mostly entertaining sequel with lively character interactions and genuine emotional weight. Baby Groot and Drax are especially likable, while Peter’s longing for a father and Gamora’s troubled relationship with her sister provide surprising emotional moments. The movie also explores redemption, sacrifice, humility, family, and the importance of being a good father.
But the sequel significantly increases the objectionable content. Strong action violence includes many deaths, some played for laughs. The film also contains 34 obscenities, four profanities, sexual references, jokes about male anatomy, and a pagan mythology that becomes convoluted.
Adults who can handle those concerns may find this funny and exciting film worthwhile; families with children or young teens should choose something else. The practical answer: worth the trip — adults only.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESPeter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, and his team of misfits must defend valuable batteries from the Sovereign, a gold-covered people who will pursue them after Rocket steals some of the batteries.
After their spaceship is badly damaged, a man named Ego approaches the Guardians and reveals that he is Peter’s biological father. Peter, Drax, and Gamora visit Ego’s planet to learn more about Peter’s origins, while Rocket, Baby Groot, and the Ravager Yondu face trouble of their own.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly entertaining, emotionally effective sequel. The character interactions are witty and often hilarious, with Baby Groot and Drax stealing the movie as its most likable characters. The other Guardians are well-rounded and emotionally motivated, and the movie is more satisfying than the first because of its humor and improved characters.
The story does have weaknesses. Character arcs are worn on the sleeve, Ego lacks proper motivation, and the mythology surrounding his existence is convoluted and not well thought out. Those flaws diminish the story, but the humor, excitement, and emotional moments still make this an entertaining film.
The Worldview
The film is a mixed bag. Its mythology is strongly pagan, presenting an ancient cosmic being who can manipulate molecules and create life. The mythology also relies on Greek ideas about overthrowing one’s father. Some protagonists, including Rocket, still revel in lawlessness.
The movie also contains strong biblical themes of redemption, sacrifice, family, humility, protecting the world, and the importance of being a good father. Its Christian elements include self-sacrifice and references to “Hallelujah” in George Harrison’s song “My Sweet Lord,” though other parts of the song refer to Krishna, the Hindu god. The film’s moral themes are genuine, but they exist alongside pagan spiritism, cruelty, theft, murder, and a casual attitude toward lawlessness.
Its central picture of family points toward a biblical responsibility that the film only partly captures: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Mixed pagan worldview with strong biblical values of redemption, sacrifice, family, the importance of being a good father, humility, and protecting the world as well as strong Christian elements of self-sacrifice and references to Hallelujah in a song titled “My Sweet Lord” (the original song blends Christian references to God with Hindu references to the Hindu god Krishna), but set in a false pagan mythology about the universe which relies on Greek mythological notions of overthrowing one’s father, and populated by grotesque characters, lawlessness, cruelty, theft, and murder (much of which is celebrated with humor and gleeful disregard for the value of life); 34 obscenities (including multiple uses of “s” and “b” words), four profanities, urination, vomiting, and several jokes about male sexual anatomy, sometimes with sexual connotations; lots of strong action violence with spaceship fights, hand to hand combat with punching, combat with heavy weaponry, a battle with a giant monster that ends in it being cut open from the inside out, a disturbing scene in which probably 50 men are killed with an arrow, played out in comedic effect, earth and other planets are threatened; no depicted sex, but multiple sexual references (some of which are just romantic references to unspoken attraction), a character is seen putting on his clothes in a robot brothel with robot scantily clad prostitutes, a light kiss, implications that a character has been impregnating women of various species for a very long time; upper male nudity; reference to drunkenness; no smoking or drug content; and, some vengeful moments, plus stealing and greed.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The Guardians learn that family is more than biology. What makes someone a faithful family member, and how can your family practice that kind of love?
Romans 12:10 · 1 Peter 4:8–10The film includes sacrifice and redemption. How are those ideas connected in Scripture, and what makes Christian redemption different from simply starting over?
Mark 10:45 · Ephesians 1:7The story raises questions about what makes a good father. What responsibilities does Scripture give parents, especially fathers?
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 · Ephesians 6:4Several characters embrace lawlessness, theft, revenge, or greed. What does God value instead?
Micah 6:8 · Romans 12:19–21The Final Word
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 is funny, exciting, and emotionally engaging, with meaningful themes of family, sacrifice, and redemption. Its strong language, violence, sexual references, and pagan mythology make it unsuitable for younger viewers. For discerning adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. Families seeking something else can start here:
