The first Guardians of the Galaxy caught me by surprise as to how good it was and I anticipated the sequel as soon as it was announced. (The first Guardians is tied for my favorite Marvel movie along with Captain America: Winter Soldier.) Lucky for me, I was able to see it last night with my almost 11-year-old daughter and almost 13-year-old son and it did not disappoint.
The gang is back for the sequel in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, with more characters and better character development for some of the secondary characters. Trust me, you will love Yondu more than you already do. We also found out who Peter Quill’s father is and he may or may not be happy about that. I would love to spoil the movie for you by telling you all the great things that are in it, but there are enough reviews to cover them.
Let’s get to it. Is Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 appropriate for kids? Well, it was okay for the two that I brought, but there is no way I would take my 5-year-old. Like most sequels, there’s a lot more of everything. So, in this one there’s more violence, more monsters, more swear words, and more penis jokes. A lot more of the last one. So many that it could be renamed, “Guardians of Penis Humor.” Which Marvel might want to jump on.
Violence: There is a lot more. A lot more fighting and a lot more deaths. Some of the deaths are gruesome. And there’s a torture scene that upset my 10-year-old daughter.
Language: There’s a few more curse words than the first, but many more crass words. Such as dick, douche-bag, etc.
Scary images: The movie starts off with the Guardians fighting a giant alien that could cause nightmares in younger and more sensitive viewers.
Sex: Filled with innuendos, but nothing is shown.
Intense Scenes: One of the reasons that I will not show this movie to my 5-year-old is because of several emotional scenes that might bother him. There is a death that is heartbreaking, and as I said before, there is a disturbing torture scene that could bother children.
If you have seen the other Marvel movies, here’s how Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 compares:
Violence: More violent than the Avengers Movie, but not as violent as Deadpool.
Language: Similar to the first Guardians of the Galaxy.
Scary Images: Similar to Doctor Strange.
Sex: Similar to the first Guardians.
Intense Scenes: Similar to Thor: The Dark World
Like my other reviews, I say it is up to the parents to decide if Guardians Vol. 2 is appropriate for their kids. For my own, I think 9 and up is okay, assuming the 9 year old has some level of maturity. I let my 5-year-old watch the first Guardians on DVD, where there’s an option of skipping scenes. I will not let him watch this one on DVD until he’s a few years older.
In a nutshell: there’s a lot of violence and potty humor. You’ll also laugh a lot and you might get teary-eyed in a couple of scenes. I enjoyed the movie and will purchase the DVD once it is released.
Oh, and one final thing. Nebula is the hero your daughter has been hoping for. (I hope that didn’t spoil anything.)
I couldn’t have asked for a better review while checking to see if this is appropriate for my children. I was leaning towards no, which…I was right. Lol. Thank you!
This was super helpful for deciding whether to take my 75 year old very-touchy-about-sex-and-violence to this movie. Lol. Thank you!! 😀
*mother
😀
I agree. I took my son who is 5 years old to see this movie last night and what he came away remembering is that this it was scary. I guess I thought it wouldn’t be over the top for him since he loved the first GotG.
SPOILER ALERT
The part that bothered him the most was when Ego’s insides were exposed during the scenes where he was regrowing his body from the inside. Very graphic stuff that definitely grossed me out.