It’s been, how long since the last Guardian’s movie? I don’t know about you but I’ve been feening for this sequel since the first movie ended. If you don’t want spoilers, then you may want to stop reading because I’m spilling it all.

First, I’m late on seeing this movie but we’ll ignore that fact. Let’s focus on the movie! The story picks up a few years after the last one. The Guardians are now “heroes” and working a high profile job with some planet who needs help killing a monster that’s trying to eat their batteries which power their planet. The Guardians successfully kill the monster (during one of the most EPIC opening sequences ever!) and then leave the planet – but not before Rocket, in typical Rocket fashion – steals a battery for himself and a chase ensues.

They outrun their former clients but end up crashing onto another planet where they are confronted by Star Lord’s Father, Ego. What! Now, if you’ll recall from the other movies, there was a great mystery around his lineage because he was one of the few people in the world (universe in fact) that could hold an infinity stone. This told us two things: 1) he is a total badass and 2) he has to be some sort of divine. Well, turns out, his dad is a freaking God and that makes Star Lord some of sort of demi-god. What?!

Long story short, he and his dad reunite but everyone has their doubts about ol’ daddy-o, and with good reason. His dad turns out to be using him for his own personal gain, and Yondu (who was like a surrogate father to him), ends up saving him. We know he and Yondu had a rocky relationship anyway (he did try to kill him a couple of times) but we later learn about their backstory, which was actually pretty touching.

At the end of the movie, some relationships are mended, while others are broken, but one thing’s for sure, our Guardians are family and will be returning for the next movie. The Infinity Wars will be split into two parts and we all know that they will bring the entire Marvel Universe together so we will see some old and new faces by the time of that movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie - it did lag in a few spots – but it answered a lot of questions. Particularly for me, the story of Peter/Star Lord’s mom and some other backstories. I don’t want to give it all away but you have to see this. And some thing tells me that we may get a 3rd movie sooner rather than later because those Scavengers are a force.

I leave you with this opening sequence but also one of the most memorable songs from the movie. Shout out to the band, Looking Glass, for this hit and setting the scene for this movie. FYI: Seeing a 1970s version of Kurt Russell was a mind-trip! 

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Let’s admit that everyone sees these Despicable movies simply for the minions. Keeping in the theme of our summer movie marathon, the boys and I met up for a movie date with my friend and her son to see DM3. This is one of those movies that I always get excited about. The first movie had me laughing out loud from start to finish. It also introduced me to minions and I was hooked. The second movie was pretty darn good, so I totally wasn’t expecting a 3rd one in this series.

DM3 focuses on Gru and his new wife being fired from their jobs as anti-villain agents (ironic huh, considering Gru was a villain). After breaking the news to his newly adopted daughters, he learns that he has a brother he was separated from during his parents’ divorce. His brother has sought him out to convince him to become a villain again. The two of them, though disturbing, are funny. Not ha-ha funny, but giggle funny. We are also introduced to a new villain named Brad. OMG this guy was funny. Apparently, he was an 80s kids star, and much like kid stars of that era, he was dropped when he went through puberty. He became angry and decided to become that villain he played on tv.

Y’all this guy was funny. What is it about stars from that era that can’t ever let it go? This was totally him. I loved his quirkiness. The other storyline that runs is that Gru and minions get in a fight but end reuniting at the end of the movie.

All in all, it was an ok movie but they could have just left things off at the second one.

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My holiday weekend was spent in and out of movies theaters with the kiddos. First up on our summer movie marathon was Cars 3. I LOVE all things Disney and was really looking forward to this movie. The first one was epic and the second one was pretty good too. I didn’t have the highest of expectations for the 3rd one and it seems I was spot on. While I admire the good push they made, I have to admit that the movie fell a little flat for me.

Now, don’t bash me for hating on Disney; I’m being honest. The premise of this movie is around Lightening McQueen feeling like his time as a racer is coming to end. With all of the new, high-tech cars in the race world, he can barely keep up. He eventually losing his place – figuratively and literally – and decides to get some help. He lands himself with a brand-new company owner who is all about forward thinking. When it’s all said and done, the journey to redemption is about why more than him, but rather about breaking down barriers about female drivers.

I appreciate the message that all Disney movies provide but I quickly got bored with this movie less than half way through. Sorry, Disney/Pixar, this one just didn’t do it for me. However, my sons loved it and that’s all that matters.

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We saw "Transformers: The Last Knight" this weekend and it was pretty good. I can't say it was the best of the franchise, but it was good. Let me set the scene for you:

This movie starts a few years after the last one with most of Chicago destroyed and a new government agency called the TRF (Transformers) created to eliminate all Autobots and Decepticons from the world. At the same time, the world can't seem to understand why all of these transformers keep coming to Earth. To make a long story short, Optimus Prime becomes brainwashed by his creator (I thought we knew who that was?) and everyone is in search of staff given to Merlin (yes, King Arthur's Merlin) that can control the future of the universe, so to speak. While this isn't the most intriguing storyline, it was ok. I did feel a bit reaching at times but its a movie about giant robots so what do you expect.

I don't want to give away all of the details so I'll just list a few points of interest:

• I love how they tied all of the previous movies together into this one. Even to the point that you see some familiar faces but we also meet a bunch of new faces. 
• There were some funny moments but there was also a bunch of corny ones too. 
• The CGI was good but it was a bit too much at times that it really looked fake.
• We meet a lot of new robots in this movie too, which is always good.
• It's nice to hear the origin story of the Transformers in general. But, why was Optimus so easily brainwashed?
• I thought tying things back to King Arthur was an interesting spin. I would have never saw it coming. 
• Mark Wahlbeger's character is still the same and worthy of being a knight, which I thought was cute. 
• Vivian was...interesting. She looked EXACTLY like Megan Fox's character so it literally felt like the first movie all over again. Even Mark was giving me Shia moments at times.