Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Marked skippable and it is one of the better films in this list, which is the clearest case on the page for reading the verdict as a statement about plot rather than quality. Nothing in Infinity War requires it beyond knowing the crew exists.

It is a film about fathers, and it is considerably sadder than the first. Quill meets the parent he has imagined his whole life and discovers that the man is a cosmic narcissist who killed his mother. Running alongside that is Yondu, the abusive blue pirate from the first film, who turns out to have been the actual father and knows it. The line he delivers in the last ten minutes is the most affecting moment in Phase Three.

Gunn also does something unusual with Nebula and Gamora, giving two antagonistic sisters an argument about which of them was tortured worse, and it is written with real specificity. Drax and Mantis are the comic centre and the film is noticeably less plot-driven than its predecessor, which some find relaxing and some find slack.

Kurt Russell is enjoying himself. The film holds the record for post-credits scenes, with five, most of them jokes. Watch it because it is good, not because you have to.