Something more and something less

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2017)

I love the characters and the actors playing same (This to offset some of my following negative comments). Almost every character was further developed from where we left them in the first movie. Groot is a baby and cute. Gamora I felt loses some of her edge here but her sister Nebula picks up that anger and aggression and satisfyingly runs with it. Drax is Drax and has some of the best lines. I am a long time fan of Kurt Russell and he did a good job as Ego but could have been made edgier, esp. as an enemy (was I looking for a good enemy?). Ayesha, the golden alien ruler and her video game playing subjects, did not make very good enemies (my enemy issues again?), but I did like the use of 80's computer game sounds for their virtual battles. I wanted more kick-ass Rocket Raccoon than I got. I usually complain about lack of character development which this sequel had in spades! Yondu got some quality time on screen and by the end of vol. 2 I wanted to see him in vol. 3...sigh. To solidify this ramble, vol 2 gave us much more of the characters we know and love but maybe had too little time to use them in a satisfying way. We get something less and something more here (but in a good way). Maybe James Gunn will better use the characters he has matured in vol. 3? So many story lines, so little time.