A Vacuous and vapid offering from MCU

Rating: 3/10 (30 April 2017)

Admittingly, I was not a fan of the original. I found the first film an eye-candied substandard science fiction yarn only suitable for a Saturday afternoon. Obviously emboldened by unexpected box office gold, director James Gunn decided to ramp up the volume to an '11' for this sequel.
(Spoilers!) Aiming for a grandiose villain this time, Ego the Living Planet, as played by Kurt Russell is a toothless tiger. We are treated yet again to another end-of-the-world or better yet, end-of- the-universe scenario complete with sub-par special effects that threatens a total of three planets in the whole universe (I counted three, and that includes Missouri, USA, representing Earth). With Dr Strange anticlimactic ending alongside this anticlimactic last third act, one wonders if Marvel Studios is cutting corners when it comes to effects.
This time round infantile jokes revolving round adolescent concept of fornication are abound. They are only worth a chuckle once and repetitive reiterations only serve to reveal Gunn's sense of humour. Since he's contract-bound by Disney's kid-friendly ratings, most of the jokes fell flat. To put it bluntly, if you want to tell sex jokes, go all the way like the American Pie movies.
As other review sites have noted, the first act is the most energetic, providing a shot in the arm only for the first 15 minutes. The second act which lasts around an hour drags as there are only two settings: Yondu's Ravager's ship and Ego's planet. One couldn't care less about Chris Pratt's absentee Dad's hangups. Spielberg does it better than Gunn in his earlier movies. It was so dull that I actually dozed off more than a couple of times.
The preposterous third act recalls Batman Vs Superman's "Martha" resolution to the said conflict. But since everyone who fervently follows MCU's episodic TV serial-like movies have a short memory span, they would probably forgive James Gunn for being such a genius when he uses basically the same plot device to snap Peter Quill out of his hypnosis. Superheroes do have a soft spot for their mothers...
The Ego/Peter Quill fight scene recalls the now dated and badly- rendered fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in Matrix Revolutions. I groaned at the Pac-Man transformation scene. I know many people like the 70s/80s pop cultural references but this scene is bordering on being ridiculous. If one wants a nostalgic trip down memory lane, 'Boogie Nights' offers a more superior experience. Then again, the target audience for this film would not be old enough to view that fine film.
Taken in totality, this film is more banal than "Civil War", many of the jokes were unfunny and falls flat. The whole film is filled with so much colour palettes, it hurts the eyes. To summarise bluntly, watching this film is akin to binging on fizzy drinks to a whole new diabetic level.