Not as Guarded

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 is a mediocre film. It has wonderful visuals and 3D is well worth the price.
As for story: it is badly written and has a lot of filler that is unnecessary. The movie tries too hard to be a comedy instead of a Marvel movie and that takes away from the entire film. The mutiny by the Ravagers was a wasted moment; the consistent Taser Face jokes were repeated way too often; Stallone (and his character) are just filler and have no purpose; and Mantis (an original Guardians) is badly written and used. Baby Groot wears thin after the first ten minutes and the continuous Baby Groot puns are useless. The entire story line with Nebula is a waste of time - how she only wanted a sister instead of a rival has nothing to do with the story and only gives a doorway to having one more additional character for future movies.
Cast: Chris Pratt is alright as Star Lord. He will never be a strong actor and he fills the role, but he does not have the presence that Chris Evans or Robert Downey have in their respective Marvel roles. Zoe Saldana just is awful as Gamora (she was in the first film too) and I am not sure why she is in demand for these roles - she destroys Star Trek with her bad interpretation of Uhura and she is just so dry and lifeless in everything that she does. Michael Rooker is outstanding and has the best presence and lines in the film. Kurt Russell does a nice job as Ego, but he doesn't come across as that super villain that you need to save the world from. Rocket Raccoon is funny as usual. Drax is the second best character in the film and Batista brings a lot of life and character to Drax - Saldana could learn from him. Sean Gunn steals scene after scene as Kraglin and should have had more screen time than Gamora or Mantis.
Overall I give the movie a 7 for the visuals, Michael Rooker, Kurt Russell (who was pretty good as the villain) and Rocket Raccoon. Some of the best parts of the movie were the cameos - David Hasselhoff, Ben Browder, Stallone, Ving Rhames, Michelle Yoeh and Jeff Goldblum (to name a few).