Fabulous visuals, but...

Rating: 5/10 (6 October 2017)

OK, let's start with the obvious one for some viewers: Chris Pratt has put serious time in at the gym. Wow. That man can guard my galaxy any day of the week.
The visuals are extraordinary in design and execution, but Ego's planet looked a bit fussy and overdone for someone who's supposed to be a lower-case-g god. I'm not sure what style the designers were going for, but it felt messy.
The writing... okay, here's where things start to fall apart — especially in the second half where it's One Major Reconciliation Scene After Another. Sisters are united, sorta. Boy gets a dad, kinda. Bad guys find solace in each other, more or less. It all felt like Hallmark did a fast rewrite of the script before production started.
I dunno, folks. I really wanted to like this (especially after seeing Chris and... well, never mind). Maybe since this is a trilogy, this is just a bridge setting up things for the Big Conclusion (before, of course, they see the profit margin and change their minds and this becomes a monster franchise with pointless sequels, like STAR WARS). But it just felt sloppy and awkward and forced — and damn but there was a lot of questionable language for something that's supposed to be family-friendly. I'm no prude, but this doesn't come across as a PG film, not with some of the things our friends have to say,
Meanwhile, back to Chris's abs.........