Subpar story, Fanboy-only eye candy

Rating: 4/10 (16 July 2017)

SPOILERS SPOILERS
1. Unlike the first Guardians which became better and better as the story progressed, with a true development of story and character into something that was believable and worth rooting for, the 2nd is a disaster.
There's really nothing here to look at, and the story is as paper-thin as the dioramas that Dad was showing Son on the planet Ego - fake, unbelievable, unrealistic, unsatisfying. 2. Much of the 'action' is there merely to fill the eyeballs of fanboys with more 'Guardians', much like watching hours of CoD game play videos online. Seriously! You've got unmotivated sequences upon sequences - the usual, show one of the heroes trying to do something, artificially put a roadblock in front of him, watch him struggle a bit, then next.
For example, let's say you're a hero trying to escape with a woman who has fainted. So you carry her in your arms as you are rushing to the escape ship. Out of nowhere, the earth turns into quicksand and you're now sinking down, down, down. You don't do anything at all, just hold her up while you sink. The sinkhole has nothing to do with the character or the story - it's simply something the writer came up with to put in the hero's way just so fanboys can see some sort of 'action' on screen. None of this moves the story or character development along, and it's almost like stubbing one's toe all of a sudden. Ouch! But why is this scene in the movie? 3. In the end, the arc of the story is weak, the tension non-existent, the jokes sub-par. A failure compared to the funny 1st movie, where even non-fanboys could have a great time rocking to the music and laughing at the actually funny jokes (it's sad in this movie - limp comedian time with very few things to laugh at). The music has gone, nothing to rock to in this one, and in the end, the classic Walkman is replaced by a Zune?!? Huh? Poorest product placement ever, and doesn't even evoke a feeling (did anyone actually love a Zune?). 4. Not worth the movie tickets, even at the $1 theater. Best if you can see it for free on TV decades from now because it'll be an equal waste of time.