Pretty good, for a CGI-driven sequel...

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2017)

Like most sequels, "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" lacks the freshness and novelty of the original. The main characters, while still entertaining, are a bit predictable, having had their shtick well established in #1. The primary villain continues the trend for 'super-heroes' to be combating some kind of god-like foe, (presumably mundane villains are no longer sufficiently challenging), which allows the special effects/CGI teams to pretty much include any image that they find interesting (or easily rendered(?)). The film is fast moving and colourful (although I am getting tired of space looking tie-died â€“ a little of that goes a long way) but the images come so fast that it's difficult to really get any real sense of at what you are looking. The climactic battle is overlong and confusing, being full of the 'swarms of ships' that is so popular in the current crop of CGI-driven movies. These criticisms aside, GotG2 is fun entry in to the movie Marvelverse. Michael Rooker's 'Udonta' returns and is put to good use, the new character, Ego's empath-servant Mantis, is a worthwhile addition to the story, and there is lots of quality Rocket time (I liked the scenes where the furry mercenary takes on an army of Ravagers). Good, but not great; watchable, but not rewatchable (at least by me).