Colorful and entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2017)

The sequence to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY sticks to most of the good things that made the first movie such a success. It's a more colorful vision of Sci-Fi than what we see in oh-so-many gray dystopias. And it's warm-hearted and light-headed, never taking itself too seriously. And even though self-irony pervades almost every image, there is some genuine sense of suspense in at least some of the action-packed scenes. The movie has some hilarious new side characters, in particular the arrogant queen of the Sovereigns—all painted in gold. The sensitive "Mantis" and her interactions with Drax add a tint of cuteness. The performances of the main cast, the likes of Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt, was as good as we come to expect.
The plot's main theme surrounds the discovery of Chris Pratt's past. This piece of the story is interesting enough to keep you going, but it's also not particularly deep and moving—a somewhat slower pace and a bit more 'feel' for the depth of the characters would have helped here, but then, oh well, there'd been less time for all the fun action! And so VOL. 2 of the guardians is a blooming and buzzing action sci-fi adventure with a somewhat shallow story ... but it's entertaining nonetheless! If you liked the first one, this is definitely recommended.