"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" has a better plot and visuals and is even more fun than the original.

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2017)

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (PG-13, 2:16), much like its predecessor, is one of the most creative movie mash-ups ever. When I reviewed the original, I noted how much it had in common with "Star Wars". My 2014 review called it, "a movie about a group of rebels of different races getting together to save a planet from the power of a mysterious deadly orb," described the group as including "a good-looking outlaw pilot who is used to only thinking of himself, a large brown creature who makes sounds that others seem to understand as a sort of language, a tough woman with a royal background who has no patience for nonsense and a small, wise creature who provides guidance to the others." To all that, add significant daddy issues and you have the Guardians films. Well, plus aspects of "Star Trek" (discovering strange new worlds), "Independence Day" (several people playing crucial roles in defeating interstellar evil) and even "The Fast and the Furious" (a diverse group of friends regarded as family).
And let's not forget that Guardians is a Marvel property. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is the 15th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie contains Easter eggs tying it to other Marvel film franchises and hints at future cinematic overlap. In terms of how this one fits with the others chronologically, according to IMDb, "the film takes place in 2014, 3 months after Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). It takes place a year after Thor: The Dark World (2013). Before or after Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and a year before Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)." Speaking of Tony Stark's cohorts, shortly before the first Guardians movie was released, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said that the goal with this franchise was actually to create "another Avengers". The Guardian series does have that feel to it, along with some of the comic sensibilities of "Deadpool", another Marvel film franchise born in the mid-2010s. Now, having said all that (and ensuing cinematic cross-pollination notwithstanding), the Guardians movies have definitely created their own niche within the MCU – and their own sense of fun.
Picking up just months after the action in the original, "Vol. 2" sees Peter Quill / Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) adjusting to their newfound fame, their role as galaxy guardians and the dynamics of (and their individual places within) this team – slash – family unit. Early on, four of them battle a monster known as the Abilisk (looking like a much bigger and angrier Jabba the Hutt – with tentacles) while Groot dances to Quill's music. A gold-colored race of people known as the Sovereign reward the Guardians for defeating Abilisk – and protecting the special batteries that it was trying to steal – by turning over a prisoner, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Gamora's estranged sister, who has a bounty on her head. As the Guardians leave the Sovereign, Rocket steals some of those valuable batteries. The insult of such a theft sends Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) into a rage and she sends her fleet of remotely-piloted drones after Rocket and company. Due to some nifty flying – and a little help from a mysterious ship which suddenly comes to their aid – the Guardians survive, but crash land on an unfamiliar planet.
That mysterious ship lands on the planet too and out steps a being called Ego (Kurt Russell) who claims to be Quill's father! Ego's story seems to check out, so Quill, Gamora and Drax let Ego take them back to his planet so Quill can spend some time with his pops. Rocket is left behind to repair the ship, take care of Baby Groot and keep an eye on Nebula. As Quill and friends get to know Ego – and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ego's pet empath (a being who can experience the feelings of other people by touching them and even temporarily alter those feelings), Rocket has to defend against an attack by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker) and his crew of Ravegers, whom Ayesha has hired to retrieve the batteries and kill the Guardians. The Ravegers capture Rocket and Groot, but Yondu's reluctance to pursue Quill leads to a mutiny by Yondu's crew. His lieutenant, who calls himself Taserface (Chris Sullivan), imprisons Yondu, Rocket and Groot, gets rid of those loyal to Yondu and teams up with Nebula to catch up with the rest of the Guardians, who, in the meantime, have run into some pretty serious trouble of their own.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" has a better plot and visuals and is even more fun than the original. In the first movie, the Guardians became a family, but in this one, they have to learn how to BE a family – while Quill and Gamora each have to deal with serious conflicts stemming from their own original families. Freed from the confines of establishing the Guardians' cinematic world and forming their relationships gives returning writer/director James Gunn the freedom to do more interesting things with the story – and the characters, which are now more developed – and more entertaining – especially Groot, who's as adorable as any Minion, but much tougher (which also happens to be pretty adorable). The music is great, while the scenery is vibrant and the action is exciting (and deserving of 3D viewing). Sometimes, there's almost too much going on visually, but also aurally, as the sound effects and music compete for attention with the dialog. As a whole, Vol. 2 is a good step forward for the franchise and (with help from five short scenes and embedded graphics during and after the closing credits) builds anticipation for more Guardian adventures, including some Marvel-ous crossover action. "B+"