You can't beat a bit of ELO

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a fun sequel that builds on the first film. I was drawn in from the title sequence as Baby Groot dances to Mr Blue Sky as behind him a monster fight takes place.
The focus is on Star Lord meeting his celestial father, Ego (Kurt Russell) living in his own planet and with a name like Ego you can immediately sense trouble.
Yet we also have character development as well, the relationship between Star Lord and Gamora intensifies but we also see it develop between the warring sisters as Nebula turns up wanting sibling blood.
We are also shone more light between Yondu and Star Lord, Yondu was supposed to deliver the infant Peter Quill to Ego but kept him for himself as he was small and thin, useful for some thieving. In fact Yondu gets the most character development here.
Drax also gets to shine with more comical interludes with Rocket and new character Mantis. Baby Groot is fun as comic relief.
The film soundtrack works in the context of the film with songs like Father and son (Cat Stevens) and The Chain (Fleetwood Mac.) There are even cameos from Sylvester Stallone and David Hasselhoff.
Visually the film looks great, it is very much a knockabout adventure than a superhero film without being bloated or self indulgent as some of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels. It does have a thin story but is still an entertaining movie.