Hilariously funny, which brings us to the problem

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2017)

Where GotG1 took us by surprise, in a time where cinemas are overloaded by superhero movies, GotG2 fails to do the same. GotG1 built on characters who were lesser known and succeeded in making them likable by combining background stories, with a decent build-up and great comedy thanks to flawless timing, while staying connected to the mainstream MCU.
GotG2 had the opportunity to build further upon the stepping stones that GotG1 laid out. Since the backgrounds are now known, GotG2 had the chance to pick up the pace where GotG1 sometimes felt slow and chaotic. But instead of picking a pace, GotG2 chose to focus on comedy which was there abundantly. After 45 minutes of jokes, you get the drift, but the movie doesn't. Star-Lord is witty and funny, Rockey is sarcastic and funny, Drax is dumb and funny, Groot is cute and funny.
During the 2nd half where the movie tries to turn to action and character work, while feeding us bits of information as a promise to part 3, the audience's patience may already have worn out after countless jokes that hurt the pace. The heroes are funny but offer nothing more than they already have. The villains feel empty and pointless. The plot is rushed and so disconnected from the mainstream MCU that his movie feels as a filler that could have been let out.
The only character that rises above it all is Michael Rooker as Yondu, who single handedly provides more character and more development, than all the other characters do, despite the messy script. So is it a bad movie? No it isn't. Should you skip it? No you shouldn't. But IF you skip it, you won't miss very much.