From a non comic book readers perspective: fine, not great

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2017)

Whilst I enjoyed my self plenty, busting out laughing at many points during the movie, something felt off when it came to a close. Whereas the first movie captured lightning in a bottle, delivering great, original (to most) characters, in a bright, colourful and most importantly funny sci-fi fantasy; the second feels less fresh and suffers from what I call "Marvel scope creep".
What do I mean by that? It feels way more "comic book"-y this time, forcing itself to integrate with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in ways that feels inorganic and downright puzzling. Having a detailed universe to draw upon is great when it can add texture and make the stories feel like they are supported by a living breathing world. Star Wars of course being the prime example here.
But having the climax of the movie give significant screen time to characters that have never been introduced, or a seemingly major character arc and plot inferred to by two lines of dialogue earlier, is downright puzzling. Who are these people and why should we care? I can imagine comic book readers or even viewers of the billion plus Marvel movies getting a kick out of seeing quartzface or whatever get a short cameo. But this is literally the ending of the movie and we get more combined reaction time from bit players than our main characters. Bizarre and off putting.
There are no surprises, and posters having already revealed well in advance which previous antagonists would end up joining our heroes, or who Quills father would be and his alignment, so that tension is well out the window. Even the Awesome Mix vol 2 seemed to have spent all its best tunes on the first one.
I'm sure this all sounds like I'm too down on the movie, but I am not. I still had a great time whizzing through space with this motley crew. It is as funny as ever (even though the best jokes were in the trailer), trippy and downright beautiful to watch. Even with the diminishing returns, it is still well worth your while.