Sequels, sequels, sequels! We arrive again at a movie sequel of a franchise of a major part of a major movie company. Shocker, right? Now before I go down the rabbit hole of sequels claiming that they don’t change too much from the first one, they keep on keeping on, the cast does it again, blah blah blah. FAST FORWARD!

Let’s skip the stereotypical crap that you’re smart enough to know by now. Yes, this sequel is a sequel and I will momentarily say that this repeats the superhero-franchise-mistake just like you read in my review of Logan never quite giving you closure on the whole story. However, it does do a little better in that it answers more questions from Volume 1… Part 1… whatever, the first movie. Let’s skip this track and move on.

We join Star-Lord and his ragtag family of misfits who are preparing to defend a cache of batteries from a huge monster for a planet of golden people, the Sovereign. Let me joyfully spoil this for you and say this is one of the best movie opening-credits sequences I have seen in awhile. You get to see Baby Groot dancing through the openers as the Guardians fight the massive monster in the background CGI Fight. Once you get past your oo-ing and aww-ing from watching the Groot dance, seriously people I thought the trailers got that out of your system, this turns out to set the hilarity meter for the whole movie. Even the most serious parts of the film, I found myself waiting for the Quill one-liner or the social faux pas from Drax.

In fact, prepare for the sequel cliche, Director James Gunn took what everyone liked about the comedy of the first film and cranked it up. Vol. 2 is funnier, wittier, and more slap-stick than the first Guardians of the Galaxy. One change I did enjoy for Vol. 2, however, is that it didn’t seem like an episode of “Peter Quill and the Guardians.” No, this time it really felt like a movie about the whole family. Every player had their screen time, their growth, their own spotlight. Even Drax, who really highlights the comedy of the “socially inept” as he sort of gets his own socially awkward partner to banter with and build family.

You seem to see pairs form in the film as the family dynamic gets explored more than Vin Diesel’s last racing movie. Coincidentally, Diesel still plays Groot in this film. Maybe its a theme for all the movies he is a part of now. Family. Seriously, you’ll hear family through this movie more than you’ve read it in this article. Don’t get me wrong, it makes for a nice serious balance to bring you down to a breathable level of laughter before the next joke. It also became the sort of serious plot that kept the movie going. But lets be honest here, you came to see the comedy. Still, you got to see some good character growth and oh my if you don’t maybe shed a solitary tear by the end of the movie. So, I can’t fault the movie for having a weak story line, even if it does beat the family drum quite a lot.

Family.

As comedic as the movie is, it feels much more controlled than the first one. Whereas some comedies get a little full of themselves which tends to cause them to lose the spark and devolve into dumb humor, Vol. 2 seems to have a better handle on things and mixes in different types from slap-stick to one-liners, farcical, and even parody of old tropes.

Change tracks for a minute and step away from the comedy, I have to give this film major points for some of the best scenescapes. Not just beautiful scenery like Ego’s Planet, but the contrast between sets presents a beautiful and stark difference between locations. Going from the Rigid technology and controlled science of the Sovereign to the beauty and idea of creation enveloped in Ego’s planet and back to the drab patchwork gear in the Ravagers’ ships allows a varied visual display that adds a little extra to the film.

There is a lot I like about this movie, there is also some that got in the way and kept it from over-the-top greatness, but you won’t care about those things because you’re probably going to be laughing to hard. Gather some friends to see this one people. It’s not to be taken alone because it’s the summer kickoff movie that you will still be quoting with your friends in November. Not just a worth-seeing movie. I may have found my first “Must-See.”