Back in the day, when an album became a surprise success, record companies would often hurry out a "Vol.2" - think soundtracks or greatest hits albums. These second volumes often had a few good songs on them, but, almost invariably you would have a sense that most of these cuts simply weren't good enough to be on the original.

   That pretty much sums up my take on GUARDIANS Part Deux. There are some familiar and enjoyable scenes, but it's more a replay of the first Volume to really stand on its own. It's good to see Kurt Russell as the Star-Lord's dad, but did we really have to endure a second dysfunctional family drama with the sisters? Stallone is wasted in a couple of scenes, unless it's setting up something interesting in the inevitable Vol.3. Michael Rooker is very good as Yondu. There is an amusing cameo and a couple of easter eggs, but I'll leave those to discover on your own. 

  James Gunn has a good thing going here. He can indulge in the most obvious and groan-inducing cliches but get away with most of them by tossing off a few jokes and cranking up an infectious earworm 70s tune (I still find it amusing that millions of folks are buying streams and CDs for a bunch of songs they'd otherwise mock). The first half of Vol. 2 is amusing enough, but, once the hackneyed plot dynamics kick in, it becomes a bit of a slog with the usual big battle climactic ending that Marvel could probably just as well program a computer to write by now. Adding in not one, but three, credits sequences (so-so) and the last 20 minutes are a drag.

   GUARDIANS II isn't bad, but, like so many of those VOLUME 2 LPs of yore, it isn't as essential as the original. You may want to add it to your (virtual) collection, but, you won't be pulling it off the "shelf" as often.