When Guardians Of The Galaxy was announced back in 2013 at Comic-Con, no one knew who these characters were and weren’t even excited to see the film. However, when the film was released in 2014, everyone immediately fell in love with the characters and has been waiting for a follow-up from the first one. Now, in 2017, we now have the sequel, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2. Is the film better than the first one? Let’s find out.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 takes place a few months after the first one. It centers around Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt) and his crew saving the galaxy again. During their grand adventure, the crew learns more about themselves and how family may be the only thing that will keep them together and united as a team.

The film is a lot of fun and very entertaining. It manages to be very action-packed, hilarious and as character-driven as the first one. The film surprisingly has lots of emotional scenes, which makes it different from the first one and gives the audience a chance to connect the characters emotionally. The movie was also very vibrant with an array of colors to add to the excitement and action that captivates the audience just like its predecessor. James Gunn returned to direct the sequel and did a great job in continuing the story of The Guardians Of The Galaxy.

Of course, the cast of The Guardians Of The Galaxy returned for the sequel. Pratt(who plays Star-Lord) does a great job leading the film and shows viewers once again why he is an action star in Hollywood. Zoe Saldana (who plays Gamora) has some good emotional moments with Pratt’s character. She is still a ferocious warrior and is someone that one wouldn’t want to go toe to toe with on the battlefield.

Dave Bautista (who plays Drax) and Bradley Cooper (who plays Rockett) are the funniest characters in the entire film. They both bring lots of great humor and funny moments to remember when you walk out of the theater. Bautista also got a lot more screen-time in this film than he did in the first one; Cooper is still as hilarious and funny as he was in the first one. Also, Vin Diesel (who plays Baby Groot) is super adorable. I think he is cuter than BB-8(that’s right, come at me Star-Wars fans).

Kurt Russell (who plays Ego) and Pom Klementieff (who plays Mantis) join the cast and introduce new characters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Russell did a good job playing his character and plays a very interesting role in the context of the film. Klementieff had a lot of surprising humor towards her character. She had some very funny scenes with Bautista and will be making another appearance in Avengers: Infinity War.

In terms of things I didn’t like, the film felt a little rushed. It didn’t feel smoothly connected in the beginning of the film when the action began. Also, the film gets very predictable towards the end. The story is very easy to follow and foreshadows certain things too early in the first act.

Besides those issues, I really enjoyed watching Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. The film is just as good as the first one. It has tons of action, great humor and a lot of surprising amounts of emotion. Needless to say, I highly recommend watching this film as soon as possible. And of course, stay until after the credits to see some things teased for the next films in the Marvel Universe. The summer movie season has begun and is starting on a great note.