"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," much like its 2014 sleeper-blockbuster predecessor, cruises to victory on a wave of irresistible '70s pop-rock earworms. There are plenty of other attributes, too—a game cast bursting with chemistry; a tone at once tongue-in-cheek and unabashedly sincere; a writer-director in James Gunn who favors characters and heart over soulless interstellar battles and pyrotechnics—but whenever things threaten to verge on the old-hat, a groovy soundtrack chestnut will swoop in to complement the onscreen goings-on. Of all the films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this series' cheerful embrace of its own freak-flag quirkiness gives it the edge over more well-known comic-book properties. If the pressure to live up to the rightfully acclaimed first picture is sometimes apparent in its foundation, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" nonetheless does exactly what a successful sequel should, building upon and bringing added complexity to the world which has been built and the people whom reside in it.
See Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com. for full review
