'Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 2': The sheen has withered

Director: James Gunn; 

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Tommy Flanagan, Laura Haddock, Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell; 

Rating: **1/2

The "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2". is a notch better from Vol 1, but seems to have lost its charm this time round.

This sequel does have scenes that feel a bit like playing it safe, repeating ideas that worked in part one and in other Marvel Universe films. But thankfully, overall this does not seem like a mere copy.

The only enjoyable part of the film are the sardonic punchlines that arise sporadically. Apart from the few laugh out loud moments, there is nothing exciting about this film. Nevertheless, the film is engaging.

In this edition, the film explores Peter's heritage and it constantly teases the audience with -will Peter and Gamora finally admit their feelings to each other? There are minor characters like Nebula and Yondu, from the previous edition who have a more dominant role and a few new additions who are introduced to the Marvel Universe.

The characters are well-etched and their inter-personal relationships are also a highlight and are handled incredibly well throughout the film. Like in the prequel, the merging of the computer-generated characters like Rocket and Groot, voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, with the human characters is seamless and so real. In fact they are the highlight of the film.

The film is purely kiddie stuff with a middle-of-the-road script and hardly any story. But the interesting part is that the plot concentrates on character building scenes in the middle of the film and thus, is one of the main reasons why the final act works, despite its initial funny beginning.

Its adrenalin-packed visuals notwithstanding, the narrative is surprisingly emotional and touching especially at the near end, when Yondu says, he may be your father, but he was never your daddy," and when the Father and Son song play with the lyrics "It's not time to make a change.a

The overt action sequences made up of computer generated set pieces, induce a headache as it seems like mindless action. With a run time of two hours and seventeen minutes the first half is tolerable, while the second half drags.

The end credits promise - "Guardians of the Galaxy Will Return", but if this streak of its storytelling continues, one is not sure if you'd be looking forward to it.

(Source: IANS)