The crew of the Milano have been hired by the Sovereign race to protect some powerful batteries from a transdimensional squid monster. Their battle with the beast happens during the opening credits where Baby Groot's antics are the center of attention while the action is background. No sooner have they defeated the monster and secured payment - a very unhappy Nebula (Karen Gillan) - than Rocket (Bradley Cooper) steals some of the batteries and provokes a space battle from the irate Sovereign. They are rescued from their peril by Ego (Kurt Russell), who proves to be Peter's (Chris Pratt) father and pretty much a god. The Sovereign hire Yondu (Michael Rooker) to capture the Starlord and his crew. In the aftermath of the space battle, the Milano is a crippled wreck. Rocket and Groot work on repairing it and keep an eye on the captive Nebula while Peter, Gamora, and Drax go with Ego for a family reunion on Ego's planet. This splits the narrative between the two groups.
All the characters get further development along the lines one expects and new ones are added to the mix. The sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula explodes, the sexual tension between Peter and Gamora advances, Rocket's self-pity parade continues, Drax's mourning for his family is further explored but he also develops into a somewhat more comical figure than last movie. Of course, Baby Groot is just hilarious and adorable. All that aside, the big character arc is that of Yondu. His banishment from the larger Ravager community, his association with the original Guardians - led by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), and his contentious father-son relationship with Peter are all explained. He also gets the best line of the movie: "I'm Mary Poppins, Y'all!"
The movie is very enjoyable but the pacing is not as good as the last one. The movie gets slow and clunky when Peter and Ego have their father-son bonding. I did not particularly like Yondu's magic whistle arrow in the last movie (why didn't one of those idiots shoot him rather than just stand baffled as he whistled left-right-up-down-zig-zag?) and it is even worse this time around. Perhaps that was for comedic effect but raining bodies was over the top. There are 5 mid and post-credit scenes that setup future installments and provide laughs. Go see it and stay all the way to the end.
