Overall.... kind of a mess.
But I enjoyed it all the same. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies have to be some of the most pleasingly entertaining movies in recent years and that'll forgive them for a lot of problems.

The characters are already starting to look like caricatures with Chris Pratt in particular starting to wear very thin (overexposure perhaps?) It also doesn't help that Rocket Raccoon swaps sarcasm for genuine nastiness for a large amount of the movie; that's just a downer.

Strangely, the plot takes a back-seat to the narrative themes which is a good thing. The film is very much about the meaning of family and it's impressive how many angles they find to explore this idea. You have The Guardians themselves; you have Peter Quill and the discovery of his father; you have Quill and his fractured relationship with his sort-of surrogate father Yondu; the sadness of not having a family with Rocket Racoon; the need for family with Baby Groot; the sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula; and then you have the dark intentions of the main villain (which I won't spoil for those have not seen it yet); hell, even Yondu spends a large chuck of the movie yearning for some kind of family to love him........ the film really goes for this narrative and despite the film's flaws (it's very trite at times) it's that dedication to the type of story it wants to tell that makes it a success.

Overall, Guardians 2 aspires for greatness and falls short but it's a wholly enjoyable fantasy sci-fi comedy nonetheless and that's all it needs to be.