Marvel’s favorite motley crew of reformed outlaws is back for another space adventure full of classic tunes, epic battles, and charming comedy. While it isn’t quite as awesome as the original, that doesn’t mean Vol. 2 isn’t good. Set to the soundtrack of Meredith Quill’s Awesome Mix Tape #2, which she bequeathed to her beloved young Peter, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 moves the group’s story forward - primarily for the orphaned Star Lord, who’s always wondered exactly who his Star Man dad was and why he left him and his mother behind on Earth. Russell is an ideal pick to play Ego, the celestial god ( lowercase g) who hired Yondu to bring his son to him 26 years earlier. Without getting into specifics, this father-son dynamic, in classic Marvel origin-story style, is the driving force behind the tension and action in the second half of the movie. It just isn’t quite as interesting or funny or as the original’s assembling the Guardians storyline. Father issues, of course, run rampant in superhero worlds, and the Guardians are no exception, whether they’re missing the lack of one, bemoaning an evil one, or, in the case of Drax, mourning the father he used to be before his family was killed.