Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2: 12 Critical Reactions You Need To Know

1. It Tries Too Hard To Top The Original

"Shot for shot, line and line, it’s an extravagant and witty follow-up, made with the same friendly virtuosic dazzle. Yet this time you can sense just how hard the series’ wizard of a director, James Gunn...is working to entertain you. Maybe a little too hard. 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' is an adventure worth taking...but it doesn’t so much deepen the first 'Guardians' as offer a more strenuous dose of fun to achieve a lesser high." - Variety

"Vol. 2 tries too hard to lean into what people loved and responded to in the first film. You thought Baby Groot was adorable in the post-credits of Guardians of the Galaxy? Here’s a dozen more over-the-top cute scenes with him. Thought Drax’s lack of self-awareness was great? Here’s him making a bunch of TMI toilet humor jokes. James Gunn plays into the strengths of his characters, but goes a bit too far with some of them; overusing certain gimmicks makes some of the moments lose their punch. Vol. 2 lacks a lot of the effortless charisma of the first go-around because it’s trying hard to meet and surpass lofty expectations." - IGN

You can't really blame James Gunn for swinging for the fences in attempting to top the previous film, even if many reviewers have noted that it feels like he's trying too hard, resulting in a vague air of desperation surrounding the end product.

It seems that fans will probably be divided on whether or not Baby Groot's cutesy antics are excessive, and with the gag-rate being a little more hit-and-miss than last time, some may end up seeing Vol. 2 as a bit too "try-hard".

What do you make of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 reviews so far? Shout it out in the comments!