Chris Pratt and Kurt Russell (Film Frame/Marvel Studios)

Of the myriad entries in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, 2014’s Guardians of The Galaxy, director James Gunn’s idiosyncratic take on the sci-fi superhero genre, was a unique outlier compared to its homogenized brethren. While Vol. 2 is just as charming, if not more so, it still suffers from many of the same issues that have plagued every Marvel film.

Picking up a few months after the conclusion of the previous film, we find the motley crew of Guardians working as a more close-knit unit but still beset by bickering and clashing egos, particularly between leader Peter Quill (Christ Pratt) and Rocket (a raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper.) A pilot-based dick-waving contest between them leaves the team stranded on a remote planet where they come into contact with Peter’s long-lost father, Ego, played with preternatural cool by legendary screen presence Kurt Russell.

Ego wants to take Peter back to his home planet, so he brings along Drax (Dave Bautista) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), leaving Rocket, Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) and a captive Nebula (Karen Gillen) behind to repair the ship. Unfortunately, an alien race called the Sovereign want the Guardians dead for earlier transgressions and hires The Ravagers to hunt them, leaving the team on the run while Peter lives out his too-good-to-be-true fantasy of playing catch with his dad. (That’s not a euphemism—they literally play catch in space.)

In a movie this concerned with nostalgia, Russell is a huge boon. What ’80s baby wouldn’t want to wake up one day and find out his dad is 1) some kind of god and 2) Kurt Russell? The father and son scenes are a delight, especially with the palpable chemistry between the two performers, but waiting for this majestic bubble to burst should be cause for suspense. Instead, given the repetitive structure of the MCU, you’re left waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the film to devolve into the same predictable third act so many of this studio’s releases fall back on.

On the way to a somewhat foregone conclusion, there’s more than enough to love. The entire cast is having a blast, but no one is so caught up in the comedy that they forget to sell the pathos. Despite being covered head to toe in blue make-up, Michael Rooker’s performance as Yondu, Quill’s surrogate patriarch, is one of the finest of a long career that has taken him from Cliffhanger to The Walking Dead. There’s even a seemingly throwaway cameo from another ’80s icon who shows up and lends serious gravitas to Yondu’s arc when it easily could have been employed as lazy fan service.

The action is serviceable, but for the Guardians brand, that spectacle is trumped by quirks and needle-drop curation. So if you’re more concerned with clever uses of Fleetwood Mac than thrilling set pieces, the film is a rousing success. As a piece of popcorn pop art, GOTG2 has plenty to smile at, but Gunn’s script hints at a deeper resonance that’s never quite fulfilled.

The film’s central conflicts, the ones that are actually compelling, are based on problematic familial relationships played out among the stars. With a cast this capable and a two hour plus runtime, there’s more than enough space to make this work, but the film never takes a break from drawn out, inconsistent attempts at humor that get in the way of the more cathartic moments. Somewhere there’s a leaner, more impressive cut of this sequel, one with a more consistent tone, but the final product is entertaining enough that few will find these foibles a deal breaker.

Gunn’s positioned his corner of the MCU as a cult film take on the Fast & Furious films’ obsession with makeshift families, but fails to achieve the same amount of heart as Toretto and his merry band of thieves/superspies. Luckily, this one has Kurt Russell explaining the lyrics to “Brandy” by Looking Glass, so maybe it doesn’t really matter?

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Guardians of The Galaxy, Vol. 2
Written & Directed by James Gunn (based on the Marvel Comics by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Steve Engleheart, Jim Starlin and others)
Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker and Kurt Russell
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language, and brief suggestive content
136 minutes
Opens today at a theater near you.