‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ bright and colorful as a candy store

Though “Deadpool” often gets the credit, “Guardians of the Galaxy” was really the first Marvel film to break into the rather stone-faced superhero spectaculars that were often served (even though many were superlative examples of the genre). 

It’s a tricky tone, to be sure. Witness “Suicide Squad,” which clearly tried to emulate this balance of snark and spirit, and failed miserably. 

Director James Gunn returns with “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2,” recycling much of what audiences loved about the first, but instead of going bigger (the downfall of many sequels), it aims for going deeper, peering into the familial ties (or lack thereof) of its leads. It’s a mostly effective direction, even though it’s all familiar. 

Since music plays such a large part in “Guardians,” think of “Vol. 2” as an extended remix, where the integrity of the original is still intact, but you can tell it’s basically just adding extra beats here and there. 

We rejoin our ragtag rabble rousers as they are finishing a job for an elite race of solid-gold beings. This really adds little to the overall narrative and is apparently an excuse to coo over a dancing Baby Groot during the opening sequence. Soon after, Star-Lord (played by Chris Pratt) is reunited with his absentee father (played by Kurt Russell), who, it turns out, is actually part god. The fact that his name is Ego is about the level of subtlety we are dealing with here, and this comes into play later in the film. 

And while they are reunited ... and it feels so good, we are also exposed to the tangled upbringings of Rocket (the wiseacre space raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper) and mercenary Yondu (played by Michael Rooker); the sibling rivalry between Gamora (played by Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (played by Karen Gillan); and the still-pining, simple-minded lummox Drax (played by Dave Bautista). 

And yes, we are made well aware of the overly cute antics of Baby Groot, who may delight some, but whom many will find about as endearing as Scrappy-Doo was in the Scooby-Doo franchise, with his mere presence bringing early-onset tooth decay. 

But all else within “Vol. 2” is as comfortable as an old mixtape ... which is actually the film’s greatest weapon, as it still mines the depths of K-tel’s basement for solidly entertaining wuss-rock masterpieces for its soundtrack. 

The film is as bright and colorful as a candy store, and still filled with some perfectly timed zingers throughout, but the emotional core of this “Guardians” go-round is what keeps everything from feeling all too familiar and entices us along for another journey with the combative crew. 

Of note: There are also three ... yes, three, post-credit sequences that cash in on that promise, but only two of them actually inspire (no need to stay around until the bitter end, as the last sequence is a dud).