My thoughts on the film
I thought it was a bit superior to it's predecessor. Yet while I enjoyed the movie, I thought that both the beginning and ending were inferior to the middle of the film. The visuals were nice and the action well paced and well staged.
Otherwise, I did enjoy the new characters. Bryce Dallas Howard was actually more tolerable here and was a improvement of her performance in the first movie. Chris Pratt was even more goofier here than he was in the first movie.