Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Guardians of the Galaxy

While the original Guardians of the Galaxy introduced our heroes, Vol. 2 gives them added depth and personality, something that helps differentiate this outing from some of Marvel’s other recent outings.

The original team is all back, adding two major new characters and a handful of subsidiary characters. All of them are given their due, which is a pleasant surprise as Marvel has a tendency to gloss over minor characters it doesn’t have time for in spite of their necessity to the plot. The story here, which revolves around Peter (Chris Pratt) being rescued by his father and discovering his origin. There are myriad other storylines at play here including the soured relationship between Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), the antagonistic nature of Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) checkered and troubled past, and a race of genetically engineered people who take offense to the theft of their property by the vary folk, the Guardians of the Galaxy, who just saved them from utter destruction.

The performances are as expected and there are plenty of questionable shots used, but much of the fun and frivolity of the original remains intact while deeper, more contemplative emotions are explored. For all its joy and humor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 evokes dense and complex negative emotions, all in service to a surprisingly rich and complex plot.