Double feature night (sneak across the hall) to catch up on some recent releases on a big screen.
Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Men Tell No Tales:
As others have noted, this does indeed come back to the feeling of the first one much better than the others. The 'almost boobs' are nice throughout with the one lead character. Being fiction, you have to suspend concerns over things that are unrealistic, especially when the base storyline is about ghosts and ships that can grow from a bottle to real size, but I will admit the one bit about an island that is a perfect reflection of the stars lost me for a bit. I mean, I get it, but it stretched my patience a bit too far. Though, I'll admit fully enjoying the bank robbery in the opening - that was fiction right in line with what I expected and had the anticipated humor throughout the chase. All in all, I liked it and would recommend it. It could stand on it's own, but definitely plays better as part of the series. 7.5/10.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2:
Loved seeing Kurt Russel at the beginning, and thought Sly Stallone's role was solid without being overdone. The whole film centered on Peter Quill (as others have noted, more of a StarLord film than a GotG) but it relied heavily on the sense of family - either Quill's heritage or that of the Guardians relying on each other, or even on the interactions between other characters. I'll admit, this time, Drax had more lines, and he had me laughing out loud at multiple points. I'd say it kept on par with the first for quality and I do look forward to the next volume. It might stand on it's own, but it obviously assumes you are familiar with the characters from the first film and is building on that foundation. I'm an admitted Marvel fanboy, but didn't know much of anything about this set of characters except having watched the first film. I liked this one, would recommend it. 8/10.