After reading the reviews, I expected this to be horrendous, which it wasn't. Though coming in primed with the memory of the first one, it did leave me at times confused and frustrated. Every time lady gaga started singing I felt my eyes roll, and it seemed to disrupt the flow of the film. Surprisingly, it held my interest and the 138mins went by pretty quickly. Just go in with an open mind and to view it as a standalone film and not a sequel.