‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ back with Vol. 2 and plenty of laughs.
‘Vol. 2’ wheezes a bitwhile it squeezes out the laughs
A brash summer surprise back in 2014, “Guardians of the Galaxy” had plenty of energy and, for once, a lot of jokes. Audiences warmed to co-writer and director James Gunn’s launch of this Marvel franchise, thanks, in part, to its breezy, what-the-hell air.
Even though it had the usual quotient of digital fireballs and shades of doomsday blue and orange, the fun was legit. Chris Pratt played the alien-abducted Earthling with a difference, while commanding an entertaining crew of misfit intergalactic bounty hunters, criminals and miscreants.
For the sequel (subtitled “Vol. 2” because sequels are sold by volume, not weight), Gunn has returned as director and co-writer. With the freedom a big hit affords, his sequel goes off on all sorts of weirdo tangents. For example, at one point rakish Peter Quill (Pratt) and company find themselves in the middle of a potentially apocalyptic action sequence. (No other kind in these movies.)
A makeshift doomsday device is in the hands of baby Groot, the miniature tree-trunk creature voiced by Vin Diesel. Rocket, the human-raccoon mutant voiced by Bradley Cooper, needs some masking tape to mark off the end-of-world button so Groot doesn’t make a fatal mistake.
Rocket gets no help, or tape, from his colleagues, who are busy zapping enemies. The bit keeps going, and it actually gets funnier as it goes. For a second, it appears the missing tape is going to become a major plot point. It’s stupid-smart bits like this that make up for the more routine aspects of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” In fact you could say the tape routine is the tape holding this thing together.
Let’s be honest: This film is a step down from the original. The testy banter between Quill and Gamora (Zoe Saldana, sidelined somewhat this time) comes with a here-we-go-again quality, made more apparent by Quill’s references to Sam and Diane on “Cheers,” one of the many earthbound ’80s references defining his personality.
The plot this time deals with Rocket’s theft of the hallowed batteries belonging to the gold-plated natives of The Sovereign, and the resulting chase and battles. Kurt Russell — step- ping in from “The Fate of the Furious” and looking like the happiest guy in Hollywood — plays Quill’s longlost father, a man named Ego with his own planet and a shadowy labyrinth of secrets. (Can any movie go five minutes these days without calling up images of our president?)
“Guardians of the Galaxy 2” features Russell’s lengthy disquisition on the merits of the 1972 Looking Glass hit single “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” showcased prominently on the soundtrack, alongside the rest of Quill’s precious mixtape, by which he keeps the memory of his late mother alive.
But watching Gunn’s busy, clever, indulgent picture, I could have done without the use of oldies as ironically jaunty background music for slow-motion slaughter montages.
Also, there’s that herewe-go-again ending! The universe is about to be destroyed ... again. Two guys are beating the spit out of each other for minutes on end ... again. Gunn may be a far superior superhero storyteller to DC helmsman Zack Synder, but the endless fight sequence capping “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” evokes the endless climax of Snyder’s “Man of Steel.”
I double-dare Gunn, whose early thriller “Slither” promised great things, to get the third “Galaxy” picture down to the two-hour mark, or less. Who’d complain?