Guardians of the franchise
Galaxy sequel tosses in more characters and plot lines but it all adds up to fun
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 misses a trick with its “awesome mix” of cheesy 1970s pop songs: Andrea True’s 1976 disco hit “More, More, More” isn’t on the soundtrack.
It would have been perfect for a movie deep-diving into franchise formula, by larding in more characters, more plot lines, more explosions and more banter, as if returning writer/director James Gunn is playing cosmic pinball rather than telling a story.
Just like almost every other blockbuster sequel, in other words, although this property originally sought to blow up convention. It arrived in 2014 smirking at Marvel Comics superhero angst, as its bickering misfits fought intergalactic badness for kicks and cash.
But like a visit from amusing friends who stay a bit longer than expected, it’s easy to forgive the indulgence. Vol. 2 sees E.T.-abducted Earthling Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt), blade-wielding warrior Gamora (Zoe Saldana), tattooed muscleman Drax (Dave Bautista), hybrid handyman Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and adorable offshoot Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) confronting not just an expanded universe of villains, but also more complicated family and romantic connections.
They’ll be joined, with mixed motives and outcomes both comic and dramatic, by Gamora’s angry adopted sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), insect-faced alien Mantis (Pom Klementieff ) and blue-skinned Ravagers bandit Yondu (Michael Rooker), the latter in a significantly enlarged role from the first Guardians, where he played Peter’s crime mentor, surrogate father and nemesis all in one.
All of the above has already been revealed in multiple trailers, along with the supposed shocker that Peter’s long-gone birth father is suddenly back in his son’s life.
He’s a celestial planet builder aptly called Ego, played by Kurt Russell. He wants to make up for not being there when Peter was grieving his mother’s cancer death and being kidnapped by aliens.
The movie opens on Earth in 1980 with the man now called Ego and Peter’s mom-to-be Meredith (Laura Haddock) as they cruise a Missouri highway with the soft-rock hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” on the radio, immediately establishing itself as this movie’s main ear worm.
Jump ahead 34 years and Peter and the other Guardians are fighting a giant space thingie, in a colourfully rendered battle set to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”
They’re also irritating a superior celestial race called the Sovereign, who look like angry Oscar statues and who quickly develop a murderous grudge against the Guardians. Elizabeth Debicki is wonderfully pompous as Ayesha, their diva of a leader.
And so it goes with this pinball game of a movie.
The Guardians ricochet from one confrontation to another, some involving galaxy-saving and others just affairs of the heart — such as whether Peter and Gamora are ever going to acknowledge this love thing they feel coming on.
Fortunately, Gunn is savvy enough not to let the proceedings or the characters get too serious or too sappy.
He punctures Ego’s balloon in one scene by having him interrupt his bloviating with a need to urinate.
In another, Ego explains to Peter why “Brandy” is Earth’s finest song ever, which is like that moment in Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey says the Beatles were a huge influence on the Monkees.
So even if the gags go on too long — the David Hasselhof and Cheers references are just plain goofy — and the cheese-ball soundtrack isn’t quite the retro joy it was three years ago, these Guardians are still worth hanging with, if only to marvel at the imaginative characters and production design.
To those who disagree, I quote the knuckleheaded but weirdly profound Drax: “You Earthlings have hang-ups.”