Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017; dir. James Gunn) is, of course, a sequel to the previous film of the same title.  The tone is gently subversive and slapdash, nothing to be taken seriously, even though the fate of the universe is at issue.  The first film concerned itself with the origins of the Guardians.  This second one therefore needs a different plot.  Again, the fate of the universe is at issue. This time it is endangered by a character named Ego (Kurt Russell).  He is important for two reasons: he is an immortal god with nearly infinite powers.  And he is Peter Quill’s long-lost father.  He yearns to take over the universe and destroy all life. As the film unravels the long and detailed story of Ego and his marriage to Peter Quill’s mother, the already incredibly outlandish story grows even more so.  I suppose what we must do is what the film expects of us: forget logic and reason.  It’s based on a comic book series, not one that asks to be taken seriously. Just accept it and be entertained.  I have difficulty with entertainment that abandons logic and reason, or that doesn’t substitute some plausible alternative rules of its own.  This is hardly the only film that abdicates logic and reason, but it does so in such an extensive and fundamental way that disbelief and disorientation result.

Kurt Russell, who hasn’t been in films for a while and who might have been desperate, plays Ego.  For some reason Sylvester Stallone shows up as the leader of a group of space hellions.  Briefly, David Hasselhoff appears, as the childhood hero of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt).  My favorite character was Rondu, a rebel space hellion, played by Michael Rooker. The big question which this multi-billion-dollar budget film raised for me is why all vaguely humanoid space aliens have brightly colored skin—especially blue or red skin that looks dyed.