Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,
directed by James Gunn
(PG-13, 2 hours, 16 minutes)
It's way too long. There's a lot of repetition. It's not as funny as the original. And the FM pop-radio soundtrack from the '70s and '80s is sorta tiresome.
But Rocket, the maniacal biped raccoon with a rifle and a signature snarl, is back. And Groot, the huge tree with a limited vocabulary, is a baby here, which is considerably more charming.
Guardians Vol. 2 has an overloaded entourage of Peter Quill's Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana), tattooed shirtless Drax (Dave Bautista) and previously mentioned Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) and little Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) running afoul of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the snooty gold-toned boss of a planet populated with genetically superior citizens, who condescend to ask for the Guardians' assistance in running off a giant space squid that's interested in the planet's stash of powerful batteries.
That's one conflict. Or several. Then the gang encounters Ego (Kurt Russell), a godlike Celestial who, coincidentally, is Peter Quinn's long-lost father. Family troubles ensue there, as well as between Gamora and her vicious half-sister Nebula (Karen Gillan).
And brutish criminal Yondu (Michael Rooker) is thrown in the mix, just in case more opposition and mood shifting is needed.
The result is too much emotional upheaval -- and not enough revelation of the reasons for same -- that has to compete with pratfalls, insults and wisecracks intended to lighten the load with laughs. In the end, the only emotion left to experience is one of wondering if that last 30 minutes of screen time is really worth your while.
Kill Switch (R, 1 hour, 31 minutes) Apparently not much time or effort went into the screenplay of this slow-moving and nonsensical science-fiction effort about a man who takes on a job with a mysterious organization that intends to draw energy from an alternate earth to power the real one. Naturally, during the energy-extracting process there's an unexpected attack, and drones and killer robots enter the picture. Bad guys do too. Flashbacks attempt to fill in the many gaps in the plot, with limited success. Special effects are there for their own sake. Making sense of it all is an exercise in futility. With Dan Stevens, Charity Wakefield, Mike Reus; directed by Tim Smit.
The Long Riders (R, 3 hours, 20 minutes) Recently released on Blu-ray, action-packed The Long Riders is director Walter Hill's version of the James-Younger outlaw legend in which the outlaws and law enforcers are played by four sets of brothers: the Carradines (David, Robert and Keith), the Keaches (Stacy, James and Kalen), the Quaids (Dennis and Randy) and the Guests (Christopher and Nicholas). Wild West fans will love it. With James Remar, Harry Carey Jr.
Barton Fink (R, 1 hour, 56 minutes) This unique, brilliantly performed, and superbly written 1991 black comedy from the Coen brothers, now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, concerns a suddenly successful Hollywood scriptwriter who, when suffering from writer's block, seeks inspiration from sinister sources. With John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Tony Shalhoub.
Life Is Beautiful (PG-13, 1 hour, 56 minutes) Here's another blast from the past (1997) now on Blu-ray, a poignant and deeply human comedy in which Guido (Italian comedian Robert Benigni) moves in the 1930s from the country to a Tuscan town where he falls for a local beauty (Nicolettea Braschi), endures anti-Semitic attacks on his Jewish uncle, and is eventually imprisoned in a concentration camp. With Horst Bucholz, Marisa Paredes; directed by Benigni.
MovieStyle on 08/25/2017