Brie Larson returns in mixed-bag sequel

Through these character films, Marvel reminds people how to have fun. It can be as simple as a training montage where the team finds out how to use their intertwined powers in sync, or as conceptual and silly as a twist on a planet where everyone communicates through the medium of song. It can even be offline. On the wall is a scene of a flock of Flack kittens frolicking joyfully to exquisite musical accompaniment. These are moments that remind us that being together in this world is fun, and that in the world of comics, anything can happen with this group of personalities. Unfortunately, the plot needs to pick up again at some point, and while the third act isn’t quite as disjointed as the first, at this point it feels like Marvel’s fulfilling that obligation with sky portals and all. The light tone and antics are at their best when the momentary danger is low, and once the threat escalates to a cosmic scale the film descends into a cacophony of frenzy, inevitably filtering the climax through a language of cosmic consequences only to be dealt with later by another guardian of superpowers. It would help if Durven were more than just a theoretically interesting villain, but her motivations and goals are functional enough to give Carol a backstory of her time away from civilization that makes her more like a Wikipedia entry than an antagonist.