Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, 2023.
Written and Directed by James Gunn.
Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone, Daniela Melchior, Nico Santos, Nathan Fillion, Callie Brand, Dee Bradley Baker, Michael Rosenbaum, Miley Cyrus, Linda Cardellini, Mikaela Hoover, Asim Chaudhry, Noah Raskin, Seth Green, Sarah Alami, and Stephen Blackehart.
SYNOPSIS:
Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own – a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.
Despite some recent rough patches boiling down to MCU fatigue, oversaturation (every other month, there is something marble related to watch, or at least that’s what it feels like), lack of universe direction, weaker characters, overworked visual effects artists inside a playground that has certainly become allergic to practical sets and effects, it’s pleasant to report that writer/director James Gunn (based on comic books by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning) still knows how to craft a Marvel movie with a sense of identity, personality, and earnest emotion. That’s not to say he is free from corporate shackles interfering with his vision, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a mostly rousing sendoff for the lovable titular misfits that gives each core member a standout touching moment, peeling back the jokey layers of their persona to explore something more profound, more human, and most importantly, relatable.
This is one way of saying that James Gunn, unsurprisingly, wants to do right by the original ragtag group of Galactic defenders; Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Dave Bautista’s Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel’s Groot, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, the addition of Pom Klementieff’s Mantis from Vol. 2, and above all else, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket. How much one enjoys and potentially cries while watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes down to their affection for the boisterous, smart-mouthed, genetically mutated raccoon.
The film is also overstuffed with characters, and it sometimes feels like James Gunn doesn’t even care about establishing anything about the new ones save for one major exception. Take one of the major villains, Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, who kicks off the excitement by attacking and single-handedly nearly killing off the Guardians; there is so little explored about him as a character that all I can really tell you is he is a flying, ridiculously powerful doofus mama’s boy to Elizabeth Debicki’s returning Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign Ayesha. He is also attached to an adorable critter whenever he is not wreaking havoc. That might be a huge problem going forward, considering some of these characters are meant to be a part of a new team for future installments that James Gunn will not direct.
It’s also somewhat easy to shove aspects of that criticism aside, considering Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is first and foremost a devastating peek behind the curtain of Rocket’s scientific exploitation and the torture that he ended up enduring alongside a small group of other mutated creatures that would go on to be his first friends (all beautifully voiced by Linda Cardellini, Mikaela Hoover, and Asim Chaudhry, with Noah Raskin voicing a baby Rocket) and the ones he initially wanted to explore the skies with.
The one responsible for these experiments is Chukwudi Iwuji’s The High Evolutionary, your standard mad scientist playing God, here looking to create the perfect society for reasons that are barely explored in favor of having him cackle maniacally and shout. That’s also a shame because the world he creates, known as Counter-Earth, is a strange one that James Gunn takes advantage of to play up his bizarre mind (the practical outfits on creatures such as a war pig only heighten the creepiness) while it lasts. At times, it comes across like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was intended to be a two-part trilogy capper that was cut down into one lengthy two-and-a-half-hour feature.
Meanwhile, Star-Lord is still depressed and often drunk from losing his love Gamora, who has been replaced with a past version, nothing like her previous self, now aligned with the Ravagers (still led by Sylvester Stallone in a brief cameo). There’s also an effort to interrogate his abandonment issues and how he repeatedly attempts to fix the issue of others running away from him by hopping between women and how he has never once revisited his grandfather, thus creating a cycle. There also remains a sense of dysfunction and inability to see eye-to-eye with one another when it comes to some team members, paving the way for shifting heartfelt perceptions of Drax, speaking up about the positive traits he brings to the team despite his dimwitted nature.
Aside from an unquestionable case of “too much going on in one movie,” it’s disappointing to admit that this is also the least funny of the trilogy, and not necessarily because it’s also the most downbeat and devastating of the three. Perhaps it’s because we are accustomed to the banter and jokes, but it doesn’t always land here; one particular moment with Star-Lord during the climax is one of the most egregious examples of MCU quips upon surviving extreme danger. However, the chemistry and camaraderie are still there, so it would be unfair to say there are no laughs (Dave Bautista once again has killer line delivery as Drax). And while it is nearly impossible to top the Fleetwood Mac ‘The Chain’ needle-drop from Vol. 2, the playlist this time around isn’t that exciting (really, Beastie Boys for the big action set piece at the end?).
It also takes almost the entire first act to build up some momentum. It also doesn’t help that some of those first 45 minutes are filled with forgettable action beats (although there are plenty of vivid colors). This is partly because the narrative doesn’t kick into high gear until the Rocket flashbacks similarly start to pick up. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a reminder that no one understands and can get viewers to care about outcasts quite like James Gunn. And the only answer to how he can consistently achieve this is a simple one: he loves his characters. When one character explicitly says, “I love you guys,” it feels more like a statement from James Gunn himself rather than the character mouthing the words.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
