GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 3 Review

“The perfect send-off to Gunn and his terrific cast, a movie with a ton of heart and plenty of entertainment value”

It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2, which had the onus of being left open-ended as it led up to the pivotal two-part finale of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Granted, most of the Guardians have appeared elsewhere, including last year’s Thor: Love and Thunder and the Christmas Special, but this is the first time they’re all back together in a story that continues what happened in Vol. 2. 

This “finale” centers around Rocket’s story, where he came from, and how he became who he is, much of the central plot involving the rest of the Guardians trying to save him. Rocket’s origin is connected to the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a mad scientist conducting experiments on animals and other aliens to try to create a perfect world. Rocket was one of those experiments, who proved to be smarter and more valuable than the Evolutionary realized. But first, the Guardians are attacked by Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, who has been sent to retrieve Rocket for the High Evolutionary but instead leaves the Guardian’s sass-mouthed furball at death’s door with the rest of the team on a quest for the info that can save him.

I’ll freely admit that the first hour of the movie was somewhat confusing as the Guardians went to different planets in order to get the information to save Rocket, although there doesn’t feel there’s as much danger as other Guardians missions. For a character who is so consistently funny, Rocket’s story ends up being quite poignant and emotional, to the point where I was almost bawling by the film’s last act. Pom Klementieff continues to prove her character Mantis to be the true heart and soul of these movies, her interactions with Dave Bautista’s Drax leading to some absolutely hilarious moments.

Even so, the movie has definite tonal issues, especially in its first hour or so, because with the stakes so high and with their friend at death’s door, it doesn’t feel like them cracking jokes is appropriate. In fact, there’s just so much yelling and fighting throughout the movie, particularly with the grumpier Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who doesn’t remember anything about her relationship with Pratt’s Peter Quill.

It’s nothing done by Will Poulter so much, but Adam Warlock seems like a complete waste, despite being such a pivotal character in the comics. Here, he’s portrayed as a Momma’s boy who doesn’t seem to have any thoughts of his own, and as powerful as he proves to be, he just isn’t quite on par with the High Evolutionary as far as the film’s villains. Warlock disappears for quite a long time, and I’m not sure that anyone will care, as he feels somewhat throwaway.

There’s also no way around the fact that the movie is just too long with so much to process, as some characters vanish for an indeterminate amount of time, as we follow the main group. Characters like Sean Gunn’s and Cosmo the space dog (voiced by Maria Bakalova) are relegated to a recurring joke for the majority of the movie until the finale. Anyone who has followed Gunn on socials knows he’s an animal lover, and that’s something quite evident from the focus put on Rocket and his animal friends, as well as giving Cosmo more screen time. 

Gunn’s storytelling skills are clearly at the top of their game, enhancing the action with things like the one-shot fight in a hallway that leaves your jaw agape, but it continues to prove my theory that filmmakers who started in horror are just so able to handle these big superhero movies and everything they entail. Gunn has now proven that four times with such impeccable writing and direction. 

The crafts involved with bringing Gunn’s imagination to the screen are fantastic, this being quite night-and-day to the recent Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was a mess in every sense of the word. Guardians Vol 3 has more control in showing the fantastic, but you gotta give props to production designer Beth Mickle (one of many carry-overs from Gunn’s The Suicide Squad) and the creature design is just brilliant. Some of the creatures may be too scary for kids – I was worried a few of them might give *me* nightmares – but the prosthetics and visual FX are just brilliant. I was also impressed with the cinematography by Henry Braham (who also shot the recent The Flash), because it’s difficult to create shots that make sure the audience is focused on the right things.

As much as it’s a cliché for a film’s score to drive the emotions, that’s definitely the case with the score by John Murphy, who also composed the score for The Suicide Squad, since there are so many emotional scenes that are so well enhanced by his music.

The film’s last act ends up being as fantastic as any of the “Star Wars” movies, although the movie, as long as it already is, kind of overstays its welcome in the same way as the conclusion of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Despite a few tonal issues, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 ends up being the perfect send-off to Gunn and his terrific cast, a movie with a ton of heart and plenty of entertainment value. You’ll watch the movie and wonder why they just can’t seem to make a “Star Wars” movie that’s this damn good or full of emotion.

Rating: 8/10