GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (2023)
The Famous Marvel Series Takes a Shockingly Serious Turn
Grade: B+
(**Spoiler Alert!!**)
The Guardians of the Galaxy have certainly come a long way. Ten years ago, no one outside the geek community had ever heard of this cosmic superhero team. Then along came director James Gunn, who in 2014 crafted a fun, exciting and humorous feature which introduced them to mainstream audiences and made them household names. Since then, they have appeared in a sequel, as well as two Avengers movies, and now they have reached their third official film. But fans accustomed to the happy-go-lucky adventures of Star Lord and his friends will be alarmed to see just how grim and serious Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is.
The movie sets its tone right out of the gate. Instead of an upbeat pop song following the characters as they dance through the opening credits, as was the case with the first two movies, the song is somber, and the Guardians are just going about their lives. Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt) is still reeling from the death of his girlfriend Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), who was killed in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). A new version of Gamora from an alternate past, introduced in Avengers: Endgame (2019), never knew Peter before and wants nothing to do with him.
Things escalate from there as Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the raccoon who refuses to admit he’s a raccoon, gets injured and sent into a coma during an attack by a powerful being named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). Determined to save their friend, the remaining Guardians, including Peter, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) set out to find a cure. What they don’t realize is that they are playing into the hands of a psychotic scientist known as the High Evolutionary, whose depraved experiments led to Rocket’s creation. And now he wants Rocket’s brain to help create what he considers a perfect society.
The two biggest issues plaguing GOTG Vol. 3 are the runtime and the tone. It takes the characters a long time to get from one plot point to the next, though the movie still manages to keep our attention. The tone, on the other hand, is darker than any other Marvel Cinematic Universe movie I’ve seen to date, rivaled only by Infinity War. The main reason for this is the High Evolutionary, who is the most thoroughly and instantly hate-able MCU villain ever. No attempt is made to humanize him; he is just plain awful. An extended flashback shows Rocket in the H.E.’s custody befriending several other cybernetically altered animals, including an otter named Lylla, only for them to be killed off when Rocket tries to free them. Later the H.E. completely decimates a humanoid animal society (who are themselves the stuff of nightmares) to make way for a better one. In another sequence, children are shown in cages. The series had certainly dabbled in dark stuff before, but Vol. 3 plunges headlong into it.
But the tone is also a strength for the movie, since it shows how the MCU is willing to take chances, even if a few of those chances are unwarranted. The franchise has been on a slippery slope in recent years, with polarized reactions to the movies and Disney+ shows. GOTG Vol. 3 is a true outlier in the franchise post-Endgame, refusing to conform to the same goofy standards as some other projects. If anything, it reflects how the series has matured with its fans.
Tone aside, all the best qualities of the first two Guardians movies are carried over into this one. The heroes are once again likeable, and their actors continue to do them great justice. The CGI effects are outstanding and impressive, with a lot of effort put into them. When the movie finds time for humor, we cannot help but laugh (Mantis exercising her powers during a fight with security guards is hilarious). The production design is also incredible; at one point the heroes find themselves in a giant, fleshy space station whose interior is decked out with gelatinous control panels. And of course, the action is still top-notch, as the characters demonstrate their camaraderie again and again while mowing down bad guys.
Above all, the movie has a ton of heart-which is the most important ingredient of any Guardians movie. Vol. 3 is being billed as the last movie in the series, and it is a testament to both the actors and Gunn as a director that the series turned out as incredible as it is. Even though it is much easier to like the first two movies, which were much more upbeat, Vol. 3 is still an overall satisfying conclusion to the story. Did they really have to go this hard, though?
Director: James Gunn
Screenplay: James Gunn (Based on the Marvel Comics)
Producer: Kevin Feige
Cast: Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star Lord), Zoe Saldaña (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Vin Diesel (Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Will Poulter (Adam Warlock), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Chukwudi Iwuji (High Evolutionary), Linda Cardellini (Lylla), Nathan Fillion (Master Karja), Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord), Elizabeth Debicki (Ayesha), Maria Bakalova (Cosmo)
Rated: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements)
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