Gillipedia Official Rating: Don’t know what it says about our society that I’m worried about crying over a raccoon
Score: 8/10
What a breath of fresh air. Essentially,
all of the issues that I’ve had with the last 3-4 Marvel films are non-existent
here. I’m a bit surprised how little press there has been surrounding the fact
that James Gunn was initially fired from this film for his old tweets, and it
wasn’t until the whole Guardians cast came to his defense and attested
to his character on and off set that Disney made the surprising (and in my
opinion correct) move to rehire him. Possibly even more surprisingly, they basically
said, “Let Gunn cook.” And boy did he ever. Vol. 3 isn’t worried about
being an MCU film; its only concern is to be the trilogy capper to one of the
best Marvel franchises, and it absolutely succeeds. Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 3 is an honestly great film.
Through 2 films and a holiday special,
the crew has consisted of Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Dave
Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel saying, “I am Groot,” for, well,
Groot, and Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket Raccoon as the originals; they also
added Mantis, Karen Gillan’s Nebula, a telepathic Russian dog named Cosmo, and James Gunn’s brother Sean as Kraglin. There’s
been plenty of arcs and great moments through the aforementioned films and
specials, plus the more recent events from Endgame. This may not appear
too sprawling for a regular MCU fan, but for anyone not familiar, I wouldn’t
blame you for thinking that keeping track of all the characters and their
storylines feels too daunting. I’m here to say that not only is this a surprisingly
accessible film whether you know Marvel or the Guardians at all, but also that
Gunn thoroughly impressed me by each character’s arc and how it concludes in
this film. This film is full of content, but Gunn manages to keep this film to
2 ½ hours which is starting to feel tame now with some blockbuster films.
We start off the film by introducing
Rocket’s backstory as a test subject of the High Evolutionary (the whole evil
genius type, you get it) and a few other animals including a seal, bunny, and
otter. And already I’m impressed by the visuals. Just the way Rocket runs across
the room is satisfying; we truly get spoiled by an excess of riches when it
comes modern visual effects and what we’re able to accomplish, and the visuals
are really good and never take you out of the story. We will keep returning to
see more of Rocket’s backstory throughout the film, but the plot is kicked into
gear when in present day the crew is settled into their headquarters on Knowhere
when Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock blazes in, wreaks some havoc, and escapes, but
not before mortally wounding Rocket. This drives the Guardians to frantically
journey on a fetch quest to gather what they need to save Rocket before he
dies. It’s not a crazy plot, and there’s not any real twists or turns to expect
which contributes to this film only receiving an 8, but it’s enough to create a
juxtaposition between present day and Rocket’s backstory, and allows more time
for the whole cast to thrive.
Per usual, I do want to put the PSA
out here that I’ll avoid any more plot points so everything else can remain a
surprise for anyone looking to watch the film. What I will once again say is
that each character has their own inner conflict they’re working through
(Star-Lord in love with the old, dead Gamora instead of the alternate timeline
Gamora that has teamed up with Sylvester Stallone’s Ravagers crew, Nebula
trying to embrace the idea that connecting with others feels good, Drax still
acting as protector/destroyer because without his daughter he has lost any
other sense of purpose, etc), and Gunn brilliantly concludes their arcs by the
end—whether that is through somewhat hammy and heavy-handed dialogue or
genuinely emotional unspoken moments. And all of this is balanced through the
signature Gunn/Guardians ultra-fun style, an impressive villain in the High
Evolutionary, and a killer soundtrack.
I have to take more time to gush on
Gunn because if he brings his craft to DC, then Marvel will have some serious
competition over the next decade. This is easily one of the funniest Marvel
films of recent memory, and it also fits the whole tone of this franchise
rather than the MCU trying to force every franchise to “be funny.” There's even lines that basically rehash a character's history that work well as joke lines, but they also succeed in catching up newcomers to the franchise. But it’s not
just the writing and the colorful cast, it’s that Vol. 3 feels like a
carefully constructed film that received the love it needed from every area.
The visuals are top-notch, there’s an insane amount of makeup, costumes, and set
design, the score and soundtrack are terrific, and Gunn took the necessary time
to actually direct this film. Yes, there's some very obvious dialogue that does what it needs to bring its point across, but there's also lots of character moments that are introduced and come back into play without the use of dialogue. Without spoiling anything, the way they're able to show emotions from Rocket and the other animals is exactly what Disney has been missing from their uncanny valley "live-action" remakes-- Bautista's acting for Drax is also a standout. Outside of Ryan Coogler directing Wakanda
Forever, this is the best MCU direction of recent memory, and it’s not even
close. Some of the recent films like Waititi’s Love and Thunder or Quantumania
felt by and large like we received a whole bunch of green screen with exceptionally
bland action scenes. Like plain baked potato bland. Outside of that black and
white action scene from Love and Thunder, can you even recall a
particular moment? Because I struggle to. As we watch the Marvel logo scroll by at the beginning of the movie with iconic shots of Iron Man walking away from an explosion, Cap throwing his
shield, or varying shots from the Avengers films, recently, the MCU has
been resting on its laurels. All this to say the cinematography here in Vol.
3 is amazing. You can’t pause the film in the theater, but if you were able
to, I think you’d be impressed by just how many shots are artfully crafted—almost
like Gunn took a small page out of DC director Zac Snyder’s playbook (say what
you will about his films, but you have to admit they’re filled with a bunch of
simply “cool” shots). And there is a glorious climactic action scene that is almost
like the “one-ers” from the Kingsman films where the camera quickly pans
by each character and showcases all their different fighting styles and how dominant
they can be when acting as a team. This movie is such a breath of fresh air
because I care about the characters and the outcomes, and I stay completely
engaged from start to end.
I did notice 2 specific moments from
the latter half of the film where the editing was just a touch off. And I
already know it’s a symptom of wanting to cutback on the run time, and it isn’t
very noticeable, BUT I NOTICED. Outside of that along with the fact that the
story isn’t mind-blowing, I really don’t have any complaints. The villain is
great, there’s still a bunch of cameos including a hilarious role from Nathan
Fillion, and the movie is simply a load of fun. Although Chris Pratt has been
cashing it in the last few years, he returned to form a bit in last year’s
Prime show The Terminal List where he briefly interacted with Sean Gunn
too, and he’s back to form here as well. Drax was the best part of Vol. 2,
and although it was impossible to live up to that performance, he’s still a joy
here—especially how his arc completes at the end. Putting Rocket front and
center for this film worked surprisingly well, and it just makes me happy that
Marvel let Gunn do exactly what he needed to for this film. This summer might
be a little light on films and this was easily the Marvel film I was looking
forward to the most of recent memory, and it lives up to and surpasses
expectations. Truly a rare feat, I think you could ask 3 people and receive 3
different answers on which film from the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy
is the best. What about me? I’m not ready to answer that yet and need to go
back to the first 2 for a rewatch, but for now, just trust me when I say this
film is worth it in theaters.
