Review 685: Guaridans of the Galaxy Vol. 3

  

I remember way back when Guardians of the Galaxy was coming out in the summer of 2014, it was considered Marvel Studios biggest gamble at that point in no small part because they were a fairly recent and obsusce addition to Marvel Comics Universe. Yet, thanks to its charasmatic ensamble, killer soundtrack and irreverent humor, they are now recognisable as any Marvel character. Now we arrive as Guaridans of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which serves as a fitting sendoff to our ragtag band of heroes.

Our beloved band of misfits are settling into a life on Knowhere. But it isn't long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket's (Bradley Cooper) turbulent past. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), still reeling from the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket's life - a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

A wonderful feeling of nostalgia washed over me as I was watching Vol. 3; there something about these irreverant brand of humor and pop/rock song infected soundtrack that just spoke to audiences and that has slowly rubed off of me over the years. Opening with a surprisingly sombre one take opening title sequence set to an acoustic version of Creep by Radiohead, Guardians Vol. 3

James Gunn's Guaridans of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an eye-poping, loud, visually stunning, gorgeous looking and sometimes surprisingly dark and disturbing film that is not only as a follow-up to the first two Guardians films, but is also another post-Endgame film, particularly in regards to Quill and Gamora.      It's almost impossible to understand this film without knowing what happens to those two in Infinity War and Endgame and even with that context in mind, Vol. 3 works better than it should, evokes the same wacky humor with a touch of darkness thrown in for good measure. At 150 minutes, it confronts us, not just with a whole barrage of special effects, explosions and bright colours, but with an onslaught of the many, many characters from the four corners of cosmic side of the MCU and requires a near encyclopedic recall of the superhero epic's previous chapters and probably the comics to an extent.

James Gunn contines the trilogys theme of are our destinys determined by our nature or by the nature of our world? There's a subtext of animal cruelty to be found in the film. 

At the end of the day, Guaridans of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a movie about joy and compassion and learning to see beyond the rim of our own worlds and having empathy for all living things according to James Gunn.

James Gunn's direction is  showcasing his maturity as a filmaker the cinematography is beautiful, the special effects are splendid; an amazing mix of CGI, practical sets and puppet/anamatronics, the production design is all marvelous; of particular note is OrogoCorp which has a wonderfully, squishy jelly like quality and seems like a hidden room in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and the High Evolutionary's Counter Earth which has a fantasticly twisted retro 60's/70's suburban look to it. Also of note is the Guardians new ship, the Bowie which looks very practical like a circular saw; "Rocket just keeps upgrading their ships" as James Gunn put it. The costumes are splendid, the score by John Murphy is The climax is like a theme park ride, it goes up and down through various action set peieces and loud explosions and songs leaving you exhausted but you leave feeling like you've had a hell of a time.

Chris Pratt delivers another winning perfromance as Peter Quil/Star-Lord. This is a character who by this point has experienced a lot of loss and is now in a state of depression following the death of Gamora and is confronted by the appearence of a variant of her who does not share the same affection for him as her older version had for him. Throughout the film, we see him trying to explain to this other Gamora what they had in another life and trying to force her into being who he remembers her as because he stills loves her and can't truly bring himself to forget all the years he spent with her. But over the course of the film he comes to understand this new version of Gamora and comes to see her for who she is rather than what he wants her to be. He also comes to reconcile his childhood trauma; Peter has always associated Earth with the greif of his mother's death and has refused to return their as a result. But seeing Rocket confront his past with the High Evolutionary and with big of coxing from Mantis, he realises that he's been running away from Earth, comes to terms with her death and reconciles with his past and moves past it.

Zoe Saldana is fantastic playing Gamora. This is not the Gamora who has gone on various cosmic adventure with the Guardians but a pre-character development Gamora who is a ruthless pirate who has taken command of the Ravagers and has no qualms about threatening or harming people if it's conveniant                                                                                                                                             Initially She's dismissive towards Peter and tries to keep him at arms length because she sees him as an annoyance, but as the movie continues, she sees his resourcefulness, quick-thinking, compassion and bravery, she understands what her other self saw in him. She only teams up with the Guardians to keep her sister, Nebula safe and is initially dismissive of Rocket's condition and is all too happy to hand him over to the High Evolutionary for money, but after she sees how much the Guardians love him and how important he is to them, particularly the effects he has on Nebula, she puts her life on the line to save his and the High Evolutionary's creations. Regardless of who they are as a people, their bond is never truly broken.

Dave Butista  A bit more light is shone on Drax, exploring how he was once a father and how that informs who he is going forward

Bradley Cooper delivers some truly heartbreaking voicing Rocket Racoon. Juxtaposing his backstory whilst he's on the brink of death is simply inspired giving Cooper plenty of room to shine without sacrificing the integrity of his character. Throughout these flashbacks we see how the trauma of being the High Evolutionary guinea pig created his first connection with his friends. According to James Gunn, Rocket is the secret protagonist of the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy and has been the centre of it all along. Even among the Guardians, Rocket feels like an outcast. Like he doesn't belong, burded by the trauma of his past with the High Evolutionary, baring perminant physical scars that serve as daily reminders of the pain of it and the friends he lost. Rocket lost his fellow Guardians during Infinity War an Endgame and its taken an added toll on him. He and Nebula were the two Guardians who survived Thanos' snap and Rocket in particular is still grappling with the idea of loosing people that he loves again and not being able to protect them. He had to wait five years before he could see them again. I'm pretty sure that would've made him numb to connections  All of this causes him to meditate on his past trauma 

Karen Gillan is once again, stunning playing Nebula. In this film, we see Nebula starting to develop a lighter personality with more levity and more of a sense of humor. She is also starting to move beyond the torment and abuse inflicted on her by Thanos which is a new space for her to live in further cementing her redemptive and arc and why I love her a character.

Pom Klementieff is a delight playing Mantis, behind her oddball exterior, Mantis is always looking out for other wether it be her teammates or other species and trying to get past their exteriors. This film also sheds a light on her being Peter's half sister which shouldn't be too surprising considing their both children of Ego. She's the one who sees past Peter's heartbreak and encourages him to heal

Maria Bakalova makes for a delightful (if underused) addition to the Guardians roster playing Cosmo the Spacedog whom you may recognise, if you're an eagle eyed viewer, as one of the Collector's momentos. She's caring, she's loyal, she's loveable and she's loving as well and these qualities as well as her overall dedication to the Guardains is on full display in the scenes that she's in. She sees the Guardains as her family.

Elizabeth Debicki returns as Ayesha, the High Priestess of the Soverign race from Vol. 2

Will Poulter is excellent playing Adam Warlock, hilariously playing him as stoic, silent and not really the brightest crayon in the box. Because he's been taken out of his pod earlier than anticipated, he's like a newborn child who doesn't understand life very well, so he's a bit naive and has an almost childlike demeanor. He begins the movie serving the villain, The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) because he just wants to save his civilization, the Soverign and wants to protect his mother Ayesha. He's only concerned for his people but then he hilariously misunderstands Ayesha orders and starts down a path of empathy and (maybe) becoming closer to his heroic comic book counterpart. Poulter is able to convey a lot whilst saying very little.

If he isn't one of the most complex villains in the MCU, then The High Evolutionary is easily one of the most detestable to date. A scientist who talks a big game about creating the perfect species and the perfect world, but is really just a selfish, narcissistic, sociopathic egomaniac who’s feeding his own ego, albeit a charming one. He sees his creation as mere products which he can throw away on a whim and his claims are really just a byproduct of his contempt for all existing life. He doesn’t care about the physical or emotional pain his experiments may cause to others, his obsession with the perfect creation has blinded his judgement to the point where his standards are so impossibly high and contradictory that nothing could ever live up to them. The film is very unapologetic in its presentation of him, we never find out anything about where he comes from or what his backstory is or the true reason behind his motivation; the film conveys his characters very effectively with his words and actions and the film and makes no excuses for his actions and Chukwudi Iwuji absolutely kills it in the role. There's an almost Shakespearen quality to his performance; how he ozzed menace and chewed the scenery without coming across as hammy or over the top.

They are surrounded by a supporting cast of recognisable faces and new faces to this particular trilogy. Let me just cite a list for those who know there actors. Here we go, Sean Gunn, Linda Cardellini (who also played Laura Barton), Sylvester Stallone, Nathan Fillion, Asim Chaudhry, Mikaela Hoover, Daniela Melchior, Judy Greer (who also played Maggie Lang), Pete Davidson, Michael Rosenbaum, Stephen Blackehart and Christopher Fairbank. Rather awesome.

4.5/5

The Anonymous Critic