Christian Peterson
ECB Publishing, Inc.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was released to United States audiences on Friday, May 5. The film is the third and final installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. It follows the Guardians: Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Groot (Vin Diesel). As the crew is still reeling from the experiences in “Avengers: Endgame,” they are suddenly thrust into a high-stakes chase across the galaxy. The Sovereign have created Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) to capture Rocket and bring him back to his creator, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). After Warlock mortally wounds Rocket, the group must perform multiple heists to try and find the information they need to save their friend. In doing so, they travel to new and crazy planets and learn more about Rocket's past than they ever knew before. But will the Guardians be able to defeat the High Evolutionary and save their friend in time? Be aware, there are SPOILERS in the following review.
The good: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) continues to grow larger and larger. We are now entering into phase five of the MCU story. After the culmination of 10 years of work, the original Infinity saga ended with the film “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” From there, we entered into a new saga: the Multiverse. So far, in both phases four and five, there have been 10 movies released. Out of all 10, only two have ranked above “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” That puts it far above the other movies Marvel has created. When I say it's not a close third, I mean that there is nothing in third place that comes even close to how much I enjoyed Guardians three. Does that mean it is a perfect movie? No, absolutely not, and we will delve into that later, but for now, let's talk about the highlights of the film. Firstly, the Guardians have become a popular team in pop culture, and that is for good reason. When this movie has Guardians scenes, they are done right. We have fun action sequences over hit songs, and hilarious comedic interactions between characters whom we have grown to love. Cooper's voice acting is a standout in the film, as his character is almost exclusively computer generated. But listening to his painful backstory, and the pain in his voice as he relives those things, is truly impressive. He conveys so much emotion with nothing but his voice. Of course, as always, Pratt's comedic timing stands out, and he and James Gunn, the director of the film, are a team I always enjoy watching work together. Furthermore, there are some impressive set pieces that are shown throughout the film. For pure entertainment value, the film is a fun sci-fi action flick with some comedy thrown in.
The bad: Normally, my “good” is much larger than my bad and ugly combined. I try to keep a positive outlook on movies that I see, and not take them for more than what they are. That being said, I was slightly disappointed in Guardians. The first “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a major highlight of the original Infinity saga, bringing new characters that most folks had never heard of into pop culture. It was funny, simple and enjoyable. The second one followed largely the same path, albeit a little less than the original. However, number three is a disjointed film. It feels much less like a “Guardians of the Galaxy” film and more of a Rocket Raccoon origin story. There are moments, as I said, where the classic Guardians shine through. What comes to mind is a fight scene with the popular song “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” However, there are other moments that just fall flat. While there are interesting set pieces, the film does devolve at one point into a “go get the item” plot. Not only does it do this once, but it actually does it twice, one right after the other. On top of all that, we are consistently going into flashback of Rocket's origin story. Personally, I love that story. I think it's dark and interesting, especially the idea of a creator being obsessed with figuring out how it made something smarter than itself. However, when I am watching a Guardians movie and we are consistently flashing back to only one character's memories, interrupting moments that don't need to be interrupted and dragging out the length of the film, I get disappointed.
I also consistently remain disappointed in Marvel's inability to create a good villain, as well as their obsession with money. The MCU is riddled with poorly fleshed out villains. While I think the High Evolutionary has an interesting plot, I find it boring, as one devolves into nothing but screaming the same line over and over again. I promise you will notice, if you watch this film, the moment where the scriptwriters gave up on dialogue for the villain and all he does is scream the same line. The other issue I have is Marvel's obsession with money. They refuse to let a character die, because they might be able to make money off of them later. There were multiple scenes throughout this film where a heroic sacrifice felt like it was going to happen; that a main character would sacrifice their life to save others and the people they care about. The film even tried to convince you this was happening by changing the tone of the movie, the speed of it, the music and even the camera filter. Yet, everyone remained alive; no sacrifices were made. The good guys won at zero cost to themselves.
My final and ultimate “bad” in this movie is the character development of Rocket. I don't understand the writers' idea here, because Rocket is asleep for the majority of the movie. How he can grow as a character by doing nothing, I do not know. At the beginning of the film, he is the same Rocket from the past two movies. Yet by the end of it, he is the leader of the Guardians. His only growth is that, now, the audience knows his backstory and feels some sympathy for him. I was disappointed in this, and consider it poor storytelling.
The ugly: There are a few moments in this film that would be considered ugly. Firstly, it should be warned that this movie is dark. There is animal cruelty, torture and death. There is also an incredibly dark flashback that shows Rocket's friends getting murdered. Scenes before that depicts animals being tortured, including Rocket himself. Parents and those sensitive to animals should be aware of this before entering into the film. Language is also something folks should be aware of, as this movie has more offensive language than any of the others before it.
The conclusion: Guardians Vol. 3 isn't more than it can be expected to be. Like I said, it's a fun sci-fi romp across the galaxy. There are fun set pieces and jokes throughout. As I said, it is ranked top three of the multiverse saga right now, with only Shang Chi and Spider-Man above it, which goes to show you how much I dislike the other seven movies that have been released in the MCU. If you enjoy the Guardians, if you enjoy a bit of dark comedy and you don't take the movie too seriously, this movie is a good time-waster. Most movies are, and there is nothing wrong with that. Ultimately, its a visual spectacle, and that is all there is to it. I give this movie a five out of 10 gator tails.