Back in 2013, I wouldn't shut up about the Guardians of the Galaxy to my High School friends. That and Inside Llewyn Davis were the two upcoming movies I would blabber about endlessly to anyone within earshot. Of course, none of these teenagers (very understandably) knew or understood what I was talking about. After all, the general marketing campaigns for these movies hadn't kicked off yet. Rocket Raccoon and Groot were still just obscure figures from the pages of Marvel Comics. I'm sure my ceaseless ranting and raving about a tree voiced by Vin Diesel just sounded like nonsense. Flash forward a decade and the big screen Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has come to a close with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. All those years ago I was just stoked to super unknown comic book characters leap onto the big screen. If only I'd known then what a great finale writer/director James Gunn had up his sleeve for these cosmic weirdos, then my pre-release excitement would've undoubtedly increased ten-fold.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 begins on a somber note, with a flashback to the earliest days of Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) before settling down decades later with a now-adult Rocket. He and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy are in a bit of a despondent mood, particularly de facto leader Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), who's still reeling from the death of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Their problems only get exacerbated when Rocket gets fatally harmed during a battle with the powerful being Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). With death lingering over the head of this Guardian, Star-Lord leads Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) on a mission to save their pal. Such a quest will lead them into conflict with The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), the man responsible for the creation of Rocket and all kinds of other horrors.
Gunn's two preceding Guardians of the Galaxy movies were marked by a welcome embrace of comic book absurdity mixed in with deeply tangible human emotions. This filmmaker has shown a gift for balancing out both silliness and humanity and that talent has been further refined for this third solo outing for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Nowhere is this deft tone more apparent than in a collection of flashback scenes showing Rocket bonding with a trio of other animals that have been experimented on. These critters have extremely stylized designs, but the script treats them with such warmth and humanity. There's a coziness to the comfort they find in each other during horrific circumstances.
These intimate sequences are some of the best in Gunn's script, especially in its willingness to afford breathing room for raw depictions of sorrow. Rocket's always been such a compelling character because he seems like something that should be a quippy punchline, yet, dating back to the first Guardians of the Galaxy, has always expressed such fascinating displays of vulnerability and interior aching. Seeing his origins only enhances this furry hero's depth rather than taking away from his mystique. Plus, these sequences allow Iwuji to ham it up as an unabashedly evil guy with a capital E. How nice to see a modern Marvel Cinematic Universe villain unburdened by the need to be "serious" or a "misguided" good guy. Iwuji portrays a baddie you can hate with your whole body.
Beyond Rocket, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still proves mightily entertaining, though Gunn's script is undeniably a bit crowded. Most notably, sequences involving Adam Warlock are often entirely detached from the Guardians physically (he spends much of the story searching for them), which makes him feel like a more extraneous part of the screenplay. Poulter's enjoyable performance and an eventual reveal in the third-act on how he ties into a core theme of Vol. 3 ensures the character is far from a waste of time, but his earliest solo scenes certainly feel like they could've been trimmed down or condensed. In terms of critiques beyond an overstuffed script, composer John Murphy doesn't deliver as stirring or idiosyncratic a score as the work done by previous Guardians of the Galaxy composer Tyler Bates. So many other recurring elements of this trilogy are in such fine form this go-around, it would've been great for the score to also match the quality of preceding Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
By and large, though, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delivers a rip-roaring great time, especially on a visual level. The cosmic exploits of these superheroes are realized here with more practical sets than ever before and they look spectacular. Star-Lord and friends inhabit worlds that seem like you could step right into them and they're often peppered with such vibrant colors. The hive-like interiors of the headquarters for an evil company and The High Evolutionary's lair made out of red squares are especially memorable surroundings. While recent Marvel Studios outings like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania looked dreary and cheap, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 looks like a visual feast.
Best of all, the characters here remain as compelling as ever. Gunn's screenplay happily takes these figures into such interesting directions that subvert conventional fan theories or wishes in favor of more nuanced, mature end destinations for these characters. A subplot involving a new incarnation of Gamora is especially thoughtfully realized while Nebula continues to shine as one of the more unexpectedly complicated figures in the trilogy. There's such a love for every bizarre creation that traipses across the screen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, from a telekinetic space pooch to a bug-lady who can control people's emotions. That affection is as infectious as ever and allows the pathos of this fond farewell to hit like a ton of bricks.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a weird blockbuster, a movie as in love with depicting animal-based torment as it is with Nathan Fillion dropping comedic one-liners. In weaker hands, it's very easy to imagine how juggling such wildly disparate elements would've resulted in something annoyingly erratic. Thankfully, writer/director James Gunn has come armed with plenty of experience in handling bizarre tones, not to mention a bunch of memorable tunes, to ensure Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lives up to its potential. It's a film capable of tearing your heart to shreds before making it feel full. I'm sure it'll leave many people endlessly chatting up its virtues like they're me circa. 2013 describing my excitement for the then-upcoming blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy...
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