Summary
After almost a decade on our screens, the journey of this scrappy group of misfits finds its way to the end of a long and winding road. Bringing some heart back into the MCU, it’s the most explosive film about a raccoon you’ll see this year.
Was this supposed to happen? Back in 2014, I recall my heart being in my chest as I stepped into an early media screening of the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Having adored the Abnett and Lanning run of the comics, this was one I was looking forward to — but feared the worst. Yet from the moment the Redbone-backed titles dropped, one of the best needle drops in modern cinema history, director James Gunn’s movie owned me hook, line, and sinker.
Cut to almost a decade later and the Guardians are part of the dominant cultural landscape. Following a sequel, several animated spin-offs, cameos galore, a holiday special, and practically carrying Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, this plucky group of misfits are the beating heart of a multi-billion dollar empire. So, even as we rejoin them at the start of this third headliner outing, we know from the start that we are reaching the end of the road for some of the gang.
For all of the grand cosmic majesty of the series so far, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 has one of the more focused plots to date. Peter (Chris Pratt) has drunk himself into a stupor, unable to accept that ‘his’ Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is gone. Yet when Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is left for dead by the mysterious and powerful Adam (Will Poulter), the Guardians must unlock the key to Rocket’s past in order to save him. This ultimately means seeking out the megalomaniacal High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a kind of intergalactic Dr. Moreau.
By now, there’s a little bit of a formula to Marvel films, even with a series as irreverent as this. Yet Gunn takes his time to really get into the backstory of Rocket. He’s on-screen for most of the film, albeit it’s a tiny baby animal version living in a hybrid nightmare that was possibly concocted by Sid from Toy Story. (Start tallying up the merchandising income now). It’s a noticeable grounding of the narrative, even if it is a blockbuster set inside a brightly coloured organic space lab.
After all, it’s been a weird couple of years for the MCU. Where once they could do no wrong with critics and audiences, somewhere between the many Disney+ series and the critical and commercial disappointment of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the franchise lost some sheen. Gunn’s script here shares some of those issues, primarily the perpetual problem of a cookie-cutter villain. New characters, especially Adam, simply appear for perfunctory plot-driven purposes.
Gunn isn’t above pushing some emotionally manipulative (or emotionalistic, as Rocket might say) buttons. After all, if you fill a movie with baby animals and children in peril, half of the dramatic heavy lifting is done by kindchenschema. Gunn’s trademark of a memorable soundtrack feels more like an obligation here too, with a series of whiplash inducing tonal changes that ping from Radiohead to Rainbow, with the unlikely (but welcome) inclusions of Spacehog, The Flaming Lips, Faith No More, X, The The, and The Replacements in between.
Nevertheless, it’s such a joy so see a film so consciously exploring its own past and characters. Bolted together by some impressive action set-pieces, ones that loudly crash into frame and disappear just as quickly, blink and you’ll miss countless Easter eggs and details that are designed for the home market. There’s a series of scenes between Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Space (voiced by Maria Bakalova) that warmed this cynical geek’s heart.
So, with as much fanfare as possible, it feels as though an MCU Phase has come to an end. Not officially, of course, as Phase Five is only just getting started. Yet if the Avengers are Earth’s mightiest heroes, then the Guardians have been the galaxy’s kindest. Whether we see them all together again in this form is to be seen, but at least we all got to share one last dance with them in the cinema. We are Groot.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: James Gunn | WRITERS: James Gunn | CAST: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 150 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 3 May 2023 (AUS), 5 May 2023 (USA)
