Welcome back to the blog readers. The day I have been both dying for and dreading. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is finally upon us, six years after Vol. 2's release and the unnecessary firing of director James Gunn. The Guardians films have been some of my favorite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I am so gutted this is the final entry in the series because I have loved these guys for a long time.
Written and directed by James Gunn one final time before his departure to officially and permanently set up shop at DC Studios, the film sees Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn reprise their roles as the Guardians of the Galaxy, while being joined by Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, and Sylvester Stallone. In the film, parts of Rocket's life reemerge as the Guardians attempt to adjust to life on Knowhere, leading the team on a mission that could see them dissolve upon failure.
NOTE: I will NOT be spoiling the film in this review, so you are safe to read on if you have not seen it. But I will be revealing some of the songs in the soundtrack, so skip the third to last paragraph if you don't want to know those.
It is a damn shame that this will be the final time that we see this cast of Guardians because we have spent so long with them and gotten to love them as people and as a family. Now the big question is did James Gunn make the most out of his final hoorah with Marvel and give us a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy and these characters? Well I am here to report that this film is terrible...because it's over. I absolutely love this film, and it may just be my favorite MCU film since Avengers: Endgame. And going one step further, this film may be a strong contender for my top film of the year.
I want to start off by highlighting some performances. Chris Pratt was born to play Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and there is no doubt in my mind that he gives his best performance as the character since Avengers: Infinity War. Pratt absolutely delivers the goods, and puts in an emotional performance as well. You can see how much Quill has bonded with all of these Guardians, and especially Rocket. He also does a wonderful job of displaying other emotions such as rage and heartbreak. What a performance.
Zoe Saldaña plays Gamora, but not our main timeline Gamora. She plays the version of Gamora that was brought from 2014 by 2014 Nebula in Avengers: Endgame. This decision was one I was wondering about, but Saldaña absolutely crushes this reimagined role. She brings a fire that I could never have imagined she could. She pulls out some real acting chops for this newer installment, and I'm glad that she is getting to cook, with Avatar: The Way of Water a few months ago and now this. And it was pretty nice seeing her one more time before she says goodbye to this character for good.
I took note of Chukwudi Iwuji in last year's series Peacemaker, also created by Gunn as a spinoff to his 2021 film The Suicide Squad. He was awesome in his role as Clemson Murn, and I was so bummed he got killed off. Luckily, I got to see more of him here as he played the villain the High Evolutionary. And let me just tell you right now, he was absolutely brilliant in this role. I remember reading rumors that Mark Hamill was set to play this character, and I do not believe that he would have done this role justice. Nothing on him, he just would not have been right for it. The way Iwuji brought a Shakespearian gravitas to the role was beyond fascinating, and I want that Disney+ prequel spinoff of his character. The High Evolutionary is one of the best villains the MCU has ever had, and that is mostly due to Iwuji's fascinating and remarkable performance.
I am only fine with there being only 4 action set pieces because action is not the most important part of a comic book property. Just look at the CW show Superman & Lois. This current season has only had like 3 or 4 episodes with a fight, because all the drama happens with the characters and their development. Back to that action though, the stuff we did get was incredible. Some intense fight scenes and a lot of teases that truthfully had me on edge led to some of the MCU's best action in a long time.
And one note on the drama, this story was one of the best in the entire MCU. To shift the story to the perspective of Rocket was brilliant, especially because we find out what happened to him and what led him to going down the path he finds himself on in the present. It also wraps up the character arcs for characters like Peter Quill, Gamora, Nebula, and Drax. There were points in the film where I got very emotional, and that was the point. You are supposed to be tugged on the heartstrings and James Gunn knows how to do that. I mean, if it wasn't for him we would not be giving a damn about a talking raccoon and a talking tree in the first place.
Last but not least, there cannot be a Guardians of the Galaxy film without its soundtrack. I think the music in this film is top-notch, and that madman Gunn did it again. Some of the songs he chose were pitch-perfect (see what I did there?), and here are some of them. An acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead opens the film in somber fashion. "Crazy on You" by Heart, "Since You Been Gone" by Rainbow, "In the Meantime" by Spacehog, "Do You Realize??" by the Flaming Lips, "No Sleep till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys, and "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine also feature prominently. Also, "I Will Dare" by the Replacements, a rerecorded version of "Come And Get Your Love" by Redbone, and "Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen feature in the credits. All awesome song choices and I will miss this part of the MCU.
There is one thing I thought was a negative of the film, although it did not take away from my enjoyment of it. The film really, REALLY did not need to feature the Sovereign at all. They felt like wasted characters, especially Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha and Will Poulter's Adam Warlock. Their presence ultimately was not needed in the film, and I feel they could have been mentioned off-screen. Now I am not saying that Will Poulter wasn't good as the character because he was. I just do not like how one of the most powerful characters in all of Marvel was relegated to what he wound up being.
Before I pack up and give you my overall thoughts, I want to take a second and address one of the themes of the film, and that is animal cruelty. There were some moments in the film that made me uncomfortable, and that is the desired effect. PETA in the last few days came out and said it was their most animal-friendly film of the year for a reason that I agree with. Just because we can experiment on animals, it does not mean we should, and Gunn puts that message on display like a champion, leading to a satisfying ending and resolution. Please stop experimenting on animals, and let us all find a more humane way to conduct our experiments. I'm begging you.
In conclusion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delivers the heart, the action, and the spectacle to conclude one of the strongest trilogies in the entire MCU in a more-than-satisfying way. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you all for the next post.
Comments