Director: James Gunn
Genre: Action/
Science Fiction/ Adventure/ Comedy
Runtime: 150
minutes
Year:
2023
Starring: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel,
Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Uwuji, Will Poulter,
Elizabeth Debicki
Description: Still
reeling from the loss of Gamora (Zoek Saldana), Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) rallies
his team to defend the universe and one of their own, a mission that could mean
the end of the Guardians if not successful.
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 19: A SEQUEL
Review: The first film from 2014 was considered by Marvel to be a risk, with a
small change of success. Who knew that an ensemble film about a group of
misfits, including a foul-mouthed CGI raccoon and a verbally limited tree could
lead to such success. It has been visible from the start that director and
writer James Gunn believed in this team of misfits and has heart for them,
because, in my opinion, this is the best series within the MCU. And he ends
this trilogy with a bang. Just to be clear, I loved this movie and the review might
not be subjective.
The Guardians have settled
on Knowhere, trying to give their lives shape after the loss of Gamora. That is
going relatively well, until priestess Ayesha (whom we met in volume 2) comes
for revenge and sends her perfect fighting machine Adam Warlock. In a fight,
Rocket is seriously injured and to save his life, the Guardians must find out how
the genetically engineered raccoon was ‘created’. To do so, they must delve
into his past. And I’m telling you, it’s the saddest story you will ever see in
a Marvel film.
Rocket, or experiment 89P13,
turns out to be a creation of the High Evolutionary; a scientist who has set
himself the goal of creating the perfect race and the perfect society. In the
process, the self-appointed Messiah makes a lot of victims, lots of innocent
victims. And with that he is by far the most evil Marvel villain yet. And I
will add him to my list of most hated movie characters ever. The antagonist,
strongly portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuju, holds the key to Rocket’s recovery.
The film clearly takes a
darker path than its predecessors. The opening tune illustrates this perfectly.
No upbeat song as usual, but an acoustic version of Radiohead’s melancholy “Creep”.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is definitely still a funny sci-fi action
comedy, but the emotional depth and somewhat heavier subject matter make it a
more mature film. The caption on the poster says it all: “once more with
feeling”. And I felt all the feels.
The plot consists of two
storylines that converge at the end in a blistering finale. In the main story,
which has all the action and humor, we follow the Guardians on their crazy and
beautifully designed space adventure, in which, among other things, they take
on a copy of Earth and a completely organic space station against the genetically
engineered misfits of the high Evolutionary. The subplot serves as an emotional
counterpoint, telling the equally wry and touching, but also sad story of
Rocket’s genesis. Rocket has always been my favorite of the Guardians, but he
most definitely is my favorite Marvel character of all-time as well. This one
hit me hard.
James Gunn shifts incredibly
cleverly between the two well-written storylines, alternating dramatic
seriousness with humor, and CGI action spectacle with story and character
development. With a well-balanced phasing, he keeps attention firmly from
beginning to end, and with his once again phenomenally compiled playlist, he
adds an awful lot of color to the film.
The highlight of the film are
the perfectly cast, imperfect characters. All Guardians have their flaws and
this is precisely what makes them so interesting. Their noble actions are
partly motivated by a desire for redemption from an often dark past. This provides
the team of misfits with an approachable humanity.
Nebula, meanwhile, is a
full-fledged fun-loving Guardian and finally begins to thaw out, while Gamora,
returned from the past and remembering nothing, takes her place as the
pessimist of the group. It is a stroke of genius to have the sisters switch
roles because with the new group dynamic, Gunn avoids a repetition of moves. Peter
Quill’s character steps a bit to the background this time, Groot is in the
prime of his life and the ever-dry Drax along with Mantis, provide the film’s
comedic highlights. But Rocket is everything to me in this film.
I’m giving “Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 3” a perfect rating, purely out of emotion, because to me this
trilogy is the perfect one and it’s very near and dear to my heart. The series
had a perfect conclusion with this emotional rollercoaster. I literally cannot
fault it.
Rating: 5/ 5