Peter Quill, aka Starlord of the Guardians of the Galaxy, still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that the love of his life, Gamora, is dead, and that the woman who looks like her currently running around the galaxy is actually a variant of her from the past from before the two met and as such wants nothing to do with him now. (I know, it’s kind of confusing. But that was something that happened in The Avengers: Endgame, and since that made almost $3 billion, Marvel Studios just kind of expects you to know that whole deal. If you don’t, you’ll be fine. Just roll with it.) He snaps out of his funk when the golden-skinned, super-powered Adam Warlock tries to abduct another of the Guardians crew, Rocket. The attempt fails, but Rocket is left near death. In order to save their friend, the Guardians set out to track down Rocket’s origins ultimately coming into conflict with a being calling themselves the High Evolutionary, an intergalactic Dr. Moreau responsible for creating Rocket and who now needs his escaped creation in order to perfect his latest creations.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 is writer/director James Gunn’s last hurrah in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. An unlikely choice when first announced to be helming a Marvel film, Gunn has excelled with his tale of a group of unlikely, space-faring heroes and with this third installment has ultimately delivered what could be the best trilogy of films in the whole interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe. Through the adventures that Gunn has put the Guardians through, they have grown and changed, becoming better people over time and in such ways that audiences can’t help but become emotionally invested in their personal journeys.
And as he closes out this Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn attacks the job at hand with gusto. The numerous action scenes are mounted with an energy that was perhaps lacking from the last couple of MCU entries, while the quips and barbs that our heroes throw at each other and the bad guys are as sharp as ever. In a slight return to his horror roots, Gunn manages to splash a bit of gore around, though since this is the MCU, alien viscera has a color pallet distinctly different from humans. This handy fact also helps to keep things in a decidedly PG-13 realm. And speaking of that rating, one feels that Gunn positively relished being the first director to get an F-bomb into a Marvel Cinematic Universe film as he heads out the door.
There is a long one-shot of the team in action, with the camera moving between the Guardians as they take on a group of baddies coming at them. We’ve similar shots before in the MCU, specifically during the climax of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers and then again at the opening of Whedon’s followup The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. The move does much of the same work as the two times Whedon did it in terms of showing how well the respective teams work together. But here, with the added weight of the audience following the Guardians journey over the last several years as a rather ersatz family unit, even more so than the Avengers could be considered,the moment carries a bit more emotional heft.
If there is any complaint to be found with Vol.3 it is that the film is perhaps over-packed to the gills with story and action. To be fair, this movie had a lot on its plate from the beginning. It had to conclude a number of character and story arcs, chiefly among them being the relationship between Peter and Gamora and the exploration of Rocket’s backstory. A revelation about Peter and Mantis made in the Disney+ special The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special is mentioned but goes entirely unexplored. And while Chukwudi Iwuji gives a great performance as the High Evolutionary, some delving into his background to see what really drives the character would not have gone amiss. At times it feels like the film could use a bit more breathing room, but with a runtime already clocking in at roughly two-and-a-half hours, there may be business considerations forcing the time constraint.
