Due to the superhero fatigue, I have to admit that my excitement towards the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was very minimal. But surprisingly enough, this was perhaps the most entertaining MCU film after No Way Home. With James Gunn retaining his quirkiness in the narrative in a pretty balanced screenplay, this final volume was a fun watch that had almost all the elements you expect in a Marvel film.
One day the guardians are attacked by Adam, son of Sovereign Empress Ayesha, and Rocket gets badly injured in that attack. When they tried to save Rocket, they found out that there was a kill switch embedded in Rocket’s body, and they needed to bypass it first to save him. The journey of the guardians to save their friend is what we see in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
While Vol. 1 had a totally different texture from other MCU films and was extremely funny, Vol. 2 didn’t really work for me as it was burdened with a sentimental angle of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord. What was satisfying about Vol. 3 is that this one balances both aspects. You get a really deep and emotional story about the origin of Rocket, and Gunn uses the rest of the characters to maintain the signature humor. Even though it has that “insensitive” tone in the way it presents the humor, James Gunn knows that the team’s camaraderie has a fan following. The final moments that focus on that teamwork created those whistle-worthy theater moments.
In the role of Peter Quill, Chris Pratt continues to be in that funny zone, and the banter comedy between him and the other folks still works. Karen Gillian’s Nebula has more empathetic behavior this time, and Zoe Saldana as Gamora is all the more ruthless and impulsive in this version. As Drax, Dave Bautista is funny as always, and this time Gunn makes Drax a lot more adorable, contrary to his title of Destroyer. Pom Klementieff was also hilarious in the way she said her lines. Chukwudi Iwuji, as the antagonist High Evolutionary, is similar to Thanos in terms of ideology (Gunn even acknowledges that through dialogue by Quill), but a lot louder. Sean Gunn, as Kraglin, also gets a prominent screen time this time. The character is seen handling a crucial moment in the final phase of the film.
As I said, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels like a very proportional film. When you are watching the flashback bits of Rocket, James Gunn is taking you to an entirely different texture of drama. And he bounces back to the fun Guardians of the Galaxy mood very quickly with some minimal quirks here and there in the dialogues. The rants between characters are borderline overdone. But luckily, most of them don’t really reach the borderline. There is a scene where Peter Quill takes a car out for a ride on Counter-Earth, and you see Gamora looking at the whole thing from the ship with a facepalm kind of expression. The movie is full of moments like these that are extremely funny, not necessarily important. But the collection of such scenes keeps you engaged in the film. The classic slow-motion walk is recreated multiple times in the film, and there is a full team fight sequence that has the Avengers vibe. The rendering of Rocket and his old pals also looked really good.
It might not be the best Guardians of the Galaxy or even the best MCU film, but looking at the way MCU has been struggling to create entertaining movies post No Way Home, this one clearly has glimpses of that charm of a Marvel crowd-puller film. Being the final installment in the trilogy, it has that tribute nature with a lot of cameos and previous movie references, along with the usage of music.
Looking at the way MCU has been struggling to create entertaining movies post No Way Home, this one clearly has glimpses of that charm of a Marvel crowd-puller film.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
