Movie Breakdown: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Pre-Screening Stance:

I saw a note the other day that May 2 marked the 15-year anniversary of Iron Man. If I’m being honest, I thought it was much older. In fact, the entire “Infinity Saga” feels like an eternity ago, as the MCU has essentially lost its mojo trying to setup all the multi-verse stuff. If anyone can put things back on track though, I think it’s James Gunn and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Post-Screening Ramble:

There’s a lot to discuss here, so let’s start with the basic plot. The Guardians of the Galaxy have settled on Knowhere and things appear to be fine with everyone except Peter Quill/Starlord (Chris Pratt), who is still reeling over the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Things get shaken up quickly though with the arrival of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) – he’s on a mission to nab Rocket (Bradley Cooper) for a fella known as The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and he has no qualms about destroying anyone who gets in his way. During this battle, in which Adam barely gets run off, Rocket is severely injured and the Guardians are left with a very short window of time to try and save his life. This sets in motion a whirlwind, emotional journey for the team.

I just noted that Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is an emotional journey, but that’s selling it short. As we all know, writer/director James Gunn is off to play in the DCEU, so with this being his MCU swan song, he goes particularly hard. Be prepared to cry, especially when it comes to the litany of straight up gnarly flashbacks that tell the origins of Rocket. On the bright side, there’s also a lot of humor and action to be had. Gunn doesn’t always nail the sequencing, so the film does have a handful of times where it jarringly goes from something entirely awful right into a scene full of jokes, but the frenetic tone does at least keep the pace lively, which is good because this is a cluttered movie that’s also long (the runtime is right at two and a half hours). One other point for Gunn, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is the best-looking MCU film in quite some time. My goodness was it nice to once again see one of these that’s not riddled with bad CG and poorly lit scenes.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is all the things it needed to be and I really liked it. Just know going in that it isn’t always an easy watch. The film opens this Friday, May 5.

One Last Thought:

It’s possible it’ll play better for me in future viewings, but I didn’t find the soundtrack to be quite as inspired as the last two. It comes off somewhat like an obligation, though I wonder if that’s because the content is just so much heavier.

One More Last Thought:

There’s nothing clearly connected to the multi-verse arch in this movie, which I found nice.