‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3’ Review: James Gunn Offers a Remix With a Fresh Beat

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

Rated PG-13, 2 hours and 30 minutes

Directed by: James Gunn

Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Will Poulter, Chukwudi Iwuji, Maria Bakalova, Mikaela Hoover, Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.3 is a rousing delight packed with the usual amount of hilarity and sincerity we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but taken beyond what we’ve previously seen. Writer-director James Gunn delivers a bleaker, more brutal third chapter while filling it with a ton of ambition, gumption and poignancy, finding a brilliant balance between the material’s darker aspects and levity. Bright, gorgeously rendered spectacle and these misfits’ unique brand of witty banter buoy a meaningful tale centered on family, fidelity and friendship that doesn’t just feel earned, but also profound.

Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is deep in his feelings, listening to Peter’s Zune, when we first rejoin the ragtag crew in Knowhere. Losing Gamora (Zoe Saldana) – or the version he used to know – has left Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) a distraught sadsack, drowning his woes in booze, while Groot (Vin Diesel), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) pick up the slack. Kraglin (Sean Gunn) is also still mourning the loss of Yondu (Michael Rooker), but is channeling his grief into learning to command his mentor’s whistle-controlled arrow. It seems like there’s no end in sight to this stagnant sorrow.

That is until the arrival of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), who tears through the town like a golden wrecking ball, looking for Rocket, whom he gravely injures and sends into a comatose state. As the gang rallies around their furry friend, Rocket experiences traumatic flashbacks featuring a powerful, Joseph Mengele-type sociopath, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), whose quest to make the perfect animal-human hybrid utopia has driven him stark-raving mad. The Guardians have only a finite amount of time to revive Rocket and must travel the galaxy on a quest to save him from dying.

With a multitude of characters to service, Gunn finds ample time to give each a thoughtful arc, even tertiary characters like Groot, who literally grows, and Cosmo the space dog (Maria Bakalova), who’s bestowed with a perfect running gag. Rocket’s origin story provides much of the film’s emotional heft. For anyone who loves animals, it can make for a rough watch as, word of warning, there is animal cruelty involved in his backstory. Peter’s reluctance to rectify his own past, new Gamora’s reticence to accept others, and Drax, Mantis and Nebula’s bickering provide the group’s interpersonal strife. As for the antagonizing external forces, Adam and the High Evolutionary give the narrative its necessary conflict.

Because Gunn is synonymous with high-quality needle drops, throwback tunes are incorporated cleverly. The soundtrack selections work brilliantly in conjunction with character motivations, whether these tracks score a big action set piece (Earth Wind and Fire’s “Reasons”), or are used as a transitional device to carry over feeling from one sequence to the next (The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?”). Even overplayed songs (Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”) conjure a smile during an empowering moment. Composer John Murphy’s score, specifically during Rocket’s flashbacks, also earns top marks, emoting with palpable power when dialogue alone doesn’t suffice.

Iwuji plays his chilling villain like it’s Shakespeare, instilling a serial-killer menace to his imposing physicality and Terry Gilliam-esque stretched, pinned-back face. Poulter embraces his character’s arrogant frivolity, looking like a golden god, but with the mind of a himbo doofus. Yet, when it comes to performances, special kudos go to the animators and voice cast working on Rocket and his friends, Lylla the Otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the Walrus (Asim Chaudhry) and Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover). Their work pays off like a Vegas slot machine. Their vivid, big-eyed expressions and movements along with their sweet vocal timbres unabashedly manipulate our hearts.

The prevailing sentiment instilled in the picture – that compassion and empathy speak volumes and break down barriers – is tangibly present and resonant throughout, as is the notion that returning to sites of grief and trauma can be healing and cathartic. To see our heroes, with whom we’ve journeyed for so long, find a renewed sense of self and strength from their friendship is heartening to behold. Although it’s a little too long and occasionally falls back on a few Marvel-patented pet peeves (one too many fake-outs), it’s time well spent.

Grade: B+

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 opens in theaters on May 5.