'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' Review: James Gunn's Trilogy-Ender is Exceptional
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 ends the best MCU trilogy on the highest of notes, delivering a surprisingly dark and mature comic book movie with stellar performances from Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Chukwudi Iwuji.
An inherent sadness plagues James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.3, as it pulls back the curtains on Rocket’s (Bradley Cooper) origins at the hands of The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). The upbeat opening credits sequence is replaced by Rocket slowly walking around Knowhere while signing the lyrics of Radiohead’s “Creep” and Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) drowning his sorrows in alcohol, having not recovered from the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) during the events of Avengers: Infinity War.
Their moments of self-reflection are quickly hampered by the visit of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) to Knowhere, which sets the movie’s chain of events that will inevitably lead them to The High Evolutionary. What follows isn’t a straightforward and fun adventure with the Guardians but a deeply introspective and personal journey with our favorite band of losers. Gunn satisfyingly concludes the MCU’s best trilogy by reminding Marvel Studios exactly what they need to succeed in the long term: well-written characters.
I don’t care about Raccoons. I’ve never cared about Raccoons. But, damn you, James Gunn, why am I crying about a Racoon?? If you thought Peter Quill’s backstory in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie was dark, nothing ever comes close to Rocket’s poignant friendship with Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor (Mikaela Hoover). As stated above, an inherent sadness plagues the movie, specifically those soul-crushing sequences that hook you in how pure Rocket’s friendship with the other animals is.
The MCU has not been as consistent as it once was. That’s a fact. As they produce more and more “content,” they’ve forgotten the core tenet of what made the franchise so great: they had characters that audiences from all walks of life could relate to. The “setting up what’s next” aspect of the franchise was purely second fiddle to excite viewers for the next stories with the characters they love. Most of the current Marvel movies felt like what an AI thinks an MCU movie is after only viewing Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. Look at Chris Pratt’s performance in Thor: Love and Thunder. Then watch Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. You will clearly see the difference in how Gunn writes and directs his characters to when Taika Waititi completely sucked all of the soul left in them with only ten minutes of screen time. Movies that feel AI-generated have no human feeling in them. The best movies feel like the director pours a piece of themselves inside every single frame of it, which is exactly what Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 is.
I’ve never seen Gunn go as deep as he goes here. The lengths to which he takes all of his characters through the wringer feels amazingly painful to watch, but there’s great dignity in how each performer acts with their heart, knowing that this will be the last time they’re together doing something like this. Unexpectedly, Dave Bautista steals the show as Drax, who always has the funniest lines out of the Guardians. However, in this case, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) aren’t afraid to tell him how big of a dumbass he is, which leads to some extremely funny banter. Unlike recent MCU iterations, the comedy doesn’t feel forced because the character dynamics have all been ingrained in our heads. They’re only expanding upon previously-established comedy, and it feels fresh and exciting, compared to the aggressively mediocre Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Cooper is also excellent as Rocket, bringing the right amount of depth needed to sell the most heartbreaking part of his arc. It’s devastating at how bleak it is, and you may ugly cry in more ways than one with how the High Evolutionary torments Rocket every step of the way.
Speaking of The High Evolutionary, there couldn’t have been a better choice to play him than Chukwudi Iwuji. He portrays the character in such a bone-chilling way that it’s hard to look away every time he’s on screen, even if he subjects a younger version of Rocket to pure cruelty. There’s no “moral grey area” with The High Evolutionary: he has zero redeeming qualities. He is the literal and figurative personification of pure evil. It’s extremely difficult to play such a character, especially when he has multiple layers of evil atop one another, but Iwuji makes it so effortless. He’s the best antagonist the Guardians have ever gotten, and one who feels far more personal than Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and Ego (Kurt Russell) in the first two films.
There’s great pain in the High Evolutionary but even greater pain in Gunn, who seems to tear apart a piece of himself on every page of the screenplay. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly violent film, per se, but it’s hands-down the most difficult-to-watch Guardians film of the trilogy. Yes, there are great moments of levity throughout the film (the Orgosphere sequence with Nathan Fillion, Jennifer Holland, and Daniela Melchoir is a total riot). Still, the film's core is inherently dark, and Gunn is unafraid of showing it directly to audiences in the most brutal way he can. One usually gets out of a Guardians of the Galaxy film feeling somewhat uplifted by the journey they went through, even if Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) death was a rather powerful moment to end the second film in. However, one who watches Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 may feel crushed by the overwhelming sadness of the film until getting slightly uplifted by how Gunn ends each journey in a fitting and respectful way for each character. He doesn’t bludgeon you over the head with artificial emotions but instead gives the perfect sendoff to each character who has changed the MCU in their own right.
Vol. 3 is also a terrific action film, with a truly impressive one-take scene (in a hallway!) where the Guardians take down many of the High Evolutionary’s henchmen. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission for the IMAX 3D experience. Gunn shoots the whole thing in IMAX and takes the highly-dynamic style he implemented in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker to the next level. Its action scenes are also elevated through the strong emotions Gunn imbues with his characters and the love each other has for their respective characters. No one is phoning it in. Everyone gives their all. Even Chris Pratt delivers a surprisingly heartfelt take on Quill at his most vulnerable after suffering the soul-crushing loss of Gamora. He has great chemistry with Avengers: Endgame Gamora, though she completely hates his guts. Each dynamic is terrifically written, even the characters with which audiences don’t spend much time. Adam Warlock is one of them, but Poulter’s himbo portrayal of the character is honestly very entertaining and provides big laughs, even when caught in the middle of a brutal action set-piece. Gunn always knows how to briefly alleviate tension until he turns it to its head and delivers a massive emotional knockout by the time the sequence ends.
James Gunn is an incredible storyteller. He writes amazingly relatable protagonists whom audiences can attach themselves to quite easily, even if they’re at their most vulnerable. Gunn is also unafraid of letting his emotions get the better of him. It’s a deeply personal script for him, which he almost didn’t make as he was fired from the movie in 2018. He was rehired in 2019 after much outcry over the decision, and, let’s be honest, Disney couldn’t find a better person to direct his material. He’s the one who fundamentally understands what the Guardians are and how much they mean to millions of people around the world.
Gunn has created the best MCU trilogy and one of the best comic-book franchises of all time. There’s no question that the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy will stand the test of time in the pantheon of comic book films as three of the greatest superhero productions ever made. There’s no beating around the bush about it: Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 is an exceptional piece of work and a reminder that Marvel’s best films aren’t about the multiple setups to a thousand different films, television series, and holiday specials. It’s always about the multi-layered characters that populate the franchise’s expansive worlds and their respective journeys of self-discovery as they grapple with the responsibility to protect the universe. There have been many iconic MCU characters, but there will never be another team like the Guardians of the Galaxy.
I love you, guys.