Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review: James Gunn Makes The MCU Exciting Again

After fifteen years and over thirty films, the superhero fatigue is real; thankfully James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can lay our fears to rest. No, the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and yes, that’s a good thing. The film is a high-spirited science fiction romp that takes audiences on an adventure unlike anything that’s been done in the MCU before. It’s not always pretty, and there are some definite stumbling points — but Gunn understands the importance of having fun along the way.

Rocket Raccoon is the protagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — or at least, this is his story. That much was clear from the trailers. For those uninitiated, the third entry in the Guardians of the Galaxy series focuses on Rocket’s origins, and how, exactly, a talking raccoon ended up in space before he started chasing bounties with a Flora colossus (aka, the original Groot). Much of his history is still unclear; however, the movie does answer the basics of his creation, and introduces The High Evolutionary as the new big bad. His characterization roughly follows the series’ pattern of problematic father figures, but to whole new levels of narcissistic sadism (and following Thanos and Ego, that’s saying something).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is A Worthy Sequel

Gunn wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as he did the previous two installments (three if you count The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special). In terms of story, this is the weakest of the lot. Broadly speaking — and avoiding spoilers — this threequel is trying to give a satisfactory end to the team that feels natural and earned. At this point in the MCU, these characters have way too much history to cover; we’ve reached the point where it’s near impossible to make these entries standalone movies, and stories get bogged down by the sheer amount of material to work with. Vol. 3 does struggle in this regard, and the actual story structure is weaker because of it. Still, the narrative makes sense, covers the ground it needs to cover, and has enough of Gunn’s trademark weird charm to keep things interesting.

In film geek circles, one concept that comes up a lot in debates about movies series is the “threequel curse” — this is something James Gunn readily admitted he was concerned about, telling EW back in December, “The amount of good third episodes in a trilogy, I can count them on one hand … there’s just not too many good third ones.” It’s difficult to end a trilogy in a satisfying way for a myriad of reasons: the third film bears the burden of expectations from the previous films; by number three, the series may be bogged down by studio interference because of a very high budget; and creatively, there’s less material to work with since these characters have already gone through two complete narrative arcs. While it’s true that Vol. 3 is the weakest of the Guardians series so far, it somehow finds space to give each character a moment to shine — to varying degrees of success.

A Strong Cast Gives Strong Performances In Vol. 3

Gunn is one of those actors who understands how to get the most out of his actors. Bradley Cooper’s performance as Rocket has always been a highlight of the MCU, but here, the actor gives audiences nuance and depth we haven’t seen from the furry adventurer before. Karen Gillan completely disappears into Nebula, becoming the stoic, if understandably angry cyborg. Really, the women shine the brightest: Mantis (Pom Klementieff) has her biggest MCU role yet, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) gets to act like a completely different person, and even Cosmo (Maria Bakalova) stand outs in the few scenes she’s in.

Both Chukwudi Iwuji and Will Poulter are excellent additions to the MCU. Chukwudi’s High Evolutionary is easily one of the best villains to come out of the cinematic universe so far — in parts unhinged and menacing, he’s a spirited adversary with clear motivation and a sort of manic charisma. Poulter’s Adam Warlock is less of a presence in the film overall than expected, but he gets enough screen time to have his own arc. Unfortunately, Adam feels like a forced addition to the story — like Gunn put him in to fulfill a promise rather than because he complimented the story the director wanted to tell. Still, the Sovereign is set up nicely for later appearances in the MCU, should that come to pass.

In terms of the visuals, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has a high degree of violence and gore for the MCU, but it also has a high degree of joy and innovative design. Gunn draws on a vivid color palette, and doesn’t shy away from embracing those ’60s, technicolor vibes (several shots felt like intentional homages to Stanley Kubrick’s psychedelic 2001: A Space Odyssey). The film deserves praise for showing how the MCU should be done: the remedy for superhero fatigue isn’t more of the same, but innovation. Gunn isn’t afraid to shake things up, and that’s exactly what makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 such an exhilarating film.

TVOvermind Rating: 3.5/5