‘Galaxy’ Quests
Summer unofficially begins with ‘GotG Vol. 3’, Part 2 of the MCU’s Phase 5, with the DC guy back at the helm. Got that?
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3
Director: James Gunn • Writer: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki
USA • 2hrs 30mins
Opens Hong Kong May 3 • IIA
Grade: B-
If I’m correct, there are three key takeaways from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: we’re all our own special kind of special and we all matter in our own way, PETA is right and animal testing must end, and “The Worst Chris” Pratt needs five assistants to MCU boss Kevin Feige’s two. I’ll just leave that there.
Bloated, tonally psychotic, strangely ambitious and overall just kind of messy – and free of any real significance with respect to the larger MCU – Vol. 3 is at least a nail in some kind of coffin. It completes the trilogy and gives the story a certain finality that nonetheless feels as weightless as its stingers; we know they’ll be back, we know no one really stays dead. It tries hard to be quippy and frequently fails. It aims for Deep Thoughts About Our Interior Selves and often drops the ball mid-stride. It’s considerably darker than the first two films but switches gears so sharply at times that darkness falls by the wayside. Since Vol. 1 unexpectedly hit in 2014 Marvel has been trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle, and most of us know how well that usually succeeds. Vol. 3 is way, way better than the shambling Vol. 2 (not even Kurt Russell could save it) but still lacks the fresh fizz of the first. There was no way it was going to have that pure, good time, space opera vibe, but it tries really hard and occasionally reminds us why we liked the first one so much. Occasionally.
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Writer and director James Gunn is at least going down swinging, which is more that can be said of the lazy middle chapter from nearly six years ago. A lot’s happened both on and off-screen. Gunn returns after an on-again off-again partnership with Disney and in between DC gigs on the good The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, and his upcoming stewardship of the DCEU (good luck with that, Jimmy). With Gunn you know he’ll run roughshod with gooeyness and creatures, and sure enough Vol. 3 is maggoty with KY Jelly-covered monsters, tentacles and hybrid aliens. This is not a bad thing in itself; it reduces the chances of a laser beam up to the sky as a finale and doubles down on its animal rights message by going full Noah’s Ark.
We pick up in the wake of the blip, the massive come back, the loss of Gamora and finding a new home (in the garbage Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special). Honestly, the timeline and the before-this and after-that is a muddle. Peter AKA Starlord (Pratt) is drinking himself into oblivion daily over his dead girlfriend Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), while the rest of the Guardians struggle with their place in the galaxy. While they’re all gazing heartily at their navels, the Sovereign (Elizabeth Debicki) sends her preemie world killer Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) to attack the Guardians, because reasons. In the fight Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) is seriously injured and trying to save his life kicks off the series of video game-style quests for the gear they need to do so. It also tells his tragic backstory, which is the best part of Vol. 3. Manipulative? Yes. Gutting? Also yes.
Vol. 3 is laced with enough moments of joy to rival the first entry and almost – almost – rescue it from its own maddening tonal shifts and show-offy needle drops (though “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “This Is the Day” are always welcome). But why are we not allowed to sit in the moment when Mantis (Pom Klementieff) admits to Drax (Dave Bautista) she thinks he’s stupid? Or when Nebula (Karen Gillan) finally turns down the rage for a hot sec after getting dressed down by Mantis? Now you want a comic moment that negates the emotions of the moment before? Why neuter your characters in a moment of self-actualisation? These are all elements of Gunn’s plan to explore the inner, insecure, searching lives of the Guardians but they come off so fleetingly they barely register, and the jumps between moods are not winking irony or comic book structure wisdom. They just clang. And why is everyone yelling, especially Saldaña in her warp speed redemption arc?
For all its clattering, perpetually moving camera faults there’s a lot trapped in the mire to like in Vol. 3. This is Gunn, and he’s also a master of the little details, so the overstuffed screen is crammed with moments that add depth and character to the world, even while the overstuffed story makes things sag in the second act – or is it the seventh? Hard to tell with so many children to save, worlds to illuminate, conspiracies to uncover, and monologues for the Big Bad, mad scientist High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) to deliver. Poulter (We’re the Millers, Detroit) is quickly turning into an actor that can do very little wrong, and his Adam has an almost bittersweet try-hard quality that it would be nice to see more of (I take it back, maybe this does tie in to the MCU) to go along with snappy comic timing. That… thing he becomes attached to is hilarious and there’s something wackily inspired about including it in a final Hero Walk. If you’re only going to see one nerdy IP blowout this year, make it a good one: see Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. If completion is your jam, go to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Just don’t expect it to truly be over. — DEK