Re-Visiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3

 "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" (2023)

James Gunn went on a wild ride when it came to writing and directing "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3." In 2018, Disney fired Gunn after controversial comments that he made on Twitter re-surfaced. The outrage from fans and cast members was swift. Gunn was eventually re-hired, but I think that firing is what led him to become the new DC movie universe guru. It was after he was fired that he made "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker." But luckily, before moving on to his new job, Gunn was able to conclude his "Guardians" trilogy. I don't even want to imagine a world where he wasn't able to do that.

Principal photography on "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" began in November 2021 and concluded in May 2022. The film stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, Linda Cardellini as Lylla, Nathan Fillion as Master Karja and Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord. The film was written and directed by James Gunn. "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" premiered on May 5, 2023.

We love comic accurate uniforms.

For me, there are three solid trilogies in the MCU. We have the Captain America trilogy, the Spider-Man trilogy and with this concluding chapter the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy joins those two and they become the trifecta. I don't think its wrong to say that the reason why the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy succeeds is because of James Gunn. Gunn really understands who these characters are. The vibe of the Guardians matches the vibe of Gunn. You can tell he loves these characters and that he has an unshakeable bond with the actors who play them. That was extremely evident when they all rallied behind him after his firing by Disney. And it's evident on screen when you see the performances that Gunn pulls out of them. I mean, the heart of this film is the story of a CGI raccoon and the reason that hits you right in the heart is because of Gunn's writing and the vocal performance of Bradley Cooper.

I know you don't want to, OK, maybe I don't want to, but I think we have to start this off by talking about Peter Quill. At least that way, it's out of the way. We will try to not talk about how Chris Pratt is weird religious dude and has somehow became the go-to voice actor for iconic characters in animated films. Peter's entire storyline is his unhealthy infatuation with Gamora even though it is not the same Gamora that he knows and at every turn she is rejecting him. Peter has gone right to hell. He's drunk all the time and he's left the running and re-building of Knowhere to the rest of the Guardians. I think Gunn does something with Quill that is kind of brilliant. He takes the things that may have been charming in the previous Guardians films and instead made them sad, pathetic and kind of creepy. The way that Quill interacts with Gamora for the majority of this movie is extremely selfish. He only cares about himself and his feelings. Gunn also questions whether Quill loves Gamora of if he is just in love with love and that feeling. Think about the seemingly throwaway for laughs moment when Gamora suggests that he was actually in love with Nebula.

Speaking of Gamora, Zoe Saldana gets to play a version of Gamora that she hasn't really had a chance to play in the other two films. This is a Gamora pre-hero turn even before where she was in the first film. Saldana is great here. She's abrasive. There is none of the camaraderie and warmth that we have seen her show in the previous films. The only person she cares about is Nebula. She's found a new life with the Ravagers and she really seems to be thriving in it. There were some great running gags here with Gamora not understanding Groot and not believing the others could understand him. Gamora goes on a believable journey here. I'm glad that Gunn doesn't take the easy way out and just revert things back to status quo. She's in a good place with the other Guardians, but it wouldn't make sense for her to leave the Ravagers who are clearly her new family.

We have talked a lot about how one of the key, overall weaknesses in the MCU is their lack of strong villains. Well, I'm glad to report that we can officially welcome the High Evolutionary to the pantheon of great MCU villains. He's sadistic in the way that great villains are. He does the thing that great villains do where they can potentially be kind but they can snap on you in a second for reasons that only make sense to them. Chukwudi Iwuji does a great job of embodying this character. I feel like this is great example of the MCU taking a comic character keeping his basic tenets and evolving him (heh) to fit in to the MCU. You just love to hate this guy. He's practicing eugenics and genocide all in one fell swoop. He's torturing cute CGI animals. He's hurting everyone's favorite character, Rocket. He's just extremely easy to loathe and that is great for a villain.

Squishy.

If there is a weak link here, it might be poor Adam Warlock. We first glimpsed his cocoon in the post credits scenes in Vol. 2. But he definitely feels like more of an afterthought in this movie. It is almost like Gunn forgot or perhaps was reminded by Kevin Feige that Warlock needed to make an appearance so he shoehorned him into the movie. I appreciated tying the Sovereign to the High Evolutionary as another part of his creations. Welcome back, Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha. And Will Poulter does a fine job as Adam Warlock. It just feels like they go the easy route with him. He's a childlike figure, out of his cocoon too soon. It's just an easy fallback and we've seen characters like this in the MCU a few times before. Adam Warlock is an iconic cosmic character and I just feel like he deserved a little bit better than what he got here. Here's hoping this isn't the last we see of him in the MCU.

We've made it to the raccoon of the hour. This movie is all about Rocket and if it succeeds (and it does) it is because of him. Rocket has evolved into the heart and soul of this team and these movies and putting him in peril at the very beginning and making the movie about the fight to save his furry life sets stakes that the audience are immediately invested in. I think we've all been interested in where this anthropomorphic space raccoon came from and in "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" we are given his full tragic origin story. 

It turns out that Rocket was the High Evolutionary's first success story. His first creation to evolve from "rote memorization" to thinking on his own. This is why Rocket is still so important to the High Evolutionary who only thinks of him has property. We meet Rocket's half animal/half robotic friends. There is the otter, Lylla voiced by Linda Cardellini taking a break from her role as Laura Barton to give a nuanced, heartfelt vocal performance here. Rounding out the misfits are Teefs, the walrus and Floor, the bunny with the robotic spider-legs. From the moment we meet these characters, you know that something bad is going to happen to them. And it does. They die horribly which sends Rocket on his heroes journey after disfiguring the High Evolutionary. 

Now, I'm going to say something that is controversial and it is something that my friends really gave me a lot of shit about. I was not like super emotionally invested in these characters. Sure it's sad but like, I didn't cry when they died. It was difficult for me to get too worked up over CGI animals that you know are going to die from the jump. Now, when it looked like Rocket was going to die, was I sad? Yes. Did I tear up when the Guardians heard his voice over the comms? I did. Because I have an emotional connection to Rocket. I'm not going to feel bad for not being emotional over the deaths of the fake animals that I just met. And you can't make me.

I miss Bova.

You really have to give it up for Bradley Cooper. Giving a nuanced, strong vocal performance is not easy. You can be a good actor, but that doesn't always translate to voice actors. If you don't believe me, just take a listen to Michael Douglas (and others) in the "What If...?" series. Cooper doesn't fall into this trap. He knows who Rocket is and he really throws all of what he has into this performance. Like, it may be overstating things to call this a tour de force, but it is very impressive. You hear the hurt beneath Rocket's quips. It doesn't matter if he is disappointed in Quill or experiencing rare moments of joy with his fellow inmates or his anger when it is finally unleashed. We get a moment that we've been waiting for for this entire series when Rocket sees baby raccoons and frees them and realizes that he is a raccoon. Calling himself Rocket Raccoon for the first time is right up there for me with finally hearing "Avengers Assemble!" It's a moment, y'all.

If you enjoy superhero movies, then you've probably been part of or at least been on the outskirts of the debate on R rated superhero movies. There seems to be a very small but vocal contingent of people who really believe that superhero movies should be rated R. I have said it here, on social media and to my friends that is a bunch of bullshit. Superhero movies, for the most part, should be for everyone. I am a comics fan because I saw Tim Burton's "Batman" in the theater with my folks in 1989. Like, not everything is just for adults and this is coming from someone who for the most part, has nothing but disdain for children.

A lot of the argument is that it doesn't feel realistic or something. Well let me tell you something, this movie is rated PG-13 and it has some brutal fight scenes. When Adam Warlock crashes into Knowhere he takes no prisoners. It helps that Nebula is extremely cybernetic so her limbs can be mangled and it's a gross image but not as gross as it would be if she was human. But then there is Mantis's arm breaking and what happens to Rocket. The hallway fight between the Guardians and the High Evolutionary's human and Hellspawn troops is brutal. And like, the MCU loves a tracking shot fight, don't they? But, you get heads exploding in close up with viscera hitting the camera and limbs getting ripped off. If this isn't enough for you, then maybe you've got problems.

Muskrat love.

"Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" isn't a perfect movie. It can feel kind of overstuffed at times. I appreciated the visit to Counter Earth and the appearance of the Ani-Men, but the reveal that the High Evolutionary had created humans felt like Gunn didn't trust his audience to be reasonably horrified at the genocide of the animal humanoids. He had to create actual humans that could potentially be killed to really drive the point home. Oh, and to also show that Drax wasn't meant to be a destroyer but a dad. Awww.

In a film that features so many characters, some are going to be shunted to the background even with a two and half hour run time and that definitely happens with Drax, Nebula and Mantis. They all still get great moments but they aren't featured nearly enough as the others. The sting is lessened a bit because Mantis and Drax did get a nice showcase in the holiday special. I thought we'd get more Kraglin, but he's a bit player in this story. I did love the running gag of him calling Cosmo a bad dog. They made a big deal about this being the first MCU movie to have "fuck" in it and it was a real let down. Lot of hype for nothing.

I was kind of shocked that none of the Guardians died. I was really hoping that Peter would die, particularly when he almost died going back for his Zune. And what a Peter Quill way to die. Trying to save a Zune. But alas, he survived. The film ends with the Guardians scattered. Mantis leaving with her new pets to find a life for herself. Gamora back with the Ravagers. Peter heading to Earth to reunite with his grandfather. Nebula taking charge of Knowhere helping raise the children with Drax. Groot being Groot.  Rocket becomes the leader of the Guardians.

Speaking of, the mid credits scene features this new team of Guardians: Rocket, Groot, Adam Warlock, his pet, Blurp, Kraglin, Cosmo and one of the freed children, Phyla. If you're a comics fan, the name Phyla probably has you curious. If you're not, Google her. The post credits scene features a mundane breakfast between Pete and his granddad, but we are warned "The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return." Sigh.

Next up, Nick Fury takes center stage with the next MCU Disney+ series, "Secret Invasion."

What do you all think? Which MCU trilogy do you think is best? Were you happy with how James Gunn brought his Guardians saga to a close? What would you change? Let me know in the comments.