HERE WE GO AGAIN
Is James Gunn's 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' A Solid Ending To The Trilogy? Here's What The Reviews Say
The never-ending Marvel Cinematic Universe has a new film, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Directed by James Gunn, the third "Guardians" installment stars an ensemble cast of Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova and Sylvester Stallone. Phew.
In the film, the Guardians are tasked with protecting Rocket (Bradley Cooper) after learning about his past. The film premiered at Disneyland Paris, on April 22, 2023, and will release in US cinemas on May 5, 2023.
Is Gunn's latest worth a trip to the cinema and some popcorn, or should you just watch this one at home? Here's what the reviews say.
What it's about
The Guardians are in a not-so-great place when we catch up with them. They're living on their home base Knowhere — which is not a planet, but actually the giant head of a dead god — and the team isn't what it used to be. Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), is a drunken mess, pining over his lost love Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). The Gamora that Quill knew and loved was killed by her father Thanos, but another Gamora from an alternate timeline is still alive and kicking. But since she's a different person she has no memory of Quill or being part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Meanwhile, raccoon gunslinger Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) seems to be in his own brooding funk.
And then all hell breaks loose.
In Rocket's devastating, "Toy Story"-esque origin story — distributed via flashbacks in bits and pieces throughout the film — Gunn reminds fans what these stories can do.
[Esquire]
Strong casting delivers great chemistry
Pratt has been phoning in some of his lead film roles lately, but he’s always clicked best on-screen as Peter Quill, equal parts hero and chump. Giving him a broken heart allows Pratt to push away some of the cocky smarm that has derailed him in other projects and allows us to like Quill again. Saldaña is having fun returning to the basics of a warrior like Gamora, convincing us she could carry a movie like this alone. But, most of all, this is Rocket’s film, a story of how he overcomes trauma to be the hero he was always meant to be.
The surprising thing was, "Guardians" turned out to be the most entertaining Marvel movie yet. The characters had chemistry and didn't take themselves seriously (occasionally, not seriously enough). This crew genuinely seemed to enjoy saving the galaxy. In a way, they were an improvement on the "Avengers," and much more fun than any of the misfired "Fantastic Four" movies — not quite as irreverent as Taika Waititi's "Thor" sequels or the off-canon "Deadpool" movies that would follow, but an aspirational template for what comic-book movies could be.
[Variety]
The actors deserve much of the credit. They all sell the relationships more convincingly here than in either of the previous "Guardians" installments. This one may be the most unruly and excessive of the trilogy, but it is as sweetly touching as any film with so many slimy, tentacled monsters in it could be.
[BBC]
Dave Bautista steals the show
The scene stealer turns out to be the good-natured, beefy Drax, with Bautista showing us his comedy chops; it's his character, apparently so violent and unsentimental, who heartwarmingly turns out to be a favorite with little kids — an idea going back to Toshiro Mifune in "Seven Samurai."
Rocket's backstory was a good idea, but everything else wasn't
Rocket's story, which also involves numerous other adorable animal characters that should gladden the heart of toy manufacturers, forms the heart of the film, which really swings for the fences in its efforts to combine pathos, irreverent humor, and lots and lots of action into its ambitious mix. Writer-director James Gunn — whose getting fired after "Vol. 2" over some controversial tweets, only to be rehired thanks in large part to the campaigning of the loyal cast members, would make a compelling drama in itself — doesn't fully succeed in tying all these threads together into a coherent whole. And the storyline is too complicated by far, with so many things going on at so many different times and places that multiple viewings are practically necessary to keep it all straight (not that Disney has a problem with that). And since the film aims to bring the trilogy to a close, rest assured that there are so many cameo appearances from past and subsidiary characters that the shoot must have felt like a high school reunion.
[THR]
Gunn managed the flow of action, comedy, music, character setup and forward momentum more or less seamlessly in the first "Guardians," and to serviceable if diminished effect in "Vol. 2." He was famously fired from "Vol. 3" for a spell, and I can't help but wonder if that short-lived brush with career death spurred him to pull out most of the stops here and emerge with by far the messiest, unruliest and most interesting "Guardians" movie of the three. It's the one that feels most weirdly and defiantly its own thing, the one least straitjacketed by Marvel conventions. Which is not to say it;s as fully unhinged or unbound as it should be; entertaining as it is, the movie isn't as fully realized as Gunn's recent "The Suicide Squad," a proudly R-rated, heavily Troma-influenced entertainment that wore its comic-book nihilism on its sleeve.
[LA Times]
Other than being a bit too busy, and a little too long, the main quibbles would be somewhat underusing Warlock and the generic nature of the principal bad guy, a ruthless madman known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), although the villains have been a weak link throughout. The closing-credit sequences also fall in the barely-worth-sitting-through category.
[CNN]
At one point, the movie seems to arrive at an emotional crescendo that feels like a worthwhile ending, yet it somehow keeps trudging through repetitive action beats with unmotivated pop culture needle drops for an additional 45 minutes.
[Joysauce]
The introduction of a new character, Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, also demands too much of Gunn’s attention. Gunn’s Guardians series may not continue on in its current form, but Marvel still intends to use this final film as a springboard for tentpoles to come. Thus there is Warlock, perfunctorily crammed into the action and distracting the film from its true focus.
TL;DR
The film exists largely to be replaced by the next shiny thing in the MCU conveyor belt.
[Slant]
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is a satisfying (but safe) ending to a decade-long franchise.
[Insider]
This is James Gunn's swan song before heading to the rival, DC Studios. And, it's a good one — the most pleasant a Marvel movie has been in a long, long time.
James Gunn closes out his Marvel run with a big, weird, messy, and genuinely emotional love letter to his wacky band of unlikely heroes.
The interstellar superheroes get together for one last adventure that falls far short of what these MCU MVPs deserve.
Watch the trailer: