Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Mature

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

The original Guardians of the Galaxy was lightning in a bottle.  I've said before on this blog that I was supremely confident that the movie was going to be terrible and Marvel's first big bomb.  But because writer/director James Gunn threaded the needle perfectly, GOTG was one of the best things the MCU produced.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has some wonderful moments, but it is nowhere nearly as magical as the first.

So where does Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 rank?

Better than Vol. 2, but does not match Vol. 1.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR PREVIOUS MCU GUARDIANS ADVENTURES, INCLUDING THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL.

The movie takes place a little bit after the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special.  Our heroes are leading the community on the floating Celestial head of Knowhere.  Star Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still pining for his lost love Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who died and had an alternate timeline version of herself return who does not remember her romance with him.  Gamora's adopted sister Nebula (Karen Gillen), has taken a kind of de facto leadership role along with Rocket (Bradley Cooper).  The plot kicks off when the Soverign (antagonists from the last film) send Adam Warlock (William Poulter) to capture Rocket.  In the process, Rocket is injured, but the Guardians discover that he has an implant that will kill him if tampered with.  In order to save Rocket's life, they need to find the implant specs and figure out a way to deactivate it.  This takes them on a collision course with the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) the one responsible for turning Rocket into what he is.  Along the way we get extended flashbacks with Rocket during his time as a prisoner along with fellow lab animals: an otter (Linda Cardellini) a walrus (Asim Chaudhry) and a rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), all of whom have endured horrible experiments.  This all comes to a head with final showdown where all of our heroes may not make it out alive.

The biggest criticism I have of this movie is that there is not enough room to give all the characters enough space to breath.  To round out his trilogy, Gunn works very hard at giving satisfying conclusions to all of his characters, to which succeeds for the most part.  But because he has SO MANY characters to close the loop on, it feels like some of them get slightly short shrift.  And because so much has to happen in the plot, the funny diversions sometimes feel like the rob from time that could be used to greater character development.

My other complaint is more of a fanboy problem: Adam Warlock.  In the comics, he is a serious, stoic, and intelligent being who goes toe-to-toe with Thanos.  In Vol. 3, he is petulant baby in the body of a superhero.  As a character in this universe, it works fine.  But it bothers me slightly that they couldn't find a place to include the characters inherent dignity.

Other than that, the movie was incredibly enjoyable.  I have several issues with the way Gunn portrays characters in most of his movies.  But you can tell that he has such an affection for the Guardians that he wants to have a cathartic conclusion to the journey.  To that end, he does everything in his power to make us care about the characters and their connections to each other.  I like that the main impetus for the journey is not some universe-saving plot.  The heroes are taking on this task simply to save their friend.

You can also tell that Gunn put all of his visual story-telling efforts into this final film of the trilogy.  The movie is gorgeous.  Some may complain about the heavy CGI, but Gunn knows how to use it.  I even love the simple aesthetic of the brightly-colored space suits they use in their adventures.  The action sequences are incredibly fun to watch.  And with this final outing, there is a real element of danger.  There is a part in the film where some of our heroes are surrounded by three great monsters.  I was actually on the edge of my seat, worried that this may actually be the moment they meet their fate.  

Thematically, I think it is the strongest of the GOTG movies.  The High Evolutionary is obsessed with creating a perfect race of beings.  So he does horribly cruel experiments in the name of the "greater good."  The most telling moment for me comes towards the last part of the movie where someone confronts him and says that he is not God.  His response is: "There is no God, that's why I had to step in."

This line hit me like a ton of bricks.  Whether he meant to or not, James Gunn just showed us the horrors of atheistic ethics.  To be clear, I am not saying that atheists are immoral.  What I am saying is that there is nothing in an atheistic philosophy that can ultimately constrain evil actions.  We Christians are forbidden from using an evil means to achieve a good end.  But the High Evolutionary is not bound by such restrictions.  He inflicts unimaginable horrors because he believes his intelligence and power give him the right.  

In fairness, Christians thorughout the centuries have also commited such abominations.  But those atrocities are antithetical to Christianity.  There is nothing about the High Evolutionary's actions that is incompatible with atheism.  And it is scary to see this play out in the real world today.  It can be small things like enviormental activists who destroy beautiful art and justify it by saying they are "saving the planet."  Or you can see it in horrific ways, like Canada expanding euthanasia program beyond the terminally ill.  Without God, people will use whatever horrible means to achieve ends they believe are good.  And like the High Evolutionary, they believe they can do this because (whether they know it or not), they are taking the place of God for themselves.

The performances in this movie are all around excellent.  Pratt is still able to switch effortlessly from action to drama to comedy.  The way he and Saldana play their relationship of familiar strangers works because of their chemistry.  Gillen carries a weight on her character, a self-inflicted penance for all the evil she has done in the previous films.  Cooper turns in his best voice performance as Rocket, giving him real drama and pathos.  Other characters like Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), Cosmo the Dog (Maria Bakalova), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) all have their time to shine and play into their comedic strengths.  And it is a testament to Gunn that even though it feels like they don't have enough time on screen, he makes the most of when they are there.  

Martin Scoresese complained that superhero films weren't cinema, but more like amusement parks.  I understand what he meant, though I disagree with his dismissal of the genre.  I bring this up, because this movie does have its thrills.  At any moment you don't know when you are going to laugh, cheer, gasp, or cry.  I can tell you people in the theater did all of these things.  Part of the power of the GOTG movies is that they do a great job of balancing all the emotional tones so that when the story shifts, it never feels like it shifts falsely.  Gunn does a fantastic job of marrying the visuals to his iconic musical tastes to create an emotional experience out of a movie about saving the life of a raccoon.

I would say that this is the best MCU movie since Spider-Man: No Way Home and it deserves the success that it has generated.