Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3: A Nice Send Off for the Old Team and Good Setup for the New Guardians

Storyline via Rotten Tomatoes:

In Marvel Studios “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

Review:

There’s an incredible amount of sadness in Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3. Rocket Raccoon’s backstory has tragic overtones that propel to the future. Peter Quill must not only deal with the grief from losing Ramora but with the fact that her resurrected clone doesn’t remember their love, yet actually hates him. The ennui even trickles down to Cosmo, the talking dog in an astronaut costume, mourning the fact that the person she most admires thinks she’s a bad dog.

Surprisingly Volume 3 is not a downer. It’s dominant mood is one of kindness and compassion, saving every precious life harmed and hurting. The ending features saving a world of hybrid human creatures from the Dr. Moreau like creator (that discards imperfect hybrids if they don’t meet his warped idea of perfection) in a giant ark. To further add to the biblical-Jesus overtone both Quill and Rocket die and are resurrected. The first is an E.T. homage. The second is their to drive home the idea that forgiveness can only be achieved with the death of the old and rebirth of the new.

Volume 3 is the second film of the so far Phase Five of the M.C.U., after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. That film was an uninspired mess that got Phase 5 off to a bad start. Guardians is the corrective needed to level the field and bring the fans back.

Rocket will be replacing Quill along with all new Guardians in future versions. The transfer doesn’t exactly go smoothly. There are shaky and nonsensical plot twists that come out of left field. But this is an emotionally plotted film and not a logical one. Some illogic is to be expected.

The villain, the High Evolutionary, is a Thanos light. He’s a combination of Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Moreau, a twisted creator with their god complex, but none of the complicated messy emotions and motivations.

The cast still maintains their chemistry. Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff as Drax and Mantis are a charming mismatched couple. Their exchanges are fun and a highlight. Bradley Cooper’s voice work as Rocket has some nice emotional notes that bring the feels for his character. It’s as Oscar worthy as Robin Williams’s genie voice work in Aladdin. Equally impressive is Vin Diesel work as the tree creature, Groot. He has only three words, I am Groot, but the variety of emotions is impressive. Each utterance matches the human translation. The family-ness is palpable.

James Gunn manages to work his efficient comic, empathetic style with a David Cronenberg lite squeamishness that make the vivisection tortures effective but still within what is permissible in a PG-13 rating. His touch is voyeuristic but not squeamishly so. He deftly handles all the action scenes. He effortlessly stays on beat with a fantastic soundtrack of Spacehog, Beastie Boys and Earth Wind & Fire.