'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' A Review

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is a superhero movie, the 3rd in the Guardians series and the last to be written/directed by James Gunn. Quill(Chris Pratt) is still not over Gamora's(Zoe Saldaña) death and 'resurrection' and as he's wallowing self pity the Guardians are attached by someone from Rocket's past and he is injured. As the team attempts to track down a way to heal him his origin is shown in flashbacks.

It's great to see the ensemble again and for the most part they all have some solid character moments comedic and heartfelt but there is, understandably, a bit of malaise that hangs over a lot of the actors. They all do great jobs but you can tell most of them are ready to be done with their decade-long roles. The exception is Pom Klementieff as Mantis who's character continues to evolve and who Klementieff continually imbues with more and more energy and interest. It's also notable that Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, is in essence sidelined for much of the runtime, although we see his story in flashback his participation in the present is little as he is in a defacto coma which somewhat hamstrings the casts normal chemistry.

Visually packed with imaginative imagery with CGI that mostly works the movie cycles through a couple different settings and worlds each uniquely rendered. It's lush and fun if maybe too much. The same is true of the soundtrack, with almost ceaseless needledrops. There are numerous slow motion shots and fight scenes most of which thrill but overall the production, and the script, are packed-to-the-gills. It is clear this is Gunn's last Marvel outing and he shoved every last idea he had into it. It's an entertaining ride, it may not equal the sum of it's parts but it's a reassuring return to form for the MCU which has recently lost it's way.

Thrilling action, laugh-out-loud moments, effective but somewhat contrived pathos.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.