Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023 | USA | 150 minutes | James Gunn)
We find ourselves back on Guardians’ base of operations with Peter, Drax, Nebula, Rocket and Groot, among others, trying to pull themselves together and find meaning in the new version of their day-to-day lives. After so much adventuring, ludicrous life-threatening scenarios, and overwhelming loss (despite Gamora finding her way back to this existential plane), adjustment is challenging. Peter is trying to drink himself to death while the rest are building a new community amongst friends. As they’re settling in, new villain Adam Warlock attacks Rocket out of nowhere and pushes him to the brink of death. To save their friend, the Guardians band together once again to seek out the key to unlocking not only Rocket’s mechanical body but the story of how he came to be.
They ask for help from the Ravagers and discover where Gamora has been hiding out since her miraculous return. And of course, she’s the one chosen to accompany them on their suicide mission to an organic “planet” that holds Rocket’s history. A plot device? Sure. Putting Peter and Gamora in proximity made for intriguing and tense moments in between battles. Necessary? Maybe not, but in the end it helped to give us (and Peter) the catharsis we needed.
As the band of friends get closer to the key to Rocket’s recovery, snippets of memory in his unconscious state reveal the transformation from a wild animal by a genius inventor. His creator, the man who will stop at nothing to capture him, was behind Warlock’s initial attack. The intensity of Rocket’s visions, his failing health, and the desperate anger of his inventor to reclaim his invention builds and builds until a face-off gives us the answers and the release we have been so desperately searching for in this three-film arc; at least when it comes to the mystery behind the animal.
Not having an encyclopedic memory of everything Marvel or even everything Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel movieverse, I hope you’re not looking to me for a deliciously thorough evaluation of the storyline up to this point or how it rivals the comic book version. However, I can let you know that, despite some flaws, Vol. 3 is worth the hefty 150 minute run time. I didn’t even think about checking my phone despite the film’s time commitment.
What I did notice was their overzealous attempt at pulling in Gen X’ers with nostalgic music, throwing in so many dance-inducing tunes that by the time the epic stand-off revealed itself, the moment of truth fell flat. I didn’t get that exciting swell in my chest as they walked in slow-mo toward the enemy, I actually almost rolled my eyes. What were they thinking? Some of the most defining moments in Vol. 3’s predecessors was the role that music played in the crescendo of the storyline. Of course Quill played music at different times to romance Gamora or add levity, but nothing like the pinnacle where the crew pulled out every ounce of bravery they had and threw themselves into an impossible scenario. That triumphant moment was robbed from us, and it bummed me out.
That being said, I was highly impressed by one battle scene in particular as they were being attacked in a tight corridor. The angle of the cameras pitched you right into the middle of the fight and passed you around to experience each character slaughtering their fair share of baddies. I’m prone to vertigo (don’t even get me started on Avatar: the Way of the Water, I almost booted three times) but this wowed me with nary a tummy tingle in sight; my jaw dropped and a smirky curl came to my lips. The creativity of the set design and makeup was delightful, the action scenes were exciting and the story of how Rocket came to be was intriguing, heartbreaking, and pretty disturbing (warning for anyone who has trouble with animal cruelty, I had to look away a few times). All in all it was a well-crafted narrative that gave us a resolution to both Rocket’s tumultuous past and the rending heartbreak between Peter and Gamora. A catharsis of story and emotion that left me satisfied.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens on May 5th