NO SPOILERS!
It’s almost a cliche at this point to say that post-ENDGAME, the MCU movie series has become a wee bit patchy in quality. Even though we’re through phase 4, it doesn’t feel like its gotten past the growing pains of setting up the next grand “saga” for the MCU.
Weirdly then, perhaps this is the reason why this new (and possibly final) chapter in the GOTG series actually works really well. It doesn’t really relate to anything in the new saga – and instead feels more like an appendage of the original Infinity Saga, wrapping up a few loose ends.
It’s certainly a vindication for James Gunn, who at one point was fired by Disney after some critics (not of the filmgoing kind) unearthed some ancient tweets in which he made some edgy bad-taste jokes. For a painfully long time, it looked like there might never be another GOTG movie. Sure, Disney could have tried making one with a different director – but it really wouldn’t have been the same. Dave Bautista staunchly supported Gunn, and any resulting Disney “product” just wouldn’t have had the same level of heart that made the first two so successful.
Luckily, sanity prevailed (or possibly, just $$$) and Gunn was invited back into the house of mouse. And here we are, with arguably the most consistently solid trilogy of the MCU. I mean, I like the Captain America trilogy too (The Winter Soldier is possibly the best MCU movie, period), but the first one isn’t AMAZING, and Civil War, great though it is, feels more like an intermediate step on the way to Infinity War. But GOTG 1&2 were both fantastic fun and 3, though it’s markedly different in tone, is every bit as good. While it’s a ton of fun, It’s also less goofy, more serious and goes into some unexpectedly dark and emotional places.
The backbone of the story is Rocket Raccoon, who finally gets his own origin story. And it’s a heartbreaking one – about the callous exploitation of the innocent by a selfish maniacal control freak – with overtones of Richard Adam’s THE PLAGUE DOGS, H.G Well’s THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU and Grant Morrison’s WE3. I actually read the original Rocket Raccoon comic when it was published in the UK as a secondary strip in the UK Transformers comics in the 80s. It’s a really cool story, but only small elements of it have made it though into the movie version, which is a much darker, sadder tale.
The central villain of this film (played brilliantly by Chukwudi Iwuji) could be seen as a metaphor for selfish, unrestrained ruthless capitalism, or just pure psychopathic egoism. Either way, he’s a memorably unpleasant character. I’m all for nuanced interesting villains who have viewpoint who you could conceivably sympathise with, but sometimes it’s nice to have a villain who’s just an evil bastard – plain and simple.
The rest of the cast continue to have the same great chemistry that’s propelled the previous films. Will Poulter as Adam Warlock is a surprisingly fun addition to the mix. And while it sometimes feels like the film is creaking at the sides with all the characters jammed in, ultimately every one of them plays a worthwhile role in the finished story.
The VFX work is outstanding thoughout – it’s a really pretty film. And there’s a long corridor fight scene in there which is one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen. It’s almost exhausting to watch, but in a good way!
Ultimately it’s just a fun tale, well told. Every character gets a bit of an arc and, in some cases, a big payoff. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes from here. But even if they decide to park things where they are, this is a very solid ending for the Guardians trilogy and ties up most of the loose ends from Infinity War/Endgame too. Of course, I can’t see Disney leaving money on the table – and I’m sure it’s going to be a solid hit. So there will probably be more tales to come in this (sub) universe. Sadly though, I think James Gunn won’t be a part of it again – now that he’s busy rebooting the DC universe. I guess that’s good news for DC fans though (beyond the wailing of the Snyderverse mob!)
