Grab the tissues because you are going to need them for this one. With so much talk that the last couple of Marvel movies have had no ‘heart’, director/screenwriter James Gunn (The Suicide Squad) bucks that trend with ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3’ – a film with so much emotion and heart that audience members will find themselves crying from time and time and shows a director that was obviously completely in love with the project that he was working on.
Vin Diesel, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Image: IMDb
This third ‒ and if you believe Marvel, final ‒ instalment of the Guardians franchise begins with a sombre mood. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt – Jurassic World) is constantly drunk as he deals with the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana – Avatar). Yes, she is back from the dead but has no memories of them being together, which for him is a bitter pill to swallow.
Meanwhile, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook) is in a weird funk as he dwells on what the Guardians once were, while Drax (Dave Bautista – Blade Runner 2049), Nebula (Karen Gillan – Selfie), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel – Fast & Furious) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff – Oldboy) continue to build Knowhere as a home for the Guardians and the people they look after.
Kraglin (Sean Gunn – Gilmore Girls) and Cosmo (voiced by Maria Bakalova – Bodies, Bodies, Bodies) have their own little disagreement going, but help when they can – especially as they both try to build their supernatural powers.
The Guardians are snapped out of their moods though when Knowhere is suddenly attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter – We’re The Millers) under the direction of The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji – John Wick Chapter 2), and the resulting attack leaves one of the Guardian’s lives in danger. Star-Lord then finds himself having to snap out of his drunken mire to work with the entire team to try and save his friend’s life.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 is as vastly different to anything else that Marvel has been doing recently as anyone could imagine. James Gunn takes the film into some dark territory as it explores topics including loss, grief and animal torture. That may sound extreme, but they are all topics important to the plot here, especially as it deals with the things that Star-Lord and Rocket have been through in their lives.
What is so impressive with these scenes is that it feels like Gunn has forgotten that he is directing a comic book movie and instead brings real emotion to the film. Not only are some of the scenes so emotionally challenging that they are likely to reduce the audience to tears, they also allow for some brilliant performances from the cast.
Chris Pratt really rises to the challenges thrown at him during this film and his emotional performance is evident in some of the key scenes. Likewise, Dave Bautista rises to the occasion as Drax must come to some harsh realisations throughout the film – while this is also potentially Karen Gillan’s most important film in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) as Nebula, and gets a lot of screen time throughout the film.
This film also possibly delivers one of the best fight sequences of the MCU when the Guardians find themselves in battle in the hold of the ship. They come together nicely, and it feels like Gunn morphs into Quentin Tarantino as he delivers a particularly, yet beautifully creative fight sequence, that sees the Guardians blast and slice and dice their way through their enemies. Credit must be paid for the unique ways that Gunn uses Rocket and Groot in the sequence. It is truly one of the best scenes we have ever seen in a Marvel film – and uses a kick-ass song to make it even better.
When going to see Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3, there is very little to suggest just how good the film is going to be. Somehow, though, everything comes together for this one – a brilliant screenplay from Gunn and his team of writers, his directorial style allowing for action and emotion and a cast that seem to bring their best in what may be some of their final times playing the characters that many cinema fans have come to know and love. This is clearly one of the best Marvel movies ever made and is a film that fans of the series will want to watch over and over.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 is currently screening in Phuket and rated ‘13’.
4/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus
