This week at the Morris Theatre, the latest entry in the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, opened in its first week of release. My thoughts below.
If you have read my reviews of the last three MCU films, you will know that I have been increasingly negative on them. Thor 4 was disappointing, Black Panther 2 was boring, and Ant-Man 3 was one of the worst superhero movies I have ever seen. Despite this, I was still optimistic about the latest Guardians film because of the actors, Gunn’s direction and writing, and the character that these films have had. As well as this, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 is my second favorite film in the MCU, so I couldn’t help but be a little excited. This film definitely lived up to my expectations and, while it failed to restore my faith in the MCU, I found it to be emotionally effective and engaging throughout. It is difficult to explain the plot of any of these big superhero releases, so I won’t get into that here, but I really enjoyed the exploration of certain characters’ backstories and the direction they took others was great.
Specifically, for the most part I really enjoyed Rocket’s role in the film. It did feel a little manipulative sometimes, especially with how it utilized cute baby animals. Despite this, his story was still very powerful and is somehow the darkest and most disturbing backstory in the entire MCU. The darker tone is something I really do appreciate about this film, and something that the rest of these movies need to embrace. That is not to say that there isn’t still comedy, but the prioritization of character moments instead of annoying and forced comedy was great. Something that came with this darker tone was actual stakes; the film opens with multiple members of the team nearly dying and I was actually fearful for certain characters dying. This is something that was less prevalent as the film progressed, and characters survived impossible situations in frustrating ways, but while it lasted I enjoyed it. This film embraces its ridiculousness and does not take itself too seriously, which somehow makes it more emotionally effective than most of the other MCU films.
The performances were great across the board. The chemistry between these actors continues to be the strongest that the MCU has to offer. While Rocket definitely takes priority in this film, it does a great job of balancing the characters and allowing all of them to have moments of charm. I specifically liked Dave Bautista as Drax and Pom Klementieff as Mantis; they were previously used for comic relief in the last two films, but Gunn has developed them so well, and they have some of my favorite moments in the series that go far beyond comic relief. Nebula is a character who I did not like in the previous films. She has been historically one-note and uninteresting, but I actually loved Karen Gillan’s performance as the tortured cyborg in this latest film. The only character which I did not like was Chris Pratt’s Star Lord. This did seem intentional, but his constant whining about Gamora’s death and return, through time travel, was frustrating and made him unlikable. As well as these established characters, there were some new additions. I loved Maria Bakalova as Cosmo, the talking telekinetic dog, and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock was a lot of fun.
All that being said, I really have nothing to say about this film. These MCU movies and TV shows are getting less and less interesting to me as time goes on, and while I will continue watching them, actually coming up with things to say about them is difficult. If you are invested in the MCU I would definitely recommend this, I had a great time and it is the best MCU movie since Shang-Chi. I will give Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 a 7/10.
Thank you for Reading!
The Review Mirror 