Film review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will make you feel sympathy for a raccoon (2024)

Hard to believe, but it’s been nine years since the first Guardians of the Galaxy came out. Back then, “Disney streaming service” was just a fancy name for the theme parks’ water-based rides. Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame were pipe dreams. There had only been nine Marvel movies to date – and three of those had been Iron Man.

So here we are, 22 more films and 8 streaming series and one Guardians Christmas special later with Vol. 3, which, like the third part of a Star Wars trilogy, wraps things up about as tidily as a franchise chapter can these days. (Stay until the very end of the credits for the single loose thread to be revealed.)

Article content

Article content

In fact, the Star Wars metaphor is pretty apt for Guardians 3, which plays out a lot like Return of the Jedi, if that film had run for two and a half hours, and spent the first 90 minutes rescuing Han from Jabba the Hutt.

The Han character in this setup is Rocket “I’m Not A” Raccoon, a furry, furious mercenary voiced by Bradley Cooper. Wounded during an attack by a weird golden creature named Warlock (Will Poulter) on the Guardians’ base of operations, Rocket can’t be healed, because whoever genetically designed him included a device that will kill him if he’s tampered with.

And so the movie becomes a quest to find the kill-switch override, which first necessitates a trip to Orgosphere, where an overlord called The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) has been modifying simple species into more intelligent versions to populate a duplicate Earth he calls (wait for it) Counter-Earth.

Like its predecessors, Vol. 3 was written and directed by James Gunn, who will now be devoting all his time to his new job as co-CEO of rival DC Studios. (Might want to give him the once-over during the move and make sure he hasn’t hidden any Infinity Stones in his ficus plant.)

Article content

The movie includes several of his signature moves, such as multi-tentacled creatures and sprawling alien vistas. Orgosphere for instance is a space station that has been grown rather than built, so it’s got a lot of soft surfaces with multi-coloured mucus-and-ooze highlights. Very Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except that in this case, while you can even eat the dishes, you probably don’t want to.

The film also features the needle drops that Guardians fans have come to expect ever since Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) made his entrance to the strains of Redbone’s Come and Get Your Love. That one and the sequel leaned heavily on the seventies, but Vol. 3 has broadened its oldies collection to include the likes of Radiohead, Heart, Rainbow, Faith No More, Alice Cooper, Beastie Boys and Bruce Springsteen. And yes, we get to see Groot dance, though he’s not as adorable as when he was tiny and potted.

All the other regulars are there, in a bewildering variety of skin tones and eye colours. They include Dave Bautista as Drax, still bent on destruction and malapropisms; Pom Klementieff as Mantis, whose psychic powers can make you believe whatever she tells you, no matter how insane; Karen Gillen as Nebula, slowly shedding her evil persona; and Zoe Saldana as Gamora.

Article content

That one takes more explaining than I have patience for but, in a nutshell: Gamora died in Infinity War and was brought back to life in Endgame, but the new Gamora is from a different timeline and has no feelings (well, no good feelings) for Peter Quill. This is what happens when your sequel takes six years to come together.

In any case, the main story belongs to Rocket, and includes several flashbacks to his younger days, when he was held captive by the High Evolutionary, and befriended a variety of other animal misfits. In the hear-and-now, of course, he’s unconscious on a table while the rest of the Guardians scramble to save him.

And if one of his animal comrades sounds especially familiar, that’s because Lylla the Otter is voiced by Linda Cardellini, who also plays Hawkeye’s wife. More proof that the MCU is getting so big that it’s starting to double back on itself. I can’t wait for the arrival of a character named Ouroboros and — wait, I’ve just looked it up and he’s in Loki season 2, played by Ke Huy Quan. Marvel movies are now moving faster than the speed of jokes.

But is Guardians 3 any good? Well, let’s call it … adequate. It’s worth watching if you’ve been invested in the fate of Star-Lord and the gang for the past 10 years. It’s definitely a little long, and the bad guys (Warlock and the High Evolutionary) a little underwhelming in the evil department.

Article content

It’s also exceedingly busy, with at least 60 per cent of the dialogue being shouted, and a single-take fight sequence that manages to disguise its own awesomeness with whip-pans and other distracting camera moves. Also, there are three too many instances of the Guardians walking in a line in slow motion (which is to say three instances) and a “supporting” role by Sylvester Stallone that is barely more than a cameo.

On the plus side, the chemistry among the characters remains as strong as ever, with Drax and Mantis making a particularly effective comedic duo – Gunn has likened them to Abbott and Costello if there were two Costellos. And Rocket’s backstory, though often overshadowed by exploding spaceships, space stations and planets, is actually kind of sweet. As an urban Canadian, I have to say that anything that makes me feel sympathy for a raccoon is clearly doing something right.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens May 5 in theatres.

3 stars out of 5

Article content