Guardians Of The Galaxy: Volume 3 (no spoilers)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Radio across regional Victoria on May 11, 2023.

(M) ★★★★

Director: James Gunn.

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone.

The Wiggles In Space was surprisingly trippy.

Characters. Get them right, and you're more than halfway towards making a great movie. When we understand who they are, what they want, and what they stand for, it raises the stakes, and, to quote a legendary Faith No More song used in Guardians Of The Galaxy: Volume 3, we care a lot. When we see them grow, learn, fall down, and get back up again, we care even more.

It's why Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania misfired - no character arcs or development or depth. But it's why the first Guardians Of The Galaxy film worked so well. We cared about the weird tree with the three-word vocabulary, the trigger-happy space raccoon, and the rest of the motley crew of intergalactic heroes, because we got to know them and understand them and watch them grow. We came to care about them.

This is thanks to James Gunn, who bows out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style with Guardians Of The Galaxy: Volume 3. The same level of attention and affection he put into the ragtag band of weirdos in the first two Guardians films (and the superb Holiday Special) is here again in Volume 3. It's full of everything that made the first one great - heart, humour, spectacle, and characters to care about.

This trilogy wrap-up centres on Rocket Raccoon (voiced to perfection by Cooper), exploring where he came from via a series of flashbacks interspersed The Godfather Part 2-style between his friends' quest to save his life. Meanwhile Star Lord AKA erstwhile Earthling Peter Quill (Pratt) is torn up over Rocket's condition and the fact his former girlfriend Gamora (Saldana) no longer knows who he is because she's a different version from an alternate timeline (quick, go and watch Endgame).

Volume 3 is a great response to the all-to-real phenomenon of "superhero fatigue". It's a quality story based around quality characters. It's script is by turns heartfelt and ridiculous. There are great visuals and some epic sequences, including a single-take fight in a corridor that is pretty mindblowing. It's soundtrack is out-of-this-world. Superheroes or no, it's just a damned good film. How can you be fatigued about superhero movies when they're this good?

The cast is mostly returning favourites, slipping back into their old roles like a pair of slippers. Pratt is ever-reliable, Bautista has made Drax one of the funniest characters in the MCU, Gillan has helped transform Nebula from C-villain to fan favourite, Klementieff perfectly fits the vibe of the film as Mantis, and Saldana gets to really cut loose for the first time as Gamora.

The newcomer is Iwuji, who is fantastic as villain High Evolutionary. Taking every opportunity to rage-spit when required, he makes the role memorable and entertaining. He's a great mix of cerebral and evil, with credit again to Gunn for making such a strange villain work in this universe. 

Gunn is firing on all cylinders again here. He's made a trilogy that ends as it starts - with great characters telling a great story, all with a song in its heart.