REVIEW - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

A part of me will always wonder what the highly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might have looked like without Marvel's embarrassing firing of James Gunn, which contributed to this movie's 3-year delay. Was there this much sentiment in the first draft of the script, or did nearly losing his Guardians family shatter Gunn's heart and scatter fragments all over the finished product? However the sausage was made, fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the 3rd "Guardians" film takes a page more from Toy Story 3 than Spiderman 3.

It's been a while since last we saw the Guardians blasting through outer space (well, I guess they did give the briefest of cameos in the last Thor movie), and we've all had a rough few years waiting. The film itself seems to recognize this, which is perhaps why this film feels so much more somber than almost anything else from the MCU. The humor is still there, yes, Drax still shares observations about how even his butt can make metaphors, but the laughs are all situated within a greater spread of melancholy than the previous installments offered. Even the film's color palette is considerably muted compared. The space disco gives way to a swan song.

As was the case in the last volume, the plot starts off being more concerned with the individual exploits of the group itself. The superhero stuff comes in later. This character-centric psychological approach separates the film from many of Marvel's more forgettable offerings, especially in the last few years, where the superheroes are almost purely reactive.

Most of the actors here give their best performance of their MCU career, their comedic timing outmatched only by their emotional range. I'll single out Karen Gillian for seeing Nebula through one of the more underdiscussed character growths not just within the MCU, but pop culture at large.

The film bathes in a sentimentality in a way that could almost be called indulgent. There are factions of the audience that might resent a right angle turn to emotionality just because the franchise is ending, but the underground emotional current has always been the franchise's secret weapon. What was the original "Guardians" if not one kid's decade-long journey to reading his dead mother's goodbye letter? The crowd that watches these films purely for the cursing racoons might find the generous hugging and crying off-putting. They have my sympathies, but no part of me regrets watching these guys flying away together into the beautiful forever sky.

--The Professor

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