Even the best trilogies can get winded on the home stretch, and that’s the unfortunate circumstance with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’.
Not that this third chapter in the ridiculously great comic book-inspired series limps across the finish line. Like it’s predecessors, ‘Vol. 3’ has the playfulness and energy the franchise has already firmly established, yet, this time, there’s a darkness and….dare I say….sadness to the proceedings. Perhaps that’s because this is the (reportedly) final chapter – but then, in the Marvel Universe, is that EVER really the case?
In this instalment, the Guardians race to save an injured Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) from the high Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuki, one of the better villainous efforts we’ve seen in quite some time in the Marvel Universe), an individual who shares a dark past with the scrappy raccoon. Quill (Bradley Cooper), knowing his best friend is in peril, leads his team (Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan and Vin Diesel) to not only protect their buddy, but defend the universe from…..stop me if you’ve heard this before….impending doom.
Writer/director James Gunn, par for the course with the ‘Guardians’, steers the narrative to pump out enough emotional gut punches and soundtrack ditties as possible. That means facets like grief, loss and retro hits slam us at almost every turn; certainly not a bad thing.
Unfortunately, the darker tone slightly diminishes what made this concept so fresh and fun to begin with; when the first film launched, it was a leave-your-cares-behind gas. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’, although another beauty, is weighty with issues. Now, that’s not necessarily a rarity with Marvel fare – it’s just not overly expected with this bunch. But hey, there’s always Chapter 4. And don’t think Marvel doesn’t hint at that….
