In the early days as the Marvel cannon of films emerged the less well known superheroes did too but whilst certainly far less well known Guardians of the Galaxy proved to be very popular with a cast of eclectic characters headed up by StarLord played by Chris Pratt against a funky soundtrack of classic vintage pop songs, spectacular action and often very funny moments. Ten years later we now have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 which closes out the trilogy….at least for the time being.
This third film sees the Guardians in a state of flux but the opening moment, a flashback to the origin of Rocket Raccoon, also sees him terribly injured by Adam Warlock’s (Will Poulter) one man invasion of their HQ decimating all in his path in his effort to kidnap the hedgehog, weasel etc – a regular series joke as to what the furry one actually is! Warlock fails but does leave Raccoon mortally injured and on deaths doorstep. The kidnap attempt is all because he has a vital data chip in him that can’t be retrieved by anyone else due to a ‘kill switch’ implanted in him by the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) a sort of vivisectionist with a God complex and a plan to develop a master race.
It’s the remaining Guardians who must find a way to save their friend but in turn save the Galaxy too. At the same time the film has frequent flashbacks to his days being experimented on by the HE along with a number of others that include a walrus, an otter and a rabbit all bearing the scars and disfigurements of experimental surgery. It’s like the boy who lived next door to Andy in the original Toy Story who mashed together his toys has now attained a level of surgical knowledge and has been allowed to practice on real beings and here Raccoon and several of his newly found friends are truly nightmarish and yet director James Gunn manages to both humanize them and elicit sympathy too. There’s an immense amount of imagination gone into the creatures in the film, a mix of CGI creations and practical make up effects with the FX team allowed to let their imaginations run riot and the complaint that many have of the quality of the CGI effects in recent Marvel releases looking half finished is not a complaint to be made here and it will undoubtedly reward multiple viewings just to spot the creatures you miss first time round,
As with before there’s a great soundtrack with a hugely diverse range of songs that takes in Radiohead, Beastie Boys and Florence and the Machine and all work extremely well in several scenes that seem to have been built around those tracks. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is the longest of the trilogy and, as is the wont of the ‘final film, it has its emotional moments as well as a truly joyous end scene. Though this very much draws an end to the Guardians as a gang the expected success of this latest film is unlikely to be the last time we’ll see them although under James Gunn’s tutelage it will be and the Guardians will need a new guardian to maintain the quality of what has been one of Marvels’ best trilogies.
End credit scene? – two mid credits and very end of credits (and that’s the one that fans will most want to see!)
- related feature: James Gunn and cast introduce Guardians of the Galaxy 2
- related feature: James Gunn talks a Marvel / DC crossover film
Here’s the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 trailer…..
