Main cast: Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Zoe Saldaña (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Vin Diesel (Groot), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Will Poulter (Adam Warlock), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Chukwudi Iwuji (The High Evolutionary), Linda Cardellini (Lylla), Nathan Fillion (Master Karja), Maria Bakalova (Cosmo), Daniela Melchior (Ura), Nico Santos (Recorder Theel), Miriam Shor (Recorder Vim), Elizabeth Debicki (Ayesha), Michael Rosenbaum (Martinex), and Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord)
Director: James Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is the only unquestionable box-office hit for Disney in 2023, although it made less money than the previous two movies that came before it. The holiday special doesn’t count here, because it’s released on Disney+ and from all accounts, that streaming channel is a black hole that keeps sucking up Disney money.

In many ways, I can see why this is sole moneymaker in the MCU department this year, as it is the only one that feels like a throwback to the glory days of the MCU. While James Gunn should have someone ruthlessly edit his stuff, as he tends to get way too self indulgent when he has full hold of the reins, this movie has solid pacing, engaging humor that is well balanced with pathos, and a story that feels larger than life.

So now James Gunn is the property of Warner Bros, and this is his farewell movie to the MCU. Kevin Feige must be very confident of his posse of diversity hires and clown school comedian screenwriters to not put up more of a fight to keep him on.

Anyway, in this one, it all begins with Rocket getting fatally injured by Adam Warlock, due to some leftover drama from the second movie. The grouchy raccoon can’t be healed because Orgocorp, the company that bio-engineered talking animals or “humanimals” like Rocket had installed a kill switch in him.

So now, Peter, Nebula, Mantis, Drax, and Groot need to head over to Orgocorp to find a way to override the kill switch. It’s easier said than done, of course, or else this movie won’t be freaking two and a half hours long.

Gamora from some alternate timeline is still here, and she has joined up with the Ravagers, also known as the way for James Gunn to give all his friends acting roles in this thing. His wife is also in here, by the way. Is anyone surprised? Also, his brother gets a lot of screen time in the first 10 minutes that I can only wonder whether Kraglin is going to be the main character here, heh.

Back to Gamora, she gives them a hand, although she’s not as receptive to Peter’s clumsy advances as the previous Gamora. Then again, the characters here are even more of a one-dimensional cartoon version of their previous selves, and with the already dumb Peter now a depressed drunkard, I don’t blame her for being unimpressed.

Seriously, Drax and Mantis have been reduced to child-like simpletons at this point, it’s likely a blessing that this incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy ends after this movie. Else, they’d be reduced to acting like food-fighting toddlers down the future, shudder.

Here, Peter does his thing, but his place in this movie feels rote and obligatory, his entire arc being “I lost my girlfriend and I am sad!” and not much else. I find myself cringing each time he, Mantis, and Drax open their mouths, because they are just a homicidal version of the three Stooges here.

Nebula ends up being the sane person of the bunch, which is scary considering what a hot fuse she is.

On the other hand, this is Rocket’s movie. It’s as if James Gunn decided that he’d like to do a darkly comedic version of Richard Adams’s Watership Down or something, and this movie is the result. It goes from cute and sweet to heartbreaking pretty quickly, the Rocket and friends part, and folks that can’t bear to watch cute CGI animals getting tortured and even killed may want to get some strong drinks ready before watching this thing.

The story is… alright, I guess. As I’ve mentioned, the pacing is brisk and things never let down, and there are some visually impressive scenes here too. I also like how Nebula and Gamora are forming a more cordial relationship, and some of the comedic moments succeed in making me laugh.

However, I feel that this movie also tries to tackle way too many things at the same time. Adam Warlock’s redemption feels half-baked, and I don’t care about him even by the end of the movie. There are kids in distress in this movie, and they pop up mostly for Drax and Mantis to have an excuse to do their own thing at the end of the movie. These kids, the talking cute animals, and simpleton adults all make this movie resemble an after-school kiddie special given the James Gunn dark humor treatment.

Normally, I’d love something like this, but there is something about this movie that feels lacking. It’s a well put-together movie, and it does its thing well, but there is something under-baked and incomplete about this movie compared to the previous ones that came before it. I don’t feel emotionally engaged with this one. Compared to the second movie, for example, Rocket’s arc doesn’t have the same emotional intensity as, say, Peter’s daddy issues in that other movie. Sure, there are some hard-to-watch scenes, but that arc culminates in a rather unsatisfying manner.

Maybe James Gunn’s heart isn’t in it anymore, as he’s probably having secret negotiations with Warner Bros while he is contractually obligated to make this thing, who knows. At any rate, this one is entertaining, sure, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t feel as exhilarating or intense as its predecessors.