Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Director: James Gunn
Screenwriter: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, Sylvester Stallone, Nathan Fillion, Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, Mikaela Hoover

How many trilogies really stick the landing?

In 2018, writer-director James Gunn was unceremoniously fired by Disney after some bad taste jokes from his early days as a comedian were unearthed on Twitter by right-wing trolls who objected to Gunn’s outspoken political views. Following a passionate campaign from fans and Gunn’s friends and colleagues, a year later he was brought back on board at Marvel to finish what he started. If you love this particular bunch of a-holes, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to be an emotional one.

Scoundrel-turned-superhero Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is in a dark place after making a mistake that doomed half the universe and lost him the love of his life, Gamora (Zoë Saldaña). The Guardians were restored following the defeat of Thanos, but a different Gamora – one who doesn’t even like Peter let alone love him – now stands in his paramour’s place. When an attack on the Guardian home base of Knowhere leaves one of their number mortally injured, the team set out on a quest that brings them into conflict with mad scientist the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and causes Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) to confront his traumatic past.

What James Gunn has been hiding in plain sight up to now is that the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is really about Rocket above anyone else. This is his journey, one that takes him from a bad start in life to being a full and happy person with people in his life he can trust and rely upon.

Much like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, if Rocket didn’t work as a VFX creation, then nothing else in this instalment (where he’s driving pretty much all the action) would either. Thankfully, the time-lapse transition between a terrified caged raccoon and Rocket’s older, cynically twitching nose that opens the film puts those doubts immediately to rest. Gunn’s empathy for all living things, but particularly those who have been mistreated, is what gives this story its power, and Bradley Cooper’s pitch-perfect vocal performance has the strength to make you feel all the feelings. Just as a raccoon crying over his lost tree friend made us shed tears in 2014, his relationship with his fellow abused creatures brings on the waterworks all over again here with some almost unbearably intense scenes in captivity. We don’t get to spend all that long with young Rocket’s animal experiment friends Lylla the otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the walrus (Asim Chaudhry) and Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), but we quickly grow to love them just as deeply he did.

This does have the feel of a victory lap, bringing everything full circle and giving everyone their time to shine. Everyone loves the literal-thinking lunk Drax (Dave Bautista) and towering tree-man Groot (Vin Diesel) but it is stoic cyborg Nebula (Karen Gillan) and eager-to-please empath Mantis (Pom Klementief), previously both pretty one-note, who end up being the undisputed highlights here. The former’s gruff and tough personality has gradually been eroded over her time with the Guardians, and the rare occasion when she lets down her guard and lets emotion overwhelm her really hits hard. The latter is the heart of the team, gets most of the funniest lines, and her unique power helps her and her friends out of a few tough spots in some unexpected ways.

Newcomers to this universe include Borat 2‘s Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the talking psychic cosmonaut dog who has an adorable film-long argument with space pirate Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Will Poulter as genetically engineered gold man-child Adam Warlock, and Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, arguably the most evil and irredeemable bastard in the galaxy who will mutilate, torture and thoughtlessly dispose of countless living things all in service of his delusional mission to create a “perfect society”.

The action is all very polished and exciting, and because this is the team’s last ride it all feels a lot more dangerous for our heroes somehow. A fight in a corridor in the final act might be the finest couple of minutes of action in the MCU to date – not only is it meticulously choreographed, ludicrously entertaining and set to a killer Beastie Boys track, but it lets the team work in violent harmony and gives every member of the team a chance to showcase their special abilities, each getting their own big character moment at the same time.

James Gunn has always happily leaned into the sillier visual and conceptual aspects of space opera, and rarely have such strange ideas been more convincingly brought to life as here. From a bio-formed space station seemingly made of meat to learning that the city of Knowhere (built inside the skull of a dead space god) can actually be driven to a new location, and even to a mirror image “Counter-Earth” populated by humanoids forcefully evolved from lower lifeforms, big swings are taken. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an epic, galaxy-spanning quest, but all this imagination vitally remains in service of a very intimate story. 

A minor criticism that could be levelled at this particular Guardians iteration is that the soundtrack isn’t as memorable or pitch-perfect as in the previous two films, with John Murphy’s (Sunshine, The Suicide Squad) original score extensively incorporating choral singing provoking a stronger reaction than the vast majority of the needle-drops. Similarly, the final act of the film, after over two hours of putting every Guardian through one life-threatening incident after another, keeps piling on the jeopardy to an almost absurd degree even when it is already fit to burst.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brings this unlikely team’s journey to an immensely satisfying and appropriately epic conclusion. It is spectacular to look at and really funny, but it is also easily one of the darkest stories in the Marvel universe and does not pull its punches to make its pretty explicit discussion of abuse and animal testing any more palatable. We may see some of these characters again down the road, but for now it’s a fond farewell to them all, especially the acerbic Racoon who just wanted to be loved.

Score: 21/24

Recommended for you: MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked

The Suicide Squad (2021)
Director: James Gunn
Screenwriters: James Gunn
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi

2016’s Suicide Squad was doomed before it ever hit theaters. Batman v Superman had flopped while Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War made over one billion dollars at the box office. Warner Bros. screened two cuts of the film, one from director David Ayer, and the other from editing company Trailer Park who created a lighter version driven by flashy graphics and classic pop music. The latter went to theaters, and while it performed well enough, the film was another sign of Warner and DC’s inability to create works on par with Marvel. Zack Snyder’s DC work was too self-serious and complicated, while Trailer Park’s Suicide Squad was so blatantly smashed together to become the complete opposite – lost in its levity and music was any real character or sense of what DC was going for. It felt like a wannabe Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Suicide Squad shows Warner Bros. might finally be on the rails after a shaky start to their DC transmedia universe. Following a dismissal from Disney, director James Gunn arrived at Warner, and he and his team have turned any Guardians comparisons into praise. The Suicide Squad brings fun, humor, and music, along with gory bits Marvel can’t show in their films. The Suicide Squad reaches deep into the DC villain roster to find effective and comedic characters that help balance the fun with somewhat serious-feeling comic book stakes. Watching it feels like watching a graphic novel come to life, and what more could one want from a bombastic comic book film about a group of villains?

The Suicide Squad follows the ragtag Suicide Squad as they infiltrate a country on behalf of the US government to halt experiments on an extra-terrestrial being run by a super intelligent scientist called The Thinker. The group explore their various backstories and bond through violence as they travel to the mission, making introductions and exposition more organic than the first film. While the action scenes are rather enjoyable, the relationships and dynamics are what drive the story, aided by stylized lighting and camera movement that is missing in Marvel’s house style.

DC chose for the characters to resemble their traditional comic designs, no matter how absurd. John Cena manages to play Peacemaker – an assassin dedicated to peace at all costs – entirely straight in an outfit that Burt Ward’s Robin could laugh at. Gunn uses Peacemaker’s ridiculous helmet to shoot a fight scene, and it’s an interesting, creative way to use a costume. Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) and Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) stay true to their comic outfits while receiving interesting backgrounds that play into the general themes of the Suicide Squad. On the other hand, Bloodsport gets a redesign that boosts the strong performance brought by Idris Elba. He engages in banter, but he’s the most serious of the costumed individuals, and who knows how difficult that might have been without Elba and the costume.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Suicide Squad film without Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. She gets her own storyline which keeps the wider narrative from feeling too stagnant. There are plenty of colorful lights throughout the film, but Quinn’s segments are what allow Gunn and company to bring a strong sense of expressionism, each moment stemming from her insanity being as comic book adjacent as you might expect. She has the kind of arc that adds to the feeling of episodic storytelling found in comic books – this is the one where Harley Quinn is taken captive by a dictator and he proposes to her; what shenanigans will she get into next time? With this film, it has become clear that Robbie and Quinn are ballasts for the new era of DC transmedia without being tethered to the Joker.

The Suicide Squad also uses Gunn’s proclivity for giving character to the animated. King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone, is a bipedal man-eating shark that the animation and characterization make lovable. Ratcatcher 2 is flanked by a sentient rat who is essentially a live-action Disney princess sidekick, and he steals several scenes with his cute little cape. There’s even a starfish creature that is imbued with plenty of character despite its simplistic, comic-accurate appearance. The CGI for the animal-adjacent characters is not quite on par with 2019’s The Lion King, but it still looks solid with plenty of expression. The only complaint to be had about the animated characters is that Sean Gunn’s Weasel is woefully underused, but there are so many bizarre characters that he may have been one too many.

There aren’t many other complaints to be had about The Suicide Squad. Perhaps it could be said to be overly long (it runs for 2 hours and 12 minutes), or that it loses a bit of steam by the end, but that will ultimately be relative to the viewer. An issue with the 2016 film was the over-powered magical villain that should have outclassed the Suicide Squad. While the villain here is quite powerful, it’s not unreasonable that this group of super villains could actually take on The Thinker, or loads of soldiers with bullets.

Fans like to think of Marvel as the quippy franchise, but it’s a style that works for all comic book movies, and DC films like Aquaman, Shazam, and now The Suicide Squad show that DC doesn’t have to make something too different from Marvel to be successful. Putting the right people in charge with a specific visions for their films will lead to the best results. Maybe DC will never achieve the continuity standards Marvel has set for the industry, but it can at least produce enjoyable works that will get viewers into individual films that happen to be DC, rather than the property itself holding value as a brand universe.

It should be noted that the film does feature a post-credits scene that is sure to be a lead-in to new HBO Max episodic series, so it’s not like DC isn’t viewing this film as a springboard for further transmedia content. However, it’s far from guaranteed that any The Suicide Squad spin-off will manage to be as successful as Marvel’s recent spate of Disney+ series.

20/24

Star-Lord and crew are back for the most anticipated Marvel sequel in years, and with a few notable stars added to the mix, and a host of 70s and 80s pop gems providing the musical backdrop, James Gunn and company have managed to capture a lot of the original’s magic in a funny and colourful romp that didn’t quite manage to spark lightning in a bottle for a second time but was still mountains of fun.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is, first and foremost, evidence of the sort of summer blockbuster tentpole movie that we, as audiences, deserve and have come to demand. Typically, such movies are modes of escapism filled with oceans of beautifully constructed CGI, so many high profile names that the movies barely know what to do with them, a rocking soundtrack and the oh-so-important comic relief at times of high stress; and Guardians 2 is all of these things. Where James Gunn’s movie separates itself from the lesser appreciated members of its genre, like Suicide Squad, X-Men: Apocalypse, Ben-Hur and Independence Day: Resurgence, is in the filmmaker’s loyalty and admiration for the characters at the heart of his movie and the ways by which he trusts the audience to work some things out on their own. Guardians 2, much like its predecessor, is more than its genre’s simple constructional parts, it is a character driven spectacle movie that successfully combines awe with empathy and vitally doesn’t let marketing interfere with story. As is the case with any film of its ilk, there are moments of forced connection where a rising score works to try and create a sense of empathy where there isn’t one, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 seems to hit the emotional beats nine times out of ten, and nine out of ten ain’t bad.

Guardians 2 is, despite this, quite a stretch from being as great as the first movie. The ways in which it seems to falter the most are due to a number of developments that have occurred between the two films. Firstly, the Guardians’ huge critical and financial success in 2014, and their confirmed involvement in Avengers: Infinity War, have placed different demands on the filmmaking process that have seemingly restricted Gunn to a sensibility much more like the film’s Marvel Cinematic Universe brethren than the original movie ever came close to being. What was once a standalone product with self-referential and almost meta humour (including, remember, a dance-off as the epic final show-down between good and evil), has filtered much more into the typical Marvel way of doing things, with much less of the convention busting jokes and therefore just a little bit less heart and originality than Guardians 1 so marvellously contained – pun intended. Second of all, it seems that the success of the movie’s original gifted Gunn the sort of budget that the filmmaker didn’t really know what to do with and thus was freely done away with in scene after scene of ‘cool CG’ battle shots, aircraft boarding, etc. that left the earlier parts of the movie feeling heavy and slow in comparison to the picture’s quicker and much more satisfying second half. Along the same lines came a seemingly more typical presentation of the story too, with countless establishing scenes for the movie’s many characters precursing a huge universe-saving battle – revolving around an entire planet – which was the centrepiece of the movie (much like every Avengers film ever). We’ve seen it all countless times before and, despite providing a relatively high-stakes version of the trope courtesy of a well developed villain – somewhat of a rarity in Marvel movies – and a much more convincing threat to our heroes than in the original or much of the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 still couldn’t quite overcome how over-used its formula was.

This did, however, create the spectacle that Guardians 2 needed as an excuse to present its outstanding visuals, the likes of which are without comparison in the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each scene was filled with a vibrancy unlike much of the ‘clear as day’ cinematographic techniques in the rest of Marvel’s central Avengers franchise, separating it from the pack in terms of visual appeal. As referenced above, the CGI was also hugely impressive and leaps beyond much of the work done in The Avengers or Avengers: Age of Ultron. There were a few sequences in which the camera worked against the wonderful work of the CG to create an effect whereby the film felt like more of a top-end video game than a cinematic work of art, but these were small missteps in an otherwise fantastic piece of visual artistry.

Crucially, the camera was also pointed at the right people. The Guardians were their usual fantastically individual and different (for action comic book movies, at least) selves, only with improved individuality for Gamora (Saldana) and Nebula (Gillan), two characters of whom much of the original’s criticism was dealt courtesy of being underdeveloped. The building of each of the core group’s members was as cleverly constructed and well performed as in the original only with the benefits of not having to introduce them anymore, with this movie tending to lean towards more typically emotional fare than much of what occurred in Guardians 1, something that helped to grow the characters of Rocket (Cooper) and Yondu (Rooker) substantially and brought out some of the best work from its cast. The crucial addition of Kurt Russell was a welcomed one too, with an immersible performance to boot, but Sylvester Stallone and Elizabeth Debicki who played Ogord and Ayesha respectively, seemed more like bonus features by the film’s end than any meaningful casting choice or character addition, with each performer bringing very little to their roles. It was, however, the Guardians as a collective upon which the film hinged, and in the writing of their group dynamic and the strong comedic performances by much of its cast (particularly Dave Bautista as Drax), the same sense of comrardery between them felt as real and present as ever, with a closer family dynamic seeming to occur naturally as the result of their actions in Guardians 1.

The group was, of course, brought together by music, a theme that is highlighted throughout much of the franchise and is present from the very opening sequence in Guardians 2. The promotional material for the film paid the music a great deal of attention and the film delivered on its promise of using it as creatively as in the original. The soundtrack was a symphony of classic hits with some of the titles being highlighted by the characters themselves as being useful metaphors for the situations they were going through or had been through in the past. Usefully, this brought about a more conscious attention as to the meaning of the songs being used in the film and thus utilised them as a source for emotional input for characters who were holding emotions back at certain points, therefore enhancing them as heroes worth routing for without the need for expository dialogue or out-of-character declarations.

Where Guardians 2 most prominently succeeds is in the presentation of the family of outcasts that it brought together in the original, and the ways in which they’ve grown to appreciate each other despite each of their less likeable qualities. Much like the franchise originally was to Marvel, the group are different to everyone else, and James Gunn’s presentation of the ways in which their differences make them the only people capable of defending the good of the galaxy is one of the more drawing aspects of the franchise as a whole, and particularly this second movie. The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is much like the misfit toy we all played with as children or that many of us felt like at certain points in our lives, and that is what is truly identifiable about it and particularly the group of heroes. It is this connection that fuels the success of everything in this movie and does the most difficult job of making you care.

Conclusively, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 may not be quite as good as the original, but through the passion of its screenwriter-director and the world class work of its cast and crew, creates an identifiable group of characters on a romp of an adventure that could be the blockbuster of the year and is certainly worth your ten bucks.

18/24

Author’s note: if you haven’t seen this yet, be warned that there are five post-credit scenes.