Gunn serves up antidote to MCU slump by bringing ‘Guardian’ goodness to triumphant end

With the pestilence of superhero fatigue bedeviling the releases of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, James Gunn once again has risen from the shadows to remind audiences that“We are Groot” with the newest installment in the ever-expanding and ever-convoluted Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a holiday special revolving around the kidnapping of “legendary hero” Kevin Bacon (Footloose), making a brief cameo in the abysmal Thor: Love and Thunder, and even a wholesome Baby Groot spin-off, the Guardians finally have made their true return to the silver screen for their final tour, giving a conclusion to both the trilogy and James Gunn’s MCU journey. Beyond another face-off to save the galaxy for what could possibly be the last time, the team also has to grapple with protecting Rocket (Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born) from the hands of his creator, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, Peacemaker).

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 seems like an eternity ago. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige first announced that a movie focusing on an obscure group of cosmic heroes known as the Guardians of the Galaxy would be coming to the big screen. Fans and critics alike were cautious, to say the very least. Questions swirled through the air, mostly asking who in the world- or more appropriately, galaxy- these D-list nobodies were, and who was to be the one leading such a project? None other than James Gunn, the writer of the live-action Scooby Doo movies and director of such ‘classics’ as Slither and Super.

Originating in 1969’s Marvel Super-Heroes #18, the modern iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy that fans have come to know and love would not make their first appearance for another 39 years, with the 2008 reboot in the Annihilation: Conquest storyline on which Gunn based his adaptation. Once the film actually released on August 1, 2014, its unprecedented success firmly launched these oddballs into the mainstream, accumulating an astounding total of $773.3 million in the box office, and the sequel amassed even more with $869 million.

Although fortune struck this risky endeavor by the comic book movie juggernaut, the luck would not last forever as a series of rather offensive Gunn tweets would be uncovered. Following this, Marvel and Disney would dismiss Gunn in June 2018, and DC- hoping to siphon off of the success he brought to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise- snatched him up, offering him a spot in their own crumbling cinematic universe. 

To the relief of many, Gunn was rehired to direct the third installment of the trilogy by October of the same year, but he would not begin work until after his version of The Suicide Squad and its spinoff, Peacemaker, had come to fruition. In that brief period of uncertainty spawned by Gunn’s absence, Disney swiftly realized the golden goose it possessed, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fast tracked to filming in November, 2021. 

Ever since the start of the first Guardians, Rocket’s origin in the MCU has remained a mystery with very few references alluding to his past, and as the main focus of the finale film, Gunn uses the source material to his advantage. Throughout the movie, the audience witnesses the horrors of his past through flashbacks from young Rocket accompanied by his friends Lylla (Linda Cardellini, Hawkeye), Floor (Mikaela Hoover, Super), and Teefs (Asim Chaudhry, People Just Do Nothing). Whether it is simply because the animals onscreen are heartbreakingly adorable, or an actual well-written narrative, Rocket’s backstory is among the most grim and disturbing in the MCU, rooted within a villain that genuinely strikes fear into the hearts of viewers.

In the comics, Herbert Wyndham, otherwise known as the High Evolutionary, is regarded as Marvel’s great geneticist, and with Iwuji’s depiction, the character is taken to new heights and allowed to be something truly evil. One of the common complaints with the most recent Marvel villains is that nearly all of them have to have some sort of redeeming quality for audiences to empathize with in an attempt to create the next Thanos, but Gunn disregards tradition in order to make what best suits the story he is trying to tell. Between Cooper’s voice acting capabilities, and Iwuji’s sheer gravitas during every moment of screentime, it is difficult to choose the best performance. 

However, the same could also be said for the rest of the cast, who all bring their a-game to this last round up. Oftentimes, when a director is tasked with juggling an enormous ensemble of characters on the scale of a project such as this, some are more favored than others, but this is far from the truth in the case of Vol. 3. Guardians, at its core, has always been about family, and getting to see how every member of the team has grown from their first appearance is astonishing. Nebula (Karen Gillan, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Drax (Dave Bautista, Knock at the Cabin), Groot (Vin Diesel, The Fast and the Furious), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff, Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One), are the stand-outs along with the titular Star-Lord (Chris Pratt, The Lego Movie) and Rocket. All provide that aforementioned sense of camaraderie that is ever so needed in a film like this. As easy as it would be to separate the team into smaller duos and trios (for example: Rocket and Groot, Mantis and Drax, Nebula and Star-Lord; all of the members have clear relationships with each other, showing how tight-knit the group is. Even when Gamora (Zoe Saldana, Avatar), from the 2014 alternate timeline first introduced in Avengers: Endgame, shows up and causes a bit of turmoil from within, the team refuses to split, having one another’s backs. 

Part of the reason why the first movie felt so fresh and unique was due to its usage of its soundtrack not only in the film itself, but also in its development, and the third installment keeps up this proud tradition. Unlike in other big-budget blockbusters, Guardians has always been intentional with its song choices, each one stemming from a diegetic source within the universe and being used to drive the narrative forward or say something to the viewer. 

In both the first and second movies, the main source of the soundtrack stemmed from Peter Quill’s Sony Walkman; however, after receiving the Zune during the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 due to Ego (Kurt Russell, Big Trouble in Little China) crushing his Walkman, the music no longer solely belongs to the individual, but to the team as a whole. A common theme of these movies has always been the distinction between those who dance and those who do not, but at the end of the day, music remains as the one thing to unite the team despite their differences, just like in the repeatedly referenced Footloose.

As a departure from previous installments, John Murphy takes the helm for composing the score this time around, replacing Tyler Bates who produced the first two movies. Murphy had previously collaborated with Gunn on the soundtracks for The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, Peacemaker, as well as The Suicide Squad, and his composition for this flick feels both out-of-this-world and completely human, perfectly encapsulating what the film is all about.

Spoilers:

The original Guardians theme composed by Bates does not even make an appearance until near the end of the movie, when Rocket finally joins the fight. As Rocket starts to take down some of the High Evolutionary’s “Hell Spawn,” the score slowly builds up to the familiar horns of the theme, all coming to a head followed by utter silence, then playing full blast as Rocket has his triumphant return. This not only shows just how much he means to the team as a whole, but reveals how even one member of the team makes a difference, all while perfectly setting up his role as the leader of the new Guardians in the post-credits.

However, every success comes with its downfalls, and where Vol. 3 stumbles is from its slightly overextended runtime and cluttered nature, attempting to  introduce so many new characters and still tie up loose ends. With a duration of slightly over two and a half hours, it would normally be easy at times for the viewer to get lost, but the movie moves at such a breakneck pace that any major mistakes aren’t very noticeable on an initial watch-through. This isn’t the case for Adam Warlock (Will Poulter, We’re the Millers), though, who is often tossed off to the side with the other forgotten toys. After being teased in one of the five post-credit scenes of its predecessor, audiences watched with bated breath, expecting him to be the big bad of Vol. 3. Instead, he was hardly used in the grand scheme of the movie, only showing up a handful of times along with his mother, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki, The Great Gatsby). When Adam is used, he is still used quite effectively, giving a glimpse of what he is capable of for potential future projects, leaving the door wide open for his return.

Although “superhero fatigue” may plague the comic book movie industry, it seems as though it is not slowing down Vol. 3 nor Gunn any time soon. In its first day alone, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 grossed a total of $118 million in the domestic box office and has received critical acclaim across the board, painting a bright future for not only the MCU going forward as well as Gunn’s future endeavors as the co-CEO of DC Studios. As the galaxy says goodbye to its guardians, echoes of the past and glimmers of the future shine brighter than ever. The culmination of the Guardian universe rocks out once more with feeling in their farewell performance. 

Grade: A+

James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delivers a tearful, yet heartwarming goodbye to a ragtag team of misfits, bringing dancers and nondancers together in a beautiful euphony of emotions, action, and, of course, music.

by Evan Parfitt

Published on May 22, 2023

Oshkosh West Index volume 119 issue VIII