Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3
Cert: 12A / 150 mins / Dir. James Gunn / Trailer

Having watched it back on release-day, this review of the James Gunn's off-again / on-again third Marvel sci-fi smash-up has admittedly taken some time to make it onto the blog, not least because I've been busy updating my relationship status with Guardians of The Galaxy to 'It's Complicated'...

Part of this is down to the current odd malaise with the MCU, whereby "no Infinity Gauntlet" equals "no collective-narrative forward momentum and no individual storyline with legacy characters strong enough to really justify its existence". Another factor is still wincing from the frankly atrocious GotG TV Holiday Special, which we now know was definitely filmed on the same sets as the cinematic threequel but with precisely none of the creative talent that's gone into the movie. But I digress.

POOLING

The very short version of all this is that the 60% of Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 which focuses on Rocket Raccoon sustaining serious injuries, the Guardians-family pooling everything to rescue him, Rocket's reflecting on his backstory and how this affects his present and his future, and then properly developing the character into what he needs to be... is absolutely outstanding. It's precisely what Marvel Studios do best; engaging, exciting, affecting (slightly schmaltzy in places, but well-earned) and most importantly funny. Bradley Cooper loses himself in the character once again and everyone benefits. Rocket Raccoon is the beating heart of this film and every minute spent in his company enrichens the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The other 40%, however, is James Gunn throwing as much content at the viewer as he thinks he can get away with. It's a white-noise cacophony of over-written subplots, over-scripted clatter, over-designed sets and over-directed action sequences. Gamora's return feels poorly defined, Adam Warlock's presence (not to mention the fantastic Will Poulter's performance thereof) is wasted, and the sheer volume of returning minor-characters just to really rip into the casting-budget makes the movie feel scattershot and bloated, like emptying all the free vending machines on your final day in the office.

SNOOKERING

Oh, and after two movies with Peter Quill's vintage cassettes accompanying the journey, the tunes come via Rocket's iPod this time around. But the temporal versatility of this as a format means that the soundtrack is an absolute mishmash of anything James Gunn happens to like from whenever. Now I'm always here for a bit of Spacehog but this is basically Danny Boyle's Mixtape Madness all over again.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is worth watching for the things it does right. Just about. Like I said, it's complicated...

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (second-pass)

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (2D / second-pass / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 136 mins / Dir. James Gunn / Trailer



Okay, this is your spoiler-break. Everything after this section will tell you far more than you need to know if you haven't already seen Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2, and besides that, won't make a lot of sense. I still stand by the full-marks I gave the film in my first-pass review. While the story does little to advance the thread of Thanos trying to get his mitts on All Of The Infinity Stones, GotG2's an enormous amount of fun and boasts actual character development across the board, which is not to be sniffed at.

There's just a few things niggling at me. Here be spoilers...



Fractious and fragmented.

Firstly, there's the pacing and flow of the movie. In order to properly facilitate that character development (and there's something for pretty much everyone other than Drax and Groot, who are just amplified versions of their last appearance), the gang needs to be split up. But when this occurs, the film's momentum suffers, since the best Guardians scenes are where they're fighting side by side. The audience spends the first-act watching their friends bicker, the second watching them be unhappy apart, and the third watching them reunited, but notably subdued. And there's no doubt it makes for an interesting film, but that's not necessarily what audiences are expecting from Marvel.

Leaving so soon, Yondu?

And then there's the blue-guy. It's always fun watching Michael Rooker onscreen, but he was a supporting character in Guardians, at best. My only real complaint this time is that I wanted to see more of him being part of the team, rather than helping out on the periphery then carking it for a reason which could have been easily avoided at screenplay-level. His character-arc and ultimate send-off here are nice, but feel way too rushed. Don't forget that other than a very brief flashback montage in this second film, we've really seen nothing but the pirate and his protege complaining about each other. The emotional connection that Peter (re)establishes with Yondu feels like it should be happening in the third part of a trilogy, not the second, and while his bonding with Rocket is an unexpectedly nice touch, that feels as if it needs to be reinforced into the next film, too.

Daddy issues.

But my main issue is Peter's dad. The non-Terran half of Star-Lord's physiology was hinted at pretty boldly at the end of the first movie*¹, so I'd certainly expected it to be addressed in the sequel. But the whole thing seems to be wrapped up both neatly and quickly, here. The character is introduced, transformed and despatched all within one movie, giving his relationship with Peter no time to resonate with the audience (and barely even with Peter himself). From a screen-time point of view, Ego may as well be Whiplash from Iron Man 2.

In terms of his character-development, there's clearly something amiss from the start as Gamora thankfully notes. And since the audience is with her on this, there's no 'reveal' when things go south and it turns out the guy's a planet-sized sociopath (his name's 'Ego', it was hardly subtext). Finding it impossible to warm to him, I had no emotional commitment when it came to the inevitable blows in the third-act. A big part of this comes down to the casting; I have no strong feelings either way on Kurt Russell the actor, but he's playing a psychotic narcissist with a history of luring innocents into a trap, exploiting their pride and vulnerability while knowing he's more powerful than them, casting aside their corpses when they fail to meet his expectations, and who finally meets his match when he picks on the wrong group. That's basically his Stuntman Mike character from Tarantino's Death Proof, and Russell plays it almost identically, especially in the scene where he's breaking down the lyrics to the song Brandy. Except the Guardians aren't out for Revenge™, so it's not as satisfying to see him finally lose.

Besides all that, Ego says that he needs his son's power to help execute his galactic plan, but he also says that if the core of the planet (ie Ego himself) dies, Peter will lose his demigod-abilities. Well it can't be both, can it? If Star-Lord's a separate entity in his own right, capable of boosting the raw power of Ego, then he'll continue to be so after the Celestial collapses, otherwise his father will only have been tapping into energy he had access to in the first place, and he could have just done it on his own.

I still love the film, though.
Anyway, discuss...

…Guardians Of The Galaxy.
You'll certainly need to have seen the first movie to begin with, at least.



You should.



It does.
Whether that's what it should have been setting out to do is another discussion.



Probably not best, but…



Let's find out.



Still didn't hear one, no.
Help me out here folks....



Level 1: Missed a trick last time, didn't I?
This film features Seth 'Todo 360' Green as Howard The Duck.
Always read the credits, Yen; you're there waiting for extra scenes anyway...





*¹ And speaking of which, at the denouement Guardians, Nova Prime tells Peter that the non-human half of his lineage is "something very ancient, we've never seen here before". But the galactic community knows what Celestials are, don't they? In that same film, Knowhere (the location of The Collector's dealership) is stated by Gamora to be the head of a long-dead Celestial. Are Marvel just making this up as they go along? ^{[ BACK ]}

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (first-pass)

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (3D / first-pass / SPOILER-FREE)
Cert: 12A / 136 mins / Dir. James Gunn / Trailer



Expectation was always going to be the enemy of James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2. There are no audiences to surprise this time, it's a return-trip to the well. The ticket-buyers might not know exactly what to expect, but they have boxes they want ticking. So how does the movie fare against this?

Short version: satisfyingly well. The sequel is consistently funny, dynamic and engaging, upping the ante of the first film without coming off as fan-service. Sure, the run-time is probably a little too long at 136 minutes (a quarter-hour above the first movie), the eagerly-awaited soundtrack is a little more 'needle-drop' this time around, and Drax's foghorn-humour has been turned notably up, as has Groot's playfulness. But crucially the film is more than enough fun to cover the occasional raising of an eyebrow. Integral characters from the first installment return, and several new ones are introduced (with a couple of classic-Marvel cameos to boot). Things are left typically open-ended, but there's significant character development all round.

As usual with this sort of thing, the film's a sensory bombardment the first time you watch it. More words will be written after future viewings, but in the meanwhile rest assured that if you enjoyed the first Guardians Of The Galaxy, there is plenty in here for you…


Oh, and if you're a bit OCD when it comes to your playlists, this is the movie-used order of the soundtrack album:

Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
Lake Shore Drive - Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Come A Little Bit Closer - Jay & The Americans
Bring It On Home To Me - Sam Cooke
Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang - Silver
Father And Son - Cat Stevens
Surrender - Cheap Trick
Flash Light - Parliament
Guardians Inferno - The Sneepers
(I didn't notice The Sweet's Fox On The Run playing anywhere in the film itself, so that could be a trailer-only track, as Spirit In The Sky was last time around.)

You're welcome.


And the business-end:

• Is there a Wilhelm Scream? Didn't hear one yet.
• Is there a Stan Lee cameo? Yes.
• Is there a mid-credits scene? Yes, several.
• Is there a post-credits scene? Yes.

…Guardians Of The Galaxy.



Absolutely.



Absolutely.



It's close to their previously high-watermark, but maybe not quite up to it.



That will depend on why we're disagreeing.



Not that I heard, but there are many viewings for me to unearth it, should it be there.



Level 2: Zoe Saldana's in this, and she was in those Star Trek movies with Simon 'Unkar Plutt' Pegg.





DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians Of The Galaxy (3D / fifth-pass)
Cert: 12A / 121 mins / Dir. James Gunn / Trailer



It doesn't matter that this film is a low-risk gamble, a carefully crafted franchise-entry from two of the largest entertainment corporations on the planet. Guardians Of The Galaxy is utterly magnificent. Almost as a self-set challenge, James Gunn's movie introduces (and embeds) a swathe of new characters, and uses a bare minimum of connecting tertiary forces to establish itself in Marvel's larger cinematic universe. This is a high-point in a consistently high range. That's about all I have to say this time around…*¹



Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks.



If you can, you should.



It does.



It's a high watermark, certainly.



I just might.



There is.



Level 1: This film stars the voice of Darth Maul, one of the new Darth Vaders and Benicio Del Toro (as yet un-named character in Ep VIII).





*¹ Although my previous ramblings from the film's initial release-window can be found here, here, here, and here. ^{[ BACK ]}

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy (fourth-pass)

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2D / fourth-pass)
Cert: 12A / 121 mins / Dir. James Gunn

(Click for first / second / third-pass reviews)




What can I tell you, that I haven't already told? I love this movie. Even within the Marvel Cinematic Universe it really is the film that keeps on giving, and I'm still drooling over the detail crammed into every costume, ship and set. Cineworld's Take 2 Thursday*¹ gave me the chance to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy on the big screen one last time, and also drag along a couple of members of my family who didn't get round to catching it back in August. They were impressed, which is the important part, although even they admitted they were essentially beaten into submission by the amount of new information that this film throws straight at the viewer, and they decided in short order to just basically sit back and enjoy the explosions.

The gags are still funny, the action's still chaotic and Ronan The Accuser is still one of the best screen-villains Marvel has produced (thanks in no small amount to Lee Pace's performance). My only bugbear is that the film drops so many shreds of information about the galaxy at large that I want to know more, and I know all of those points can't be revisited in future installments (apart from anything else, there'll be new points to pick up by then). Normally I'd tear into the comics and Marvel encyclopaediae, but since I know the MCU is also ploughing its own furrow, I don't want to be taking on too much backstory that's going to be altered, ret-conned or outright dismissed by subsequent movies.

A ridiculous amount of fun without being completely throwaway, if you haven't seen Guardians Of The Galaxy yet, shame on you. It's one of the best movies this year within its genre, and is even performing well against other more grown-up flicks (the user ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB alone should convince you, even if I can't).

The DVD and BluRay release lands in the UK on November 24th.
Do yourself a favour and put this on your Christmas list.

Yep.



Yep.



Yep.



Well, you don't have much choice now as it's about to hit DVD/Blu-Ray.



Yep.



Yep.



There flipping well is, yes.

So how come when Peter jets into space to rescue Gamora, Rocket tells him that there's not enough room for them both in the mining pod, even though there clearly is? When Rocket lands his pod back on Knowhere we get to see how much room there is behind the pilot's chair. What gives?

Oh, and when The Dark Aster is plunging through Xandar's atmosphere we're told that the city's been evacuated, so how come there are at least a hundred or so people apparently within walking distance of the eventual crash-site?

*¹ You're right, Take 2 Tuesday would work better, wouldn't it? I dunno, maybe they're all staying in for Holby City or something?

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.