Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: Review

The cosmic misfits go out with a whimper 

Despite previously establishing himself as the sole standout director amongst the usually indistinguishable marvel sludge, James Gunn's highly anticipated vol 3 absolutely reeks of Kevin Feige’s sticky corporate fingers. 

There's a promising story here - on paper at least - but this felt like an incredibly rushed job. it’s absolutely all over the place and any of Gunn's usual creativity is lost to the endless abyss of the Disney void.

Structurally, it’s frustrating. Rocket’s backstory and the present day guardians adventure never meld together into one concise narrative. by and large, the story feels like a few rough post-it note ideas strung together in a thinly plotted, slap dash finale that desperately lacks the key ingredients that makes the guardians so profound. In truth, it's not very well realised at all and Gunn fails to find the right emotional balance between each of the team (despite this usually being one of his strengths as a filmmaker). Here it genuinely feels like he’s at a loose end with most of these characters - the entire roster feel under-utilised and none of them particularly service the story at all. 

Perhaps the biggest problem with vol 3 is that the emotional beats that are there feel extremely contrived and manipulative. it spends all of its time aggressively convincing you that it’s an emotional film, when in actuality it’s just very half-baked and disingenuous. Gunn plays the heartfelt moments like a cosmic xylophone, but in his attempt to deliver a grande finale, he often confuses sentimentality for melodrama. Vol 3 mostly relies on the work of its predecessors to earn its emotional payoff, which it honestly doesn’t. 

As someone who has formed a deep relationship with these films from a young age, it saddens me to admit that guardians vol 3 isn’t exempt from mavel’s rapid state of creative decline. It completely lacks that same spark we know and love, often feeling very tired and worn out.