Volume full blast
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
Cert 12A ★★★★
Rocked by scandals and torn apart by infighting, this much-loved institution desperately needed to get back on track. Thankfully, it all came together for this week’s big event. Now, I’m ready to pledge my allegiance to director James Gunn, the once and future king of the comic-book movie.
In 2018, Gunn was fired by Disney (the company behind Marvel’s superhero films) when a scandal broke involving controversial Twitter jokes. After the cast stood by him, he was rehired for the final instalment of his space-opera series. And I’m guessing one of his conditions was that he could shoot whatever popped into his very unusual mind.
The film opens with an attack on the hollowed-out God’s head that his misfit heroes call home as a golden-hued Supermantype (Will Poulter) swoops in to abduct Rocket Raccoon (still voiced by Bradley Cooper).
Manchild Quill (Chris Pratt), humourless hulk Drax (Dave Bautista), grumpy cyborg Nebula (Karen Gillan) and walking tree Groot (Vin Diesel) send him packing.
But Rocket has been fatally wounded. It turns out he has a kill switch in his furry chest that makes a life-saving operation impossible. So the Guardians have to steal a code from a biotech company and battle the villainous High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who created Rocket as part of a plan to develop a new master race.
Over a surreal two-and-a-half hours, we visit a space station made of flesh, hear the first
Marvel f-bomb, and delve into Rocket’s dark past.
The plot doesn’t always make sense but the messiness feels like a strength.
Gunn, since signed up by rival comic book outfit DC, has been allowed to chip away at the formula. Vol. 3 is at its most entertaining when it feels galaxies away from a typical Marvel movie.
‘‘ The plot doesn’t always make sense but the messiness is a strength