'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' review: James Gunn hits a home run with Marvel finale

Bradley Cooper's Rocket Racoon is the MVP in emotional origin story-infused tale.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away that wasn’t overcooked, James Gunn gave the world a band of space pirates who were more lovable than scary, even if the world they populated could get pretty terrifying. At a time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe needed a boost of comedic adventure, Gunn answered the call.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 proved that you could have the light yet roguishly soulful pathos of Iron Man with the heroic power of Captain America inside one movie. What Vol. 3 proves is that there isn’t a filmmaker in the superhero game quite like Gunn. One could say Christopher Nolan did it the best, and he nailed a particular mood of the popular comic book character. But Guardians gives you all the moods in a handful of scenes.

Vol. 3 gets high, low, and wacky in the very early going of its well-paced 150 minutes, but this one starts where the heart of its tale lies: the backstory of Rocket “I’m Not A” Raccoon. Bradley Cooper’s voice work has always been sharp, but he gets more to do here than in the first two films. There’s a whole piece of steak for his lovable space warrior to chew on here.

If you need a description of Gunn’s superhero world without words.take the first scene: Rocket listening to Peter Quill’s (the ever-reliable Chris Pratt) walkman as it plays Radiohead’s acoustic version of Creep. Cooper’s little yet fiery creature is pacing the newly built colony for the Guardians and Ravagers in a cloak of disgust. The camera follows him around the village area as he checks in on his teammates, who carry themselves in varying degrees of comfort.

But as the one-of-a-kind Brian McKenna likes to say, your vibe attracts your tribe. And Gunn’s vibe, from the very first scene to the last, is always attractive. Vol. 3 takes us into Rocket’s past, where he went from being an innocent animal to a lab specimen under the maddening eye of the High Evolutionary (Chudwudi Iwuji, delightfully chewing scenery). Iwuji is the film’s chief villain, and someone you learn to hate very quickly. (Something I didn’t feel at all with Jonathan Majors’ Kang.)

What Vol. 3 does well is continue to not only shine a light on many of the chief players, but also give the cast members new tricks to learn and play with. Karen Gillan’s Nebula takes more of a leadership role in the finale, something Thanos’ (who could relate to Iwuji’s mad man) former lab rat has been doing quietly since nursing Tony Star back to health on a lost ship. Zoe Saldana gives Gamora another shade of grey-leaning into the splintered mind of the Guardian who died, came back in the reset, and now stands more isolated than the family member she used to be.

Marvel/Disney

Dave Bautista has always invested Drax the Destroyer with so much heart and physicality, but his comic timing has never been sharper. Talk about a guy who gets Gunn’s tone to a tee, and continues to pull new strokes out of his character.

Pratt also knows how to operate in the filmmaker’s playground, drawing more soulfulness out of Peter than most leading men could. He can run the gauntlet of emotions inside a scene, something that happens less than ten minutes into the film. You need someone who can do the action hero lifting, and excel in the slower scenes. It also helps that Pratt is naturally gifted with comedic one-liners.

You’ll be happy to know that Nathan Fillion and (once again) Sylvester Stallone show up and are hilarious in small roles. Sean Gunn has a nice role enhancement as well.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is full of upgrades. I’d rather not spoil the goods that the plot offers over the course of the entire movie with more discussion. This one comes highly recommended, especially for Marvel fans looking for some of that magic last seen in Endgame. You won’t be bored or leave the theater expecting more here.

You may be worn out. The silliness can become overzealous in certain moments, and the constant reaffirming of character flaws can be tiresome. It’s also a movie that furiously rushes to tie up various loose ends before the final credits. Pure nitpick territory, by the way. The movie doesn’t carry many flaws.

Gunn’s soundtrack skills are still top notch, and the song choices always have a connection to what’s happening with his characters, instead of merely being a setting and tone-shifting device. Come for the emotion, stay for the tunes.

Gunn has always come off to me as the Quentin Tarantino of the MCU. The rare superhero movie director who stuck it out and completed his story. You don’t see a lot of filmmakers around the big-budget superhero genre game holding writing and directing credits alone. More than anything, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels like a Gunn cinematic joint, something unique and personal.

See it in theaters on May 5.