Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn fixes the problem

Cinephiles will remember the time when a movie from a Steven King story all but doomed it to a less-than-entertaining experience. The cinematic world of Marvel Comics has had its own perilous journey. Comic book movies used to be pejorative, but then they reached a relatively consistent phase where they were dependably entertaining. MCU phases 1, 2 and 3 are great examples of that. Then came phase 4 and someone tinkered with the MCU script. While some movies in phase 4 made money, most of them fell far short of expectations and were marginally entertaining. Guardians of the Galaxy was a phase 2 film that defied what audiences expected from a comic book movie. It was weird, had characters that few people outside of the comic book world knew, and seemed out of place amongst a sea of mildly flawed spandex heroes. It was also refreshing. Now, with all of those headwinds spinning around us, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is upon us. Does it capture the MCU magic of old or continue the tedium that phase 3 established?

It’s worth mentioning that Guardians of the Galaxy established a lot of goodwill among the fans. While the second film wasn’t as engaging as the first, it was entertaining and fit nicely in phase 3. However, that same goodwill and forgiving nature did not cross over to the Disney +, and the cinematic version of the MCU. Certainly, COVID didn’t help matters, but getting audiences back to the movie theater is much easier when quality films are released.

With all of that said Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a very entertaining movie. It’s a longer Guardians film than what that audience might be used to, clocking in at just over two-and-a-half hours, but it goes by without any effort. The trailer for the film does a very effective job of selling the film in that it tells you nothing about the film’s plot. This is where the fan base and their goodwill towards Guardians of the Galaxy, and James Gunn, enter the conversation again.

By now, we don’t need to know who the villain is in GOTG3, as long as they’re believable enough, it’s all good. It’s only when they have absolutely zero scare ability (I’m looking at you Black Widow…), that audiences don’t engage with the film at $17 a pop. The villain in GOTG3 is bad, evil, and genuinely a character that audiences want to see meet its doom at the sharp-nailed hands of Rocket. But, people don’t pay for a GOTG movie to see the antagonist.

It’s the interplay between the Guardians of the Galaxy and how they deal with the situations that they find themselves in as to why we see them. They’re a family that everyone can relate to because every family has someone that’s like Drax, Starlord, Gamora, Mantis, Groot or Rocket Racoon. GOTG3 is a family, in a way, the superhero, science-fiction equivalent of the Fast and the Furious. The ironic part is that GOTG is a more grounded Earth family that realistically has more mass appeal.

The family aspect has been building with GOTG, but with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 it hits its stride, embraces friendship, ups the monsters, looks at the history of one of its main characters, and manages to stick the landing.

As our screening began the emcee said that we should be prepared to laugh and cry. Internally I was mocking that statement. As if I’m going to cry over a wise-cracking raccoon, stoic muscle dude, or 80’s action hero. And about two hours later I was eating crow and earnestly wiping my eyes in the best of all possible ways. The action in the film is very well-paced and fakes viewers out in many instances. The trailer that you’ve seen is not linear and gives nothing away from the plot of the film. This is the way the more trailers, provided that the film has a built-in fan base, should be edited.

Moreover, this is the first Marvel movie since Endgame, or any Marvel Disney + show, that I’d want to watch again since the end of phase 3. James Bond has an unwritten curse about it called the every-other-Bond curse. It basically states that every other James Bond film will stink and not measure up to its predecessor. The MCU has its own curse, or in its case, the cure, which ironically also has James in it.

James Gunn. He has a touch with those characters that enables them to act in the way that audiences want. The Guardians didn’t change, they’ve always been weird and a little rude but had their own familial bond between them and those that entered their world. GOTG3 makes that world bigger in scale and characters, and it is great.

When you look at the MCU for the past four years their entries have been erratic and seemingly apologetic. Comic books are great because they have characters that are different, but successful comic books don’t make their differences the main part of the story. In the hands of a different director, one could imagine GOTG3 watering down some of the monsters, editing out a joke, or pulling back on the emotion.

GOTG3 is because of James Gunn and the goodwill toward the characters in the previous movies. The failure of the MCU phase 4 was because the goodwill for those characters did not exist. Disney Marvel thought that anything could translate to audiences and profit, and they were wrong. Now, with James Gunn helming the DCEU, it seems to be their game, until the MCU can get a consistent streak going again.

Regardless of your Marvel, DC, or Disney stance, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is solid entertainment. There is a patch or two that’ll require you to suspend belief, but it’s fleeing and glossed over by the history that you have with the characters. Lastly, Disney Marvel: do not let the success of GOGT3 go to your head. This great movie is an outlier in your recent slate of films. Fans hope that it’s a sign of great things to come, but they will not show up automatically, as you’ve seen.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is rated PG-13 for tense action sequences and mild language.