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I have been critical of superhero films in general lately, and what I perceive
to be the decline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the new Guardians of the Galaxy reverses
(at least temporarily) the trend. If the future MCU or DC films are half as
creative, colorful or exciting as this one, then there is still a bright future
ahead for the superhero film genre.
This film is almost delightful enough to make viewers forget about
Morbius,
She Hulk, and
the Eternals.
A few weeks ago, I raved about
Dungeons and Dragons
because
it captures some of the spirit of the original Guardians film, but as enjoyable
as it was it pales in comparison to this film in terms of quality. Great film
maker Martin Scorsese suggested that superhero films are more like carnival
rides than cinema. That is probably true, but Guardians 3 is a carnival ride
only in
the best sense. It's like a rollicking, fun filled roller coaster ride full of
ups and downs, thrills, chills and spills shared with good friends.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 is by far the best film in the trilogy, and it
does everything it was supposed to, and it succeeds completely in masterfully
providing closure to most of the characters. Because of the witty
banter/repartee, the first-rate character development, the often humorous action
scenes, and the effective portrayals of the villains, the film seemed nearly as
fresh, lively and exciting as one of the films in the original Star Wars trilogy
and it has a similar feel to it as those films.
Part of the reason it succeeds so well is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe heads let the
experienced and talented James Gunn (who has since left the MCU for the
greener pastures of working for DC) play in his own sand box, and the film is in
its own world with little connection to the MCU. This is unlike the last
Ant-Man
film which could not stand on its own and just seemed little more than a
mere promotional tool for future Marvel films.
Guardians 3 tells the origin story of Rocket (who actually accepts the original
comic’s name Rocky Racoon towards the end) and the film serves to flesh out the
personality of the usually humorous character and makes him far more tragic. In
flashbacks we see that Rocket (who creator, Bill Mantlo named after the Beatles
song Rocky Racoon) was an ordinary forest mammal until a geneticist with a god
complex, the High Evolutionary surgically altered him. Rocket’s life before
joining the Guardians was filled with pain and tragedy. He has much in common
with Nebula (Karen Gillan) whose father mechanized her to make her better but
even she admits she didn’t have it as bad as Rocket.
While he is imprisoned by the main villain’s hench-men, Rocket forms a temporary
family with mutated talking version of a spider, a walrus, a rabbit, and a
female otter with mechanical arms who is the closest thing he has to a love
interest. We later see a whole planet of these creatures, and unlike the aliens
in
Quantumania who looked like concepts rejected as too bad for
Star Wars, these creatures look convincing and they seem and act more human than
Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers. I especially liked the benevolent Walrus/Octopus
creatures which were almost as impressive as the Owl/Bear in
Dungeons and Dragons.
Also, the film does an excellent job of introducing the Adam Warlock character
who is nearly as naïve and angelic as he is in the comics, and the depiction is
mostly true to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original conception (in his early
Fantastic Four comic
appearance he was just called "Him"). Although the look of the character is
modernized, he still looks great. This is in stark contrast to the recent
abominable adaptation of Namor or the film version of Mantis which is still the
worst screen depiction of a Guardian character-although she was less annoying
here than usual. In the comics Mantis was one of the strongest, most
self-confident Avengers and an Asian woman. In the Guardian films she is a weak,
subservient insect woman, a pushover with emotion influencing powers more
similar to Starfox than the comics version. Original creator Steve Englehart was
justifiably horrified when he saw what the film people did with one of his best
creations.
Chris Pratt (who was also in
Zero Dark Thirty
and Jennifer’s Body) is better
than ever playing the big-hearted everyman hero, Peter Quill (aka: Starlord)
and once again the cinematic depiction of the character is about ten times as
interesting as the comic version-with apologies to Steve Englehart. His interest
in classic rock is a perfect excuse to unearth more old music gems including
material by Heart, Rainbow and Redbone. But this time the soundtrack contains
more material by Indie groups including the Flaming Lips, Faith No More, X, and
The Replacements. The film portrays Quill initially despondent drinking his
blues away because the version of his girlfriend who loved him is dead while Radiohead’s Creep plays in the background (Loser by Beck would have been an even
better choice.) Although he is clearly on a downward slope the film resists the
urge to totally degrade and humiliate him like the MCU has done with Thor and the Hulk.
Zoe Saldana (who is also in the Avatar films) portrays a pre-heroic Gamora the "deadliest woman in the universe"
according to the comics who looks just
like Quill’s ex but now she does not love him. The version who loved him was
sacrificed by Thanos in
Avengers Infinity War
but this villainous version from the past (or
perhaps an alternate timeline) still exists. Here the alternate Gamora
reunites with the Guardians because they pay her to help them get a code to turn
off a kill switch in the critically wounded Rocket’s head which could save his
life. Also, although she is tough and unsentimental and views the other
Guardians with contempt for being over sentimental there still might be a part
of her left that might allow her to give Peter a chance to win her heart.
The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwujfresh from James Gunn’s Peacemaker HBO
series) makes a worthy above it all villain who is a perfect foe for the
Guardians. In the comics he
created a whole other world called Counter Earth. When it does not turn out
perfect, he is quite willing to destroy it and start over from scratch, much
like God flooding the earth in the Noah’s Ark story. High Evolutionary is like a combination of Dr. Moreau,
transforming animals into human hybrids and Dr. Frankenstein because
of his pride and wanting to take God’s place as creator. At one point, he even
matter-of-factly tells an assistant: “there is no God which is why I stepped in”
which parallels Dr. Frankenstein’s line in the original 1931 James Whale film: “Now I know what it feels like to be God.” One of the film’s main messages is
that no one else except God should play at creation which could serve to caution
people that are currently engage such morally questionable activities such as
cloning and genetic engineering.
There are also a pair of newer Guardians like Youndu’s former assistant, Kraglin
(played by the directors brother-Sean Gunn) who telekinetically moves his
arrows and Astro a psychic dog with human intelligence. Although they have
smaller parts in the film, they look appealing and are frequently amusing.
As if that isn’t enough to please comic buffs, like the other Guardians films
this features a too brief cameo by Marvel’s greatest avian character Howard the
Duck (glad they did not fowl that up.) The character (voiced here by Seth Green)
who was supposed to get his own Kevin Smith produced animated series which got
cancelled in a Marvel regime change. Steve Gerber fans like me will be overjoyed
to see him here again.
Guardians is a perfect spring/summer spectacular, and it should brighten the
moods of most viewers with its gloriously uplifting ending which is as
invigorating as the conclusion of the first Star Wars trilogy (hint dancing is
involved). It also shows that there still might be more life left in the wounded
superhero genre than some detractors are willing to admit although this could
also
just be a last gasp. It feels like more than just another superhero flick. After
it was over, I felt like I had gathered with a close group of friends that I
loved for the last time; it felt like the end of college.
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