Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2023
When this movie came out, I read that there was a lot about mistreatment of Rocket and other animals in it. Having walked out of Avatar 2 for just that reason, I skipped it and figured I would watch it on Disney Plus so I could skip over any of that stuff. Otherwise, I have really enjoyed the Guardians series, except in Thor 3 where they were thrown in with nothing to do. This movie isn't as sharp as the first one, but also not as senselesly violent as the second one, going out of its way to (sometimes) avoid violence. The movie is too long for its own good and too often relies on bickering banter or goofiness for easy laughs. The stuff about cruelty to Rocket isn't as bad as I thought and is also not easy to forward through. I figured his friends at the research facility would be killed and, of course, because they were nice and he liked them, they were. It is a cheap way to wring emotion out of a story, but still nothing like Avatar 2. I don't feel like the characters necessarily develop much, having done a lot of that in the earlier movies, though Drax has a nice turn towards the end of the movie. They also mix in some scenes from subdivisions on Earth, which I think throws everything off. No doubt they are scooping up Georgia tax credits and subdivisions are one of the few settings Georgia has to offer. It just feels kind of cheap and the opposite of magical.
Still, there is a lot to like in the movie. The action scenes are very good with some great fights. While the banter may be a little stale, it is still nice to spend time with the Guardians again after a six year absence. There are some decent themes here about acceptance, the importance of friends, and some bittersweet realizations about personal growth. We're not hit over the head with it, but it is there, and it is done well. Of course there are some good wisecracks and the goofiness often works, not least from Nathan Fillion as a security team supervisor for the bad guys. So the movie is mostly entertaining, if a little dark, and overly long.
Written: 11 Nov 2023
Owned on: Digital