It is difficult for me to parse this film from the others, as I have an unhealthy love of James Gunn's work and the first 2 movies. I remember being incredibly excited about his hiring for the first film and having full faith in the material (he made "Super", the best superhero film we're going to get, and I will not be taking questions at this time. Watch "Super"), and he even responded to me once on Facebook in a comment about "Nightbird" from "The Specials." The first film is a vibrant, pastel coloured breath of fresh air which holds up to multiple viewings, and the second carries that over into an emotional gut punch wrapped inside of candy-coloured mayhem, akin to a bonbon with a a cyanide centre.
This one struggles to reach those same heights and freshness, but manages to act as a satisfying conclusion for the series, landing on just the right emotional beats and wrapping things up in a somewhat rushed but altogether sweet way, despite some messy trappings in the middle.
It's as satisfying a send off as one could hope for.
The film soars when it's the gang together, bouncing off of each other and being characters, Gunn finally relishing the ensemble nature fully and putting Peter and Gamora on the back burner for this venture. Mantis consistently falling and stumbling, but being the wholesome heart of things (as well as a sister/buddy cop to Drax, the true highlights of the film, including a gag about a sock and a fantastic use of her powers), Drax being Drax and getting the best gags for the most part when not Mantis, and Nebula being the furious big sister of the crew in lieu of Rocket, who spends the majority wounded and unconscious, giving us his truly dark backstory hinted at and spoken of over the last few movies and tying into the themes of fatherhood and his growing arc over the last 2 films. The flashbacks work well for the most part, and Iwuji makes a wonderful dickhead villain. It's refreshing, as of late, to have a return to legitimate fuckheads and shitbags on screen, and he relishes the part. I hope he goes far, he is a talented actor, and in between being quite vicious he manages to have fun with the line "there is no God! That's why I stepped IN!".
Gunn has some return to his Troma and funny days, with scenes of a panda mowing the lawn, telekinetic dogs, and generally creative stuff, but it loses some focus in the middle, and the songs feel blunt and on the nose and perfunctory for the most part after being so integral and fun in the first. It's still James Gunn, however, and tugs at the heartstrings (a line about Drax being a father rather than a destroyer got to me) despite the weak (though best he could do given the circumstances) links to "Infinity War" and "Endgame" - though to be fair those parts were always going to be awkward, having to deal with the sexist reversal of some great growth of one of its lead characters... The middle is bloated, as I say, and whilst functional, loses mometum after a standout heist sequence in a flesh prison, a starship chase and falling just not really matching, before regaining some of that wonderful momentum to a team-fight sequence set to The Beastie Boys.
But whilst I'm harsh on it, it seems, I do like it, I think it works, it pulls it together at the end in a way which rewards viewers of previous movies: a line about Raccoons, talks of found families, Mantis and Drax getting more to do, returns from The Broker and Ayesha, and more.
It comes together in the end. Oh, he uses "Since You've Been Gone" by Rainbow, and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by the legendary Beastie Fucking Boys. It more than earns the song it uses in the mid-credits...
And moreseo than this, it feels a movie about moving on, passing the torch. We get cameos from old Gunn hands (Nathan Fillion, the cool Steve Blackehart, fuck yes Linda Cardellini, Mikaela Hoover yay, Uncle Lloyd Kaufman, and even damn Judy Greer! Getting that "Specials" love in there, no complaints from me! And Judy Greer is always wonderful, and ALWAYS underused.) yes, but also some of his more recent wonderful friends and efforts with DC (Jennifer Holland, again please watch "Peacemaker", Daniela Melchior as a receptionist, who is ALWAYS welcome in a movie, and even Pete Davidson of all folks! Here he's not having sex with beautiful women. Touche!), representing something of a passing of the torch, and a meta commentary of moving on to new things. Gunn and the Guardians are moving onto new, nice things, and there will always be a place in our memories and our hearts for the journies we have had for them, but now it's time to look to the future, and the new stories they are going to grace us with.
Godspeed, you legends.
It's been wonderful.
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