This is typically deemed the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to come out since Spider-Man: No Way Home. So why did I wait this long? Perhaps I wanted a break after recent underwhelming entries. Perhaps I feared that I had to watch Thor: Love and Thunder to understand enough. Thankfully, as I later learned, Thor parted ways with the gang early on.
Rocket (Bradley Cooper) has never told the other Guardians about his past, but it catches up with him when the forces of his "creator," Orgocorp, attempt to recapture him for neurological study. The Guardians fend off powerful emissary Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) for the nonce, but Rocket is left comatose and fading. Standard medical procedures won't work, thanks to Orgocorp's nasty bio-programming. The heroes' best bet is to swipe an override sequence right from the heart of Orgocorp. Hey, it matches their skillset.
Yes, that's an awfully brief summary for 150 minutes, but I assure you they don't drag. There are enough complications along the way, with a good balance of action, banter, and suitably slow emotional moments. And while Rocket spends most of the adventure out of commission, we get extensive flashbacks to his origin as a relatively innocent lab specimen with cyborg animal friends in adjoining cages. He's never been cuter or more pitiable. (Don't think it's a good choice to show kids; there's a lot of swearing for PG-13.)
The primary antagonist is Orgocorp's leader, the self-styled High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), an atheist who seeks to fill the perceived void. His approach evokes a higher-tech Dr. Moreau, rapidly advancing critters' "evolution" to anthropomorphism and then letting them form whole civilizations if they show promise. He has no qualms against slaughtering any number of them for mere imperfection. The only reason he wants Rocket back is that no other subject has shown anywhere near the same engineering genius. (Who knew?) Lest you think the High Evolutionary is merely a mad scientist, his telekinesis threatens even his strongest minions.
A subplot concerns Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) struggling to know what to make of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). The version who eventually loved him back died, and this one is from another timeline, teaming up with the Ravagers more than the Guardians. Having rather recently sided with Thanos, she's a bit meaner and barely knows any Guardian but sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), who's starting to look like a better match for Star-Lord. Nevertheless, Gamora does her part to help save Rocket.
I'm relieved to report that Groot (Vin Diesel) has returned to his adult form, more competent than ever before. I dare say, linguistic limits aside, he might be smarter than Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), tho even that musclehead has his bright moments. Mantis (Pom Klementieff) also gets to show more value to the team, not just with empathic powers but with agile combat moves. And Nebula's cybernetics somehow seem to have upgraded to something cooler.
If that's not enough, by the third act, more of their associates are contributing enough to be considered possible new Guardians. Kraglin (Sean Gunn) is still getting the hang of the whistle-directed flying arrow that Yondu (Michael Rooker) bequeathed to him. Cosmo (Maria Bakalova) is implied to correspond to Laika the canine cosmonaut, secretly alive after all these decades, with an Up-style thought translator and telekinesis that doesn't quite rival the High Evolutionary's. Blurp (Dee Bradley Baker) is more of a pet than Cosmo and might not have more to offer than sharp teeth. Sorry, Howard the Duck (Seth Green), you're still just a cameo even in an animal-heavy picture.
Apart from some of the above, there's nothing truly surprising to viewers of the previous GotG volumes. The Guardians spend half their time getting on each other's nerves but treat each other as family when it counts. The humor generally outweighs the excitement, yet sometimes I could just about cry. And the often dissonant soundtrack mostly rocks, even if we get some newer songs.
I personally put Vol. 3 a little ahead of 1 and 2. My one regret is that I didn't invite my dad to join me.
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