Before he hopefully fixes most of DC’s problems, James Gunn closes out his magic with Marvel’s D-List heroes…The Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3! We all know this is it for the cast’s majority since nobody wants to be in the make-up chair half a day no matter how much Disney is trying not to pay you.
The story focuses on Rocket’s origin and backstory since we already know all about Peter (Starlord) and Mantis courtesy of the Disney+ Guardians Christmas special; the Infinity Gauntlet storyline covered Gamora and Nebula; OK, Groot and Drax get left hanging.
Moving along, the new threat is The High Evolutionary, an amoral scientist constantly trying to perfect life. For some odd reason, he came to Earth, took a swath of the native animals and conducted experiments on them toward creating “higher life forms.” He’s the new problem because the Guardians’ former clients, the Sovereign, attack Knowhere (their base and home) via Adam Warlock. Why? Allegedly the High Evolutionary wants Rocket back for further examination and to see what he overlooked with current creations. Adam wants to catch Rocket first so the High Evolutionary will spare or reward the Sovereign, as the villain created the entire race centuries ago.
In the initial fight between Adam and most of Knowhere, Rocket is mortally wounded but nobody can save him from death because the High Evolutionary booby-trapped the vital organs with encryption. Thus, they need the key to unlock the code, then the high-tech doo dads they have to heal anyone can do their thing. So off the heroes go, enlisting the “new” Gamora to help; remember, their Gamora, like Loki, was killed by Thanos, this one is a paradox created by Endgame‘s time hopping and her memory is the same until the first film. She’s also the new boss of the Reavers, Peter’s old pirate gang.
Given how much everybody shit on Wakanda Forever (I would say it was slow, not bad) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania (I loved it, it was good to see Ant-Man matter along with more Kang), Volume 3 should silence the bitching for a while. Gunn continues to succeed with his incredible skill at balancing the plot, the humor, the action and what we comic book fans love, the cameos. He completed his trilogy on a high note unlike poor Sam Raimi with Spider-Man. My only complaint was the continued, cliché usage of the slow march crap. It was old when Armageddon used in 1998, please stop! Oh, I did like the integration of a couple songs Peter’s mother wouldn’t have a clue about, namely Spacehog’s “In the Meantime.” Stick around of course despite what’s next isn’t as specific as it was in Ant-Man 3.
Alamo Extras:
- TV performance of the band Redbone performing “Come n’ Get Your Love,” I never knew they were First Americans in a rock band.
- History of the original characters from Guardians of the Galaxy, hint, they’re from the 31st Century and not very interesting.
- Raccoons in Pop Culture: President Coolidge received one as a gift since they were still eaten during the Roaring Twenties, he gave it to a zoo; Pom Poko movie about their cousins the tanuki; in the Simpsons; a Canadian cartoon; a Japanese cartoon and some GusFink thing I can’t remember.
- Space 1999 toy commercials for the Moonbase Alpha set and the Eagle lander.
- Recaps for all the main characters to get the audience up to speed.