James Gunn's final MCU entry was a fun but overlong - 2.5 hours! - chaotic and messy film. Its cast obviously had great chemistry together after many films and specials together, and there was a lot of heart it, some a bit too manipulative, but, hey, Gunn and the Guardians have earned it at least. However, with a screenplay that focused on the heart, writer/director Gunn forgot about the brain, and there was only that far one could carry a story on heart alone if the logic gaps start getting too big and blatant, and brings the audience out of the story.
Nonetheless, most of the laughs - more chuckles, some LOLs - and the finale heartstrings tug were deserving, and remind us that the misfits of the Guardians were truly the heart of the MCU Infinity Saga; and Drax and Mantis were a new pairing that working (firmly established since their Christmas special). Although Drax's mileage is heavily dependent on how much one enjoys Dave Bautista's performance and Drax's characterisation.
Although, importantly, GOTG3 did Adam Warlock nasty! It was an absolute waste of Warlock the character and Will Poulter the actor. This was not the Warlock from the Marvel comics - far from it - and although Poulter seemed like he was having fun in the role (more than what we could say for Elizabeth Debicki who seemed bored and regretted signing on to the MCU), there was just not enough of him and his wry comic timing. But Poulter at least made the case that we deserve an Adam Warlock standalone movie.
Other than Poulter, the other standouts were our primary villain the High Evolutionary, played by Chukwudi Iwuji, who chewed the scenery with delightful, egomaniacal glee, and the voice acting of Bradley Cooper as Rocket as the emotional core of this instalment.
Chris Pratt was just being Chris Pratt (again); Zoe Saldana seemed like she is finally glad to be done with this role; Karen Gillan has a dry, sardonic humour that was wasted under all that prosthetics/makeup/CGI.
After Vol 1, Gunn's music choices seemed forced and fan service-y, and the needle drops here continued to be so. They felt inorganic and less tongue-in-cheek, and more in place to fill up the silence rather than contribute to the story. It might have been better if composer John Murphy had the chance to score the film more fully. However, at least, our closing song - spoiler - Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days are Over" was a definite banger and fun highlight of the whole film.
The CGI for GOTG3 was also definitely a step up from Ant Man 3, but there were still moments where the artifice really stood out. Maybe Marvel really need to slow down their production to allow their VFX artists more time to improve their craft.
As per usual, stay tune for mid and end-credits stingers!
