REVIEW: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (2023)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (2023)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Finds Quill aka Starlord (Chris Pratt) still mourning the loss of his Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the fact that the other timeline Gamora does not remember him or their relationship. When the Guardians are attacked by the powerful Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), sent by the vengeful empress of the Sovereign, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is critically injured. To save his life they seek his creator The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), unaware that he is a deranged individual with a sinister purpose and has devious plans for Rocket.

Third and supposedly final Guardians flick is once more directed by James Gunn from his own messy script. The story itself is a simple one stretched out over 150 minutes and basically meanders through a bunch of noisy and overblow set pieces till it reaches its admittingly satisfying action-packed climax. We do get a lot of flashbacks filling us in on Rocket and his origin and these scenes do resonate emotionally. It’s the time-wasting nonsense involving the Guardians efforts to save him that are less engaging, especially since the group seem sick of each other and their once playful bickering now comes across as meanspirited and nasty. It hurts the charm and camaraderie the group had, and it gets tiresome quick. The action scenes in the first two thirds seem almost random and really don’t accomplish much. Overall, the film rarely feels like a climax to a trilogy, until it kind of forces itself to in the last half hour or so. To be honest, a lot of the film feels made up as it goes along. The FX are still top notch. Iwuji does make for a solid villain and the last act pulls things together for an entertaining climax. The movie as a whole though, feels like it’s missing something up till then.

The main cast are all veterans in their parts though one can feel certain members seem to be tiring of all this. No point in going over the leads as we have seen them play these parts in five previous flicks. Newcomers are good. Chukwudi Iwuji makes for a sinister villain as The High Evolutionary, though his actual plan doesn’t make much sense. Will Poulter is fine as Adam Warlock, but the comic character’s loyal fans will be very disappointed with his being portrayed as a pouty teenager with minimal screentime. There are also some nice voice performances and some fun cameos that won’t be spoiled here.

Overall, this was a disappointing adventure and finale. It stretches a simple plot well over two hours and as a result, a lot of the sequences feel more like filler than an integral part of the story. The team’s bickering seems not only overdone, but a bit too meanspirited to be funny. Speaking of funny, a lot of the jokes fall flat here and lack the twisted fun of the previous flicks. It does recover with a solid enough last act, though doesn’t really feel like a climactic installment till forced to in the last moments. At least the sequences featuring Rocket’s origins give us something to endear to. Stay through the credits for two additional scenes that sadly don’t amount to much.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 2 and 1/2 (out of 4) Gamoras.

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BARE BONES: TENET (2020)

TENET (2020)

A CIA agent (John David Washington) commits suicide during a mission gone awry, but finds himself mysteriously revived and now working for an organization known as Tenet. “The Protagonist”, as he is now known, is tasked with stopping Russian businessman Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) from using a mysterious device to cause a global catastrophe. Both aiding and impeding his mission is futuristic technology that can alter the flow of time for objects and people alike.

Film is written and directed by Christopher Nolan and is basically a James Bond movie with a science fiction twist. There are some very clever ideas here and it is a very interesting spin on the traditional globe-trotting spy thriller with it’s time travel elements. There are some spectacular action scenes and some sumptuous locations as “The Protagonist” tries to stop Sator from basically destroying the world, like any good Bond villain tries to do. The time hopping objects and having characters from different points in time encountering themselves is all done well, but, to be honest, it does start to get a bit tiresome by the last act…especially with a 150 minute running time. Still, Nolan directs this expertly and keeps control of something that could have been a mess, though the real stars here are the editors on this sometimes too ambitious for it’s own good project. The cast also perform well with Washington being a solid hero, Branagh an effective villain and Robert Pattinson once again doing fine work as The Protagonist’s handler Neil. Definitely worth watching, though requires steady attention or it might loose you.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (2018)

THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (2018)

Another flick bearing the Cloverfield name and while also not a direct sequel, it is better connected to the original Cloverfield…in ways I won’t spoil…than 10 Cloverfield Lane. This flick has a six person team on board an orbiting space station trying to prevent global war by initiating the Shepard Particle Accelerator and bringing unlimited energy to an Earth fighting over fossil fuel. The activation of the device causes a dimensional disturbance hurling the station across dimensions and space and endangering the world they set out to save.

Written by Oren Uziel and directed by Julius Onah, this is an OK sci-fi thriller. It has a few of it’s own ideas, but sadly would rather fall back on the clichés and familiar tropes of previous flicks. The effects of the dimensional disruption never seem to make sense, as they sometimes appear random and other times occur just at exactly the right…or wrong time. Basically they are just plot devices to hinder or help our beleaguered crew depending on the needs of the weak script. Sometimes they don’t make any sense at all, like a dismembered arm delivering a written message. It’s just silly, aside from being contrived. The cast handle their two-dimensional parts well enough, though it seems like a waste of talent for a few familiar faces. The FX and sets are top notch and while it is better connected to the original film, the previous installment in this universe was a far better movie.

-MonsterZero NJ