In Space, No One Can Hear Sarah McLachlin Scream ‘GOG VOL. 3’ IS A GreAt FAMILy FILM FOr FAMILIeS tHAt LOVe ANIMAL CrueLty

As a fan of Cronenbergian body horror, am I hypocritical for finding “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” repulsive for its copious CGI animal torture? No! because fuzzy creatures didn’t invent genocide, Twitter, or the 50hour work week.

Although writer/director James Gunn’s trilogy has always had a cheeky, juvenile sensibility, “Vol. 3” seemingly rejoices in explicit torture. you simply cannot envision how many teary-eyed closeups of traumatized wildlife are in this film, nor how many innocent creatures get brutally slaughtered. Frankly, it is amateur-hour emotional manipulation at best and genuinely deplorable at worst. If this is how you illustrate a villain’s villainy or motivate character catharsis, you probably screw screws in with a hammer.

Gunn, whose work has always been just barely on the good side of sophomoric stupidity, opts for a final chapter in which his affable rogues have still not changed an iota. Things have happened to them

by Ryan SyRek

Gayle Sequeira at Film Companion says: “The High Evolutionary’s quest to build a perfect society, razing civilizations to the ground each time he discovers a defect, begins to feel like a potent analogy for the Marvel machine – churn out for sure. They talk about it a lot. They simply haven’t evolved. This alleged “final installment” for the squad essentially resolves with most players admitting they really should work some stuff out. So, to be clear, even if you don’t find the copious animal cruelty a dealbreaker, it has as much resolution as a long text message that gets replied to with “K.”

“Vol. 3” tries to make the stakes personal but still winds up on the same planet-killing scale as every Marvel movie. Rocket (bradley Cooper) gets enough worlds, and you’ll eventually reach optimization.”

Kelechi Ehenulo at Movie

Marker says: “There’s nothing subtle about Gunn’s writing and direction here, drawing parallels between corporate control, where attacked out of nowhere by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). His friends can’t heal him because the bad guy who tortured and physically/mentally altered Rocket installed a kill switch that will pop his heart if he receives medical attention. Pretty sure that’s a legally allowed medical insurance option in America.

A drunk-sad Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) enlists Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave bautista), and Groot (Vin Diesel) to steal a code that will allow everyone is viewed as intellectual property, to a commentary on child migrants with kids locked in cages – a national outrage at the height of Trump’s presidential reign.”

MontiLee Stormer at MovieReelist says: “I think one thing we them to help Rocket. This involves working with a resurrected Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who Peter still pines for, even though she has no memory of knowing him. The gang must also keep Rocket from falling into the clutches of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who is pretty much how PETA sees anyone who eats a hamburger. you are simply not prepared for how often and in how many ways this wannabe Thanos hurts adorable little living things. because he’s a bad guy, get it?! should all remember is that [this] is a James Gunn movie and as such, feels like a symphony conducted by a child who has heard the music a hundred times but has also had a box of Froot Loops and a 20-oz Mountain Dew.”

To be a little bit nice, although it tonally does not fit for a movie that is clearly studio sanctioned to be family friendly fare, the gross stuff that doesn’t involve raccoon vivisection is fun. A space station built out of biologic materials is as close as we may get to Cronenberg doing a “2001” remake. The seemingly obligatory hallway fight is a fluid-spewing delight. Even the grotesque character design of the High Evolutionary’s chimeric posse is glorious. If only there had been an actual movie around those moments.

Because “Vol. 3” isn’t really a movie so much as a series of callbacks that interrupt a Sarah McLachlan animal abuse ad. It isn’t subversive but redundant, even down to the characters. Drax and Mantis are both portrayed as imbeciles. Gamora and Nebula are so similar they joke about swapping out as Peter’s romantic partner. Rocket and Peter are both gruff, arrogant ne’er-do-wells who want to lead a family. The High Evolutionary is so repetitive, Peter even calls him out for stealing the schtick of previous Marvel baddies.

The only thing that could justify all of this is hijinks. But even setting aside the perpetual pets weeping, the comedy is now reduced to “Gee, ya think?!” one-liners. The “new” thing here is Adam Warlock also acting as intellectually impaired as Drax and Mantis. If it seems like this review is too mean-spirited, please remember that somewhere tonight a parent is going to have to persuade a toddler to go to sleep after seeing a man with a missing face and creatures that look like the family pet brutally murdered.

Grade = C-