Where I Watched it: Disney Plus
English Audio Description?: Yes
Narrated By: Laura Post
There is something rather refreshing about watching a film after all the major critics who get screenings have had their say. Will I agree? Or, will I push back? I think Guardians on their final outing was mostly well received, and i agree with that.
There’s something kinda disrespectful about Bob iger taking to platforms to claim the doom and gloom, and following some of the clickbait YouTubers who think Disney is broken. if anything, Guardians Vol 3 proves that Marvel isn’t broken, and Disney Plus doesn’t diminish the film output. The Guardians had their own Christmas special, not to mention the cute Groot shorts. That did not stop James Gunn from executing his vision in the Guardians final outing as this collective group.
I also was surprised at how centric Rocket Raccoon is to the project. Not only does it really take his character on such a mature journey, but by the end of the film, Rocket has made such a huge transformation in terms of where he began to where he ends. A lot of that has to do with a gut wrenching backstory involving the movie’s villain, the high Evolutionary, and his apparent view of animals as disposable.
If you are someone who does not like to see animals die, this is not your film. I’m sorry that it has come to this for you, and that you can’t finish this trilogy, but animal abuse is such a major factor in this backstory of where Rocket came from, and it’s a heartbreaking past. There were others similar to him, one standout being Lyla (voiced by Linda Cardellini), and I was not ready for her character to impact me the way she did. Cardellini’s voice work is a testament to how that character works.
The high Evolutionary is also pretty terrifying, almost in that horror movie villain way. Ego and Ronan have nothing on this guy. He was born from nightmares, and continues to birth more nightmarish concoctions. James Gunn has strong roots in the horror genre, and on the way out the door at Disney, he pushed the envelope in a way I’m not sure parents are ready for. observe that PG-13 rating, because the deaths are often brutal, but because so many of them happen to animals we seem to be OK with making this PG-13.
In the mix of villains is Adam Warlock, a character not fully embraced by critics, but I enjoyed Nicholas Hoult’s take on this character. He is not the main villain, but is used to great effect when needed. He’s like Nebula to Thanos, and now that Nebula is a guardian, it felt OK that the High Evolutionary would have someone like Adam Warlock.
For our good guys, they are mostly trying to save Rocket. We see returns of past Guardians characters like the Ravager group headed by Sylvester Stallone’s captain, as well as much more screentime for Sean Gunn’s Kraglen and Cosmo. I was worried that Cosmo wouldn’t really do anything, but even Cosmo has a scene where if they don’t succceed, everyone basically dies.
Chris Pratt is a very different Star lord, one beaten down by the loss of Gamora. in his interactions with the Gamora ripped from time, it seems like he keeps wanting to try to pull a memory that doesn’t exist, and this back and forth really gives Pratt and Zoe Saldana much needed layers to their characters. In one outburst, Gamora asks Star lord what must be so wrong inside of him that he needs her to fix it? It’s a totally different dynamic, and for the fans who were hoping Gunn would pull some overdone trope of Star Lord being able to convince Gamora of their undeniable love, it becomes a very different path and story.
All of the characters have grown. Mantis, in just one film became more assertive, and her screentime with Drax makes them a delightful pair. Drax is offered a much needed emotional weight to his character, as the rest of the Guardians see something else in him in this adventure they haven’t seen before. And, of course, Nebula has made an almost total 180 into accepting what real family looks like, in a no questions asked type scenario. Her devotion to saving Rocket, who she credits for having saved her, propels the film. Lastly, what they use Groot for the action sequences is the best he’s ever been. There’s a running joke about how Gamora can’t understand Groot anymore, and thinks people are just screwing around with her when they have conversations with this thing that just keeps saying I Am Groot. However, in a performance that I’ve always thought was rather pointless to pay Vin Diesel, even he has one very poignant I Am Groot that reaches to your soul.
For my money, this was the best of the trilogy. It used everything Gunn had built in the previous two films, plus everything the Guardians went through in the Avengers films. There’s far more happening here than Bob Iger seems to want to give credit for. The audio description is essentially haunting. With some of the things that the High Evolutionary does, it becomes clear that if i didn’t know the horrors, the monsters created, his abuse of animals, as well as the fantastic action sequences with Groot, or any of the myriad of character descriptions for things that have no basis in real life, I would not have the same experience.
This is where having walked on both sides of the vision line really drives something home. I was able to see the first two Guardians films. I’m familiar with what these characters look like, and the style. I know how well Gunn uses music to assist his sequences, not really the score, but rock classics. I appreciate the time the visual effects team puts into characters like Rocket and Groot.
but the film I can’t see, the one I relied totally on audio description, featuring a new villain I’ve never seen (not even from a comic book), as well as the various things Gunn pulls out of his director’s toolbox, is my favorite in this series. That proves, that when done well, the whole thing can be really effective, and for people who lose their vision at a point in their life, it gives them an opportunity to continue with stories and characters they are already in love with and invested in. It might not be the Marvel Universe, or the Guardians for that person. It could just be a long running TV series, or the legacy sequel 30 years in the making. But it helps keep us connected to the things we already love, and if the project is this good, we actually can say it finished on a high note.
This is why I fight so hard for accessibility.
Final Grade: A
