Peter Howell: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is a furry tug on the heart inside a smart-ass send-off

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chukwudi Iwuji, Sean Gunn, Elizabeth Debicki, Will Poulter, Maria Bakalova and Sylvester Stallone. Written and directed by James Gunn. Opens Friday at theatres everywhere. 149 minutes. STC

It says something about the current state of superhero movies that the fate of a small frightened raccoon makes a stronger tug on the heart than any imperilled person or planet in the relentless Marvel Cinematic Universe.

James Gunn, the anarchistic creator of the smart-ass “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, wouldn’t have it any other way. He could have made this trilogy capper another comic romp like the first two volumes. Instead the writer/director has turned the most mirthful of MCU properties into the most meaningful of bonding experiences — “Let’s go save our friend!” is the battle cry — where even supposed villains can join in a group hug.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” has always thumbed its nose at convention, cannily corralling leftover comic book characters. Gunn and Marvel achieved synergistic success in the grand tradition of other famous reclamation projects: David Lynch recycled a rejected TV series pilot into his critically hailed film “Mulholland Drive”; Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David turned New York misanthropes (“No hugging, no learning”) into sitcom gold for the small-screen sensation “Seinfeld”; and the Rolling Stones transformed shelved songs (including “Start Me Up”) into their hit album “Tattoo You.”

Gunn, who recently left Marvel to become co-head of rival DC Studios, knows audiences are growing weary of the superhero assembly line and predictable planet-saving plots. Witness the lacklustre box office for Marvel’s recent “Ant-Man” sequel and DC’s “Shazam!” followup and “Black Adam” launch.

“I think there is such a thing as superhero fatigue … if (a movie) becomes just a bunch of nonsense on screen, it gets really boring,” he recently told Rolling Stone.

Gunn gets perilously close to violating his own edict with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which fires the starter’s pistol for the summer 2023 blockbuster season.

Worlds collide and spacecraft explode with dizzying abandon and there are so many characters old and new, the film threatens to numb brains and butts as it rumbles over its 149-minute running time. The bombast is frequently glorious, but “Guardians 3″ might be an even bigger assault on the senses than “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the billion-dollar-grossing animated champ that this film will likely dethrone as box office champ this weekend.

“Guardians 3” remains grounded by remembering what made these bickering badasses so popular in the first place: their perfect appeal as imperfect superheroes, a group of unlikely but devoted friends who regard saving the galaxy as more lark than duty and who utter the word “guardians” with a snicker.

The gang’s all here, despite major events in other MCU films, notably the universe-shattering Thanos antics of “The Avengers” franchise, which are explained away on the fly.

The five original Guardians — galactic treasure raider Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), sarcastic mutant trash panda Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), green-skinned ninja Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), thunderously dumb strongman Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and galoot tree dude Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) — are back patrolling the galaxy alongside their recent recruits, blue-hued warrior Nebula (Karen Gillan) and buglike empath Mantis (Canada’s Pom Klementieff).

Whereas “Guardians 2” gave us Quill’s backstory as a music-loving and Walkman-toting Earth child who was abducted and raised by interstellar bandits known as Ravagers (they’re back, too), the focus this time is on the origin story and current plight of the hilariously arrogant Rocket.

He doesn’t look at all cocky in the flashback opening set to the downbeat strains of Radiohead’s “Creep.” A tight close-up of a young Rocket shows him looking fearfully at an approaching menace.

We soon learn, as the trailer teased, that Rocket was one of many involuntary test subjects for a former Thor foe known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, eminently hiss-worthy). He’s a mad evolutionary scientist determined to “create the perfect society” of hybrid beings to populate Counter-Earth, his planned remake of a certain blue planet.

Jump to current times, or what passes for it in this series. Rocket is in mortal danger not only from the High Evolutionary but also from the machinations of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the pompous Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign.

She’s still pissed at Rocket and the Guardians for some thievery in “Guardians 2.” Ayesha has created a golden avenger named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), who is based on yet another Marvel cast-off. Reminiscent of the laboratory hunk from “Rocky Horror Picture Show” but not nearly as friendly, Warlock is lethally determined to wage war against the Guardians.

Especially Rocket, who is gravely injured in an early skirmish and who will die in 48 hours unless his friends can obtain the High Evolutionary’s source code that will allow for proper medical treatment. Code that, of course, is locked away in the HE’s rather rude domain, which resembles a gigantic orifice. The imaginative production design and art direction seem like a cross between an homage to sci-fi classic “Fantastic Voyage” and a colonoscopy scan.

A more conventional Marvel film might have made more of the fact that Peter has the chance to reunite with his reborn lover Gamora (see “Avengers: Infinity War”), or rather a snarkier incarnation of her. Gamora’s zippy put-downs help fill the sarcasm void left by Rocket’s incapacitation.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” has never been typical Marvel fare, though, and it’s all the better for it. Gunn pulls out all the stops for this “one last ride” for the Guardians. He includes many series callbacks, among them the Redbone tune “Come and Get Your Love” that signalled the ’70s song obsession of the series soundtracks. (This one also features Heart’s “Crazy on You” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands.”)

Gunn has packed his send-off with all the feels, including touching “Island of Misfit Toys” moments between Rocket and his fellow laboratory prisoners, notably an Otter named Lylla (voiced by Linda Cardellini). There’s also a cameo from another character who might otherwise be presumed lost and a profession of love from a highly unlikely source.

There are so many grand sentiments about love, friendship and family expressed in “Guardians 3,” it could almost prompt a tear or two from even the most curmudgeonly of critics.

I’m not admitting to any waterworks myself, but I’m going to feel guilty the next time I shout at a trash panda for knocking over my garbage can.

Star contributor Peter Howell is a movie critic living in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @peterhowellfilm

SHARE: