Big Picture Big Sound

A criticism lobbied against Marvel films is that they are too filled with jokey humor and quips. It can be a confounding sentiment because these are big, silly, and deeply unserious movies, even when they often present "the end of the world is nigh" as a primary plot point. Even when the stakes are high and effective (as they have been in several Marvel movies), it's hard to forget that we are watching big-name actors play dress up in front of a green screen. A little humor keeps them from taking themselves too seriously.

James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy negates the defense of quips and jokes. The 2014 original, and its 2017 sequel, take the movies' sense of humor to the extreme with overdone one-liners and a habit of nullifying serious moments with lame jokes. There's been a pervasive smugness running throughout the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, and it doesn't stop with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

The latest installment brings Gunn's manic energy to his final outing with Marvel (Gunn has since been hired with running DC Films, so he is stepping outside the Marvel family for their supposed rival). At a bloated 150 minutes, the burst of kinetic energy and action in the opening moments turns grating as those Guardians do their thing.

The gang is all back, led by Peter (Chris Pratt), who is mourning previous events surrounding Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and is joined by Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon (a series highlight) becomes a focal point of this movie when he's in peril under The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a villainous character from Rocket's past, which the movie sloppily cuts back-and-forth between. Will Poulter joins the cast as Adam Warlock, in a role that gets lost in the mayhem.

As Gunn departs his time with Marvel, he tries to inject a melancholic sense of finality to the movie, which can only be effective if you care about these characters (see the star rating above for that answer). There are fleeting moments that work on that level, but are often undercut by Drax babbling on about something or Groot saying his famous one spoken line ("I am Groot").

All superhero movies lead to the final battle, which is when "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" really begins to fall apart. The action is so frantic and repetitive, it's hard to keep track of what's going on. Never has a Marvel film been so filled with indecipherable final battles, which only go on so they can insert another clever needle drop on the soundtrack.

The lengthy runtime is par for the course with superhero movies, but "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" tries to do much. It's Gunn's last outing with these characters and he tries to get every last idea out of his head and onto the screen, which makes for messy movie. While nothing is every truly over in Hollywood (especially when they make as much money as this is going to), perhaps this is the right time for Gunn to move past these characters.