Movie review

Rocket-centric Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 flies high with action and emotion

In a lot of ways, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies have always felt different from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s not just because they take place mostly in space and feature innumerable strange creatures and aliens. As written and directed by James Gunn, the films have had the ability to combine laugh-out-loud insanity with grounded, heartfelt moments, something made more difficult due to the lack of human characters.

Amazingly, Gunn has made perhaps his best film yet, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, his last one for the MCU before leaving to take over the DC Extended Universe. And he does so by presenting a story with low stakes for the galaxy but high personal stakes for the Guardians: Trying to save the life of Rocket (Bradley Cooper), who gets gravely injured in a fight early in the film at their home of Knowhere.

To do so, Peter (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) – and, eventually, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) – must track down a piece of code that will fix the mechanically-altered raccoon. Their quest leads them to a world called Counter-Earth, where a villain named the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) is trying to create a utopia with other modified creatures.

As a whole, the film is the long-awaited – by both the rest of the Guardians and fans – origin story of Rocket, with Gunn interspersing flashbacks to Rocket’s early days as one of the High Evolutionary’s experiments with various animals. To say that the story is tragic, both for Rocket and the other animals around him, is an understatement, as they are subjected to grotesque body alterations that seem to serve no purpose other than pleasing the sadistic nature of the High Evolutionary.

What the audience is witnessing is objectively weird and off-putting stuff, yet Gunn is able to present everything in such a way that the strangeness melts away, leaving just the emotion of the situations. Rocket’s bond with his fellow mutated animals quickly becomes the heart of the film, with their scenes together never failing to be touching even in lighter moments.

However, as with the previous two Guardians films, hilarity abounds throughout, with the Guardians constantly making fun of each other and getting into funny interactions at every stop they make. The character archetypes – Peter being the wise-ass, Drax being the dumb guy, Groot … well, he is Groot – are so well-established by this point that all they have to do is hint at their eccentricities and laughs will result.

Even more impressive is the effectiveness of the various action scenes, due to the lack of good CGI in recent MCU films. Given the setting and the various monsters and creatures in play, the film is as CGI-heavy as any Marvel film, but the fights have a visceral nature to them that never becomes boring. A bravura sequence in the final act taking place in a cramped hallway shows off Gunn’s skills and may secure an Oscar nomination for the visual effects department.

Each of the actors playing the Guardians is as good as ever, as they know exactly how to play off each other for maximum entertainment value. It’s been a long wait for the payoff of Adam Warlock, who was teased at the end of Vol. 2 in 2017, and Will Poulter does a fantastic job in the role. Iwuji makes for a great villain, consistently going over-the-top in a way that makes him scary instead of ridiculous.

It’s highly unlikely there will be a fourth Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and even if there is, the defection of Gunn means it likely won’t live up to the types of films he’s been able to create. Vol. 3 is right up there among the best MCU films, with a blend of comedy and drama that can only exist in its galaxy.

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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 opens in theaters on May 5.

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios

Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.

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Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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