Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 4 by Dan Abnett

It's thrilling to see Gunn push through some of his genuinely unsettling creature designs, or settings that feel like they’re taking place in actual physical spaces instead of the bland CGI that makes superhero movies look like watching someone else playing a video game.

It might sound silly to say a film is at its best when it’s less refined, but many recent blockbusters lack the human touch. 3” is most appealing when it defies a “product over art” aesthetic by being clunky and weird. I didn’t even mention the talking dog (voiced by Maria Bakalova), Elizabeth Debicki as Adam’s creator Ayesha, or Sylvester Stallone’s return. Mantis ( Pom Klementieff) is back for comic relief, and Groot ( Vin Diesel) does his thing, but it’s hard to shake how this “Guardians” is overcrowded. Same with Karen Gillan as Nebula, who has become a functional part of the team but lacks actual development. Dave Bautista is fun again, but Drax has little to do. She’s particularly good here, looking at the rest of the Guardians skeptically, especially the one who claims to love a different version of her.Īs for the rest of the gang, it’s gotten a little too big for one movie to hold. 3” about reuniting Peter and Gamora, but it’s more about a background to Rocket’s story, which allows for different chemistry between Pratt and Saldaña. Gamora gets involved with the Rocket mission, but the love story between her and Star-Lord doesn’t drive the narrative like the first two. Peter ( Chris Pratt) is emotionally unstable over what happened with Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña), who was killed by Thanos but has returned as an alternate timeline version of the character who doesn’t remember her time with the GotG. Of course, the Guardians bring baggage on their quest. The mission leads them to the High Evolutionary ( Chukwudi Iwuji), a mad scientist who tried to speed up the evolutionary process for a utopia called Counter-Earth and created Rocket all those years ago. Rocket takes the worst beating and hovers near death for most of the movie, putting the film on two tracks-a flashback to Rocket’s origin story and the present-day tale of the Guardians trying to save him. The golden-hued Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter) comes speeding into Knowhere, pummeling everything in sight with strength that would impress Superman. Rocket sees himself as the weirdo, the creep, but the movie will teach him that he’s so f-ing special, of course. In another film filled with clever needle drops, it’s a tone-setter. 3” opens with Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) listening to “Creep” by Radiohead.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 4 by Dan Abnett