Sylvester Stallone

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3

03/05/23

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Marvel Studios have had a lean time of it lately, with audiences and critics alike underwhelmed by their offerings, even if they do continue to generate huge profits. From their many properties, only two have continued to hold any allure for me: Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, mostly by virtue of the fact that neither of them takes itself too seriously.

Of course, since the previous GOTG, a lot of water has gone under the proverbial bridge. Writer/director James Gunn has been cancelled, sacked by Marvel and then installed at DC films, where he’s risen through the ranks like a meteor. He’s finally back at Marvel as a revered guest to helm the third (and allegedly final) instalment of the franchise he created.

But the fact that Volume 3 has a running time of two-and-a-half hours gives me cause for suspicion. Is it going to go all earnest on us? Well, yes and no.

When we hook up with The Guardians, they are struggling to get on with their everyday lives in a place called Knowhere – a quirky new colony they’ve set up. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is mourning the death of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who Marvel fans will remember was one of the many characters snapped out of existence by Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. A version of her still exists, mind you, but she has no memory of her previous life and is now a Ravager under the command of Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone, who appears to be cruising through his role on autopilot). Gamora has no memory of the fact that she and Quill were once lovers, which is… awkward to say the least.

Volume 3 devotes a large part of its running time to an origin story for the team’s most enigmatic member, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and for me – against all expectations – these are the scenes that have the most impact, effectively adding heartbreak to a story that previously relied more on its comedy chops. There’s still plenty of the latter in evidence, especially in the bickering between Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and the endearingly dim-witted Drax (Dave Bautista). Meanwhile, Nebula (Karen Gillan) seems to have beef with just about everybody she encounters, which can get a bit wearing.

But the Guardians’ everyday life is rudely disrupted by the arrival of a remarkably buff Will Poulter as genetically-engineered golden boy, Adam Warlock. He’s been sent by megalomaniac geneticist, The High Evolutionary (Chuckwudi Iwuji) to collect Rocket (with whom The High Ev has an old score to settle). Pretty soon, there’s a major battle going on.

While I appreciate this is a comic book movie and there have to be some large scale punch-ups, I surely can’t be the only viewer who’s getting a little tired of watching spandex-clad characters being repeatedly smashed through brick walls, causing multiple explosions as they go? Sadly there’s an awful lot of that going on, and another issue for me is that, as the story progresses and the Guardians get split up, I’m not always sure where said punch-ups are taking place at any given time. Indeed, there’s so much fighting going on that, even with that portentous running time, the film sometimes feels curiously over-stuffed.

I know I’m fond of using the curate’s egg analogy but it’s never felt more appropriate than it does for Volume 3. Yes, there’s plenty to enjoy here; I won’t argue the point. But there are also some extended action set-pieces that have me wishing for access to a fast-forward button. Maybe it’s just me. Perhaps there are people out there who want more of that and less of anything new. I don’t know. Die hard Guardians fans will probably want to sit through till the bitter end for the by now obligatory post-credit sequences, the first of which is slightly baffling, while the second can only have significance for the kind of people who would choose GOTG as a specialist subject on Mastermind. (I confess I had to Google it. It helps if you’ve seen the Guardians Holiday Special on Disney + – apparently.)

Despite my grumpiness, I like a lot of this – but not quite enough of it to merit a four-star review. And a final caption announcing that ‘The Star-Lord Will Return’ does not exactly fill me with anticipation. Maybe that’s enough Guardians for one lifetime.

3. 8 stars

Philip Caveney

Creed

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07/01/15

if asked to create a list of franchises that didn’t really need another instalment, the Rocky series would surely figure high on a lot of people’s lists. It’s easy to forget, though, that back in 1977, the original film lifted the best movie Oscar, trouncing rivals of the calibre of Taxi Driver and Network. Sadly though, the film’s writer and star, Sylvester Stallone went on to produce a series of increasingly cartoonish sequels (he did the same thing with his other big franchise, Rambo) and its these inferior films that tend to linger in the public’s consciousness.

So how do you find a new angle on the story? Writer/director Ryan Coogler, creator of the much-admired Fruitvale Station,  has given it his best shot and it’s to his credit that the resulting film is as watchable as it is. Creed  focuses very much on an African-American perspective. Where earlier films had a powerful white man overcoming black champions, here the familiar story is pitched in reverse (and is therefore arguably a more realistic premise).

Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) is the illegitimate son of the late former world champion, Apollo Creed. He’s grown up with not so much a chip on his shoulder as a five ton boulder. Raised by Creed’s wife in the lap of luxury, Adonis still has an overpowering urge to punch people for a living and has already been the victor in a string clandestine bouts in Mexico, but he longs to go legit. So he throws in his cushy job in L.A, moves to a tiny flat in Philadelphia and searches out a suitable trainer. Inevitably, his gaze falls upon Rocky Balboa, the only man ever to have beaten his old man in the ring.

These days, Rocky (Stallone) is running a restaurant named after his late wife, Adrian and is suffering from a few health issues. Initially reluctant to return to his former life, he sees something in Adonis and… well, you can pretty much work out the rest. Ultimately, it does come down to another gruelling string of training and fighting sequences and those viewers who are turned off by the sight of grown men brutally pummelling each other to unconsciousness are not going to like this at all. There are a few cleverly placed references to the original movie and interestingly, Adonis’s main opponent here is former heavyweight champion, Tony Bellew, playing a character called’Pretty’ Ricky Conlan. Ironically, he looks considerably less buff than most of the actors in the film, but having said that, I still wouldn’t want to trade punches with him.

Jordan is convincing as the ‘hungry’ kid on the block, Stallone still mumbles so much, you only recognise three words out of every five and the film is ultimately KO’d in the final round by some decidedly mawkish dialogue as Rocky points out that Adonis’s punch up with Conlan is just the same as his own battle with the big C. But the climactic fight is thrillingly staged and while it’s not a patch on the likes of Raging Bull or The Fighter, it’s nonetheless the best Rocky film in a very long time.

Not exactly a knockout, then, but it wins on points. Stallone is already threatening a rematch.

3.8 stars

Philip Caveney