Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

3. The Tone Is All Over The Place

James Gunn has proven himself a master of expertly juggling tones in the past, pinballing between goofy humour, measured darkness, and well-earned sentimentality, but Vol. 3 marks an altogether heftier challenge than even he is fully able to weather.

It's been duly noted in the lead up to the threequel's release that it's by far the darkest film in the trilogy, and while Gunn generally handles the bleaker aspects of the story well, they don't always mesh neatly with the more typical, silly adventure movie elements.

Numerous times throughout, Gunn cuts from an extremely grim moment in which something horrific has happened to a friendly character, to a fist-pumping, head-banging rock tune, and after a while it can't help but feel a little jarring and disorientating.

Gunn is admittedly trying to spin a lot of plates here, and the ambition is admirable, but he doesn't quite manage to bridge the gap between the various moods he's attempting to capture.

A little more breathing room between the darkest and lightest aspects of the film would've been nice, but at the same time, this movie is long enough already. Speaking of which...