Spoiler Alert: Guardians of the Galaxy, Part 3 · 2:07pm Aug 6th, 2014
: The two not-lovers then head back to the bar to break up a fight between Rocket and Drax. Rocket definitely breaks the rule of 'show don't tell' in this scene, spilling out many of his own insecurities, but the scene still feels mostly legitimate since he's drunk. ....which we mostly know because Quill told us so.
Gosh darn it!
: They finally get to meet the Collector, who tells them that the orb contains an Infinity Gem, one of six jewels that contain great power. We already saw one in Captain America/the Avengers, and another in Thor 2. Each works off a different power and is a different color, but they're practically unstoppable when wielded together.
....why does this sound so familiar?
: A-anyway, it turns out that these gems are extremely difficult to wield without killing yourself. When one of the Collector's servants tries to wield it, it blows her and much of the room up.
: At least the Collector's dog survived!
: Well, yeah. The Guardians argue about what to do now that they know about the gem's true power, until Ronan's fleet suddenly arrives. The drunk Drax had called Ronan to challenge him, forcing the other Guardians to fly off with the Gem to keep it away from Ronan's forces. Oh, and from Amy Pond...I mean Nebula, Gamora's evil cyborg half-sister. Did we mention that there are a lot of characters in this film to keep track of?
Also, Ronan curb stomps Drax. It's really sad to see a character who used to be able to contend with Thanos get his flank handed to him by Thanos' unremarkable underling.
: The Guardians lose the Gem ta Roman's forces, an' Gamora ends up floatin' unprotected in space. She lasts the full minute it takes fer Quill ta fly ta her an' give 'er 'is life support gear. Then, 'fore HE can die, they both get captured by Yondu's ship.
Bein' a Manipulative Bastich, Quill convinces Yondu ta work wit' the Guardians ta take the Gem from Ronan an' hawk it. We then get a pretty heartfelt scene where Quill admits that 'is plan's probably goin' ta get the Guardians killed, but they still stick wit'em anyways.
: Meanwhile, Ronan takes the Gem for himself and goes to d-destroy Xandar on his own. Nebula joins him because she doesn't like Thanos and has been looking for the chance to betray him.
Wow, poor Thanos. It sounds like no one likes him.
: Um, I wouldn't feel too bad for the world destroying psychopath, darling. When Ronan arrives on Xandar, he has to fight off all of Yondu's gang in their fighter ships. Meanwhile, the Guardians sneak on board to take Ronan down themselves. But Yondu's forces begin to falter, until....
: ....the Nova Corps show up! They blast their way up close to Ronan's ship, then combine their ships to create a giant force net that stops Ronan in his tracks! They're awesome!! They're....
....they're okay. I guess. You know, not Wonderbolt material or anything, but still.
: Riiiight. Anyhoo, Gamora defeats Nebula, an' the Guardians barge inta Ronan's command room. They blast him wit' a giant gun!
....and he survives.
But then Rocket rams Quill's ship inta the command room! Ronan's ship begins ta fall, forcin' Groot ta turn 'is body inta a giant shield, savin' the Guardians. Howe'er, Groot seems ta die in the process.
NOT GROOT! NOOOOOOO!!!
And I always kinda liked Ronan, if only because Lee Pace seems to be operating at almost M. Bison levels of ham and cheese here.
2348192 Yeah, you just know they (temporarily) killed off the most innocent character just to mess with us.
While I personally didn't enjoy Ronan that much, my problem with him and Drax fighting is based mostly off of Drax's performance in the film. He's introduced later than anyone else, is given little screen time, and only has one truly BA moment, and that's when he blasted Nebula. I don't even know this character all that well, and I still felt bad for him in this.
It probably would've helped if this film wasn't so full of content. There's just so much going on that a lot of what we learn about the characters is through talking. It would've been nice if Drax or Gamora had gotten a flashback to establish their pain and motivation better. I wouldn't even need a full flashback; just a few traumatic images while they explained what happened to them.