'Guardians of the Galaxy 3': Rocket's story is tragic but this Marvel franchise is fading fast

How can we miss the Guardians of the Galaxy if they won’t go away?

They’re around for at least a third installment, anyway, in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” If the franchise moves forward it’ll definitely be different. That’s not a plot spoiler, it’s a business reality — James Gunn, who wrote and directed all the “Galaxy” movies for Marvel, including this one, is now the co-head of rival DC Studios; his next film will be “Superman: Legacy.”

Maybe Gunn should have gotten out of the “Guardians” game before he made this installment.

It’s not a disaster, and it doesn’t lack for ambition.

But it’s wildly uneven and kind of blah, if that can be said of a movie with nonstop, often incoherent action, self-aware needle drops and not nearly enough smart-aleck quips from a cast we’ve seen deliver plenty of them in the past.

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Rocket's emotional origin story carries Guardians of the Galaxy 3

The story centers around the team’s efforts to find a device they need to save Rocket the raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper), who is gravely injured after an attack on Knowhere, the Guardians’ headquarters, by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a powerful gold man (really). Warlock has nothing against Rocket; he's just trying to retrieve him for The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). So are others.

This is a massive oversimplification; there’s a lot going on in the movie. It goes back and forth between Rocket’s early life as a lab experiment called '89P13' and his current state, a Guardian in dire need of a medical miracle.

It’s quite a swing, and it’s at once emotional and jarring. The young Rocket grows up in horrific circumstances, along with other animals who call to mind the hybrid creatures put together by the evil Sid Phillips in “Toy Story.” They’re the results of experiments conducted by The High Evolutionary, who announces his agreeably lower stakes for an Marvel Cinematic Universe movie: “I’m not trying to conquer the universe,” he says. “I’m perfecting it.”

Turns out that’s not so great, either. Some of the scenes with the animals are genuinely gruesome, and sad. It’s easier to become more emotionally invested in them than it is in the film’s main characters, which is something of a problem.

How is Gamora alive in Guardians of the Galaxy 3?

Getting the band back together for a rescue mission happens a little too easily. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), also known as Star-Lord, but only sometimes, is now a drunk. “Everyone around me dies,” he says early on.

He’s mourning the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who still exists, but in a different version, one that has no memory of their romance. (Don’t worry, it’s not you — it’s tough to keep up.)

Everyone else is worried about Peter. Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (voice of Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) are still around, so the core group is more or less intact. They have to navigate all sorts of narrative mazes to get the piece of technology they need to save Rocket.

A working knowledge of the first two films is all but essential. (Although that makes a musical call-back toward the end particularly sweet.) That’s also a reminder that these, and all the other MCU movies, have been going on for a while now. I can’t keep up with whatever iteration of the MCU we’re supposedly in, but this film seems kind of tired — though not nearly as much as the latest Ant-Man movie does.

Is there a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 post-credit scene?

When the first “Guardians” film came out, it seemed like it was going to be an iffy little effort from the Marvel B-team. Instead it was delightful, one of the best of the Marvel films — cheeky and fresh, it didn’t feel like just another piece in the MCU puzzle, as it wasn’t beholden to the increasingly interlocking storylines. Pratt was a great surprise, a Walkman-wearing rogue who found his destiny while cranking up “Come and Get Your Love.”

The second film was fun but couldn’t recapture all of the magic of the first one.

By now, that magic has all but disappeared. Pratt doesn’t seem as gleefully unhinged as Peter. Drax, it becomes obvious by the second film, is a one-note character (though Bautista plays that note as hard as he can). Gillan’s Nebula occasionally threatens to break out as an essential character, but then retreats.

It’s all OK, nothing more. There are, of course, a couple of post-credit scenes that tease a version of the future. But maybe with his DC career in front of him, Gunn finally had the right idea.

It feels like time to move on.

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'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' 2.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: James Gunn.

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista.

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, May 5.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' review: The feel-good fun is gone