Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The opening credits of the first Guardians of the Galaxy saw Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) landing on a planet, entering a cave, putting on the headphones to his old Walkman cassette player, and playing “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone as he dances and struts through the cave. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the film’s opening credits are of Baby Groot dancing to “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra while the rest of the Guardians are fighting an inter-dimensional monster in the background. Both credit sequences set the tone for these movies and these characters perfectly: they’re light, colorful, and fun.

The opening credits of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the latest James Gunn entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, immediately let us know that this isn’t going to have the same tone and feeling as the previous Guardians of the Galaxy films. The opening credits follow a dejected Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) walking through Knowhere, an inhabited giant celestial head where the Guardians have taken residency, to a melancholic acoustic version of “Creep” by Radiohead. We see the team helping clean up Knowhere with fellow citizens, except for Peter, who is in a complete state of depression following the departure of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War but came back when the “snap” was reversed in Avengers: Endgame but has no memory of her and Peter’s relationship. This is a different opening and a different way we’ve seen these Guardians and it prepares us for the emotional journey ahead.

This somber opening is followed up by Rocket being attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a golden human with superpowers, who was sent to retrieve Rocket by The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), an evil superhuman who ran experiments on animals that made Rocket the way that it is. Rocket is put on life support and due to the experiments The High Evolutionary performed on it, needs a special code to access his heart to be resuscitated. This sends the Guardians, Peter, Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) on another swashbuckling space adventure to save their friend.

This is darker and more emotional than any other Guardians movie, with some sad and dark moments. The saddest parts come in flashback sequences of Rocket’s upbringing, as we see how and why The High Evolutionary experimented on Rocket and other animals and learn more about Rocket’s past. These scenes are disturbing and heart-wrenching and may be too intense for some younger children seeing the film. But Gunn also makes sure to not lose the personality of the Guardians that made us all fall in love with them in the first place. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may have some difficulty balancing all these tonal shifts, but they tie up and end nicely.

With James Gunn being done with Marvel and heading to the world of DC, the tagline of the movie being “Once more with a feeling”, and several interviews from members of the cast, it’s all but assumed that this will be the finale of seeing this team of Guardians together and Gunn gives them a worthy sendoff. Knowing that this is the grand finale, Gunn makes sure to complete each Guardian’s individual story while also showing us that each one of these galactic loners has a place in the galaxy. Each hero also gets their moment to shine on the action front, culminating in a finale fight where all the Guardians are mowing down henchmen of The High Evolutionary. This is one of the best scenes in any Guardians movie and in the MCU. It’s a thrilling, expertly choreographed sequence that shows how badass each hero is while also showing how great this team is when they all work together.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, completes the best trilogy/series within the MCU. The three Guardians of the Galaxy films are a cohesive trilogy, each film having its own stories and plots while also having stories and character arcs that carry over from movie to movie and being tied up in a nice bow at the end of Vol. 3. This lovable group of a-holes has always been wonderful to see in the MCU and even though the Guardians may not be completely over, this group seems to be, and they will be missed.

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