“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Review
(From Left) Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) go on one last ride as the Guardians of the Galaxy in their third film.
Despite the overall longevity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, certain characters, like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romonov, have concluded their stories within the larger storyline in a satisfying way. Now, after two solo films, three cross-over appearances and a holiday special, the marvelous Guardians of the Galaxy have reached the end of the trail with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” the third and final film to star this peculiar bunch of unlikely heroes.
With “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” having come out six years ago, a lot has happened to the team of heroes since then. They helped save the universe from Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” worked a bit with Thor in “Thor: Love and Thunder” and even playfully kidnapped Kevin Bacon in “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.” Now, The Guardians are continuing to pursue peace and justice throughout the cosmos when they are attacked by a mysterious being called Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) who wants to bring Guardian Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper) back to his creator The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). During the fight, Rocket is critically wounded and the rest of the Guardians go on a journey across the cosmos to save their friend and stop the High Evolutonary’s evil plot to remake the universe.
When the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film came out nine years ago, no one expected it to become one of Marvel’s biggest hits. Now, these characters have become pop culture icons and just as well known as superheroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America. In this film, you truly feel the sense of family that these characters have created. Despite being powerful heroes who helped save the universe, they still have personal problems and demons that must be confronted.
The idea that this is the final film to star this team is heartbreaking because of how well they interact with each other. But for a final film, it’s still wonderful to see Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket Racoon, Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) ride into the sky for one last ride.
In particular, Bradley Cooper shines as Rocket, whose backstory is heavily explored in this film. While Rocket has always been an entertaining and mysterious character, learning about his origins is engrossing and tragic, especially when his creator comes looking for him. It’s been hinted that Rocket’s life before the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film was incredibly dark and this film confirms this with Bradley Cooper’s emotional performance being the emotional heart of this film.
Bradley Cooper’s performance as Rocket is stellar as the film explores his origins and deep scars.
As for the rest of the Guardians, their dedication to Rocket’s well-being and each other shows just how far these characters have come, especially since they spent half of the first film fighting each other and came together mainly by circumstance. Now, they’re basically a dysfunctional family and these special relationships really carry the film’s more dramatic story.
Make no mistake, this film’s comedy is side-splitting with James Gunn’s usual style of PG-13 humor. With each installment of the trilogy, the journey of the Guardians has become more dramatic while still having a somewhat childish and delightfully inappropriate sense of humor. However, this film shows a bit more of James Gunn’s darker side and it feels like he was given a lot more freedom to push the film’s PG-13 rating to the limit, especially since “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker,” his most recent comic book projects, have been well received with their R-rated sensibilities. While Gunn stays in the PG-13 lane here, this film truly earns that rating with the emotional and physical brutality you’d want from a final chapter of this story.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” may have differences with its emotional maturity but it still has the best elements of its predecessors to make it a cohesive part of this smaller franchise within the overall MCU. The film still has a strong sense of imagination with colorful environments and creative action. The fight sequences are well-choreographed and show off every character’s strengths while also having a strong sense of urgency. While gigantic displays of conflict are a lot of fun, there’s still the feeling that these characters are in great danger and you have no idea if the Guardians will survive this adventure.
As usual for a “Guardians of the Galaxy” film, the soundtrack is incredible and, unlike the first two films, the songs aren’t restricted to 60s and 70s hits. With a diverse range of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, Florence and the Machine, Heart and Beastie Boys, this collection of songs is not just there to sound cool and to make even more money for Marvel though album sales. The Guardians revere music and see it as a way to connect with each other. It’s what gets them through the day and it helps elevate the most emotional and most comedic moments of this film.
While I would say that “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is as good as the first, I don’t think it’s quite as strong as the impressive second film. There are elements of the film that drag it down, the biggest of which is the villain. While The High Evolutionary has the potential to be a great villain given his connection to Rocket, he feels fairly generic considering that we’ve seen this type of villain before. He’s an egomaniac who wants to alter the universe to be better at the cost of all life in the universe. We’ve simply seen this before with far more interesting characters like Ego in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
The character Adam Warlock, while entertaining, also feels tacked on. You could have removed him from the plot and nothing would have substantially changed since he’s a lackey of the main villain. Granted, Will Poulter brings his all to this role and its appreciated but none of the characters introduced in this film are able to compete with the more established heroes.
I’m sure that The Guardians of the Galaxy will return in some capacity, this film makes it clear that this is the end of this lineup of heroes. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” celebrates its finality and creates a grand conclusion for this rag-tag group of misfits and weirdos that is well-deserved. While I’m going to miss these people, it’s been an absolute blast following their adventures these past nine years and, as always, I can’t wait to see where the cast and crew, James Gunn and the Marvel Cinematic Universe land next to spread their unique energy across the world of cinema.
