Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. centers around the concept of family – not necessarily defined by blood, but rather by choice. As the motley crew embarks on their final journey, it’s clear that family means always standing by each other’s side, no matter what.
James Gunn has expertly guided the three Guardians of the Galaxy films, delivering some of the MCU’s most comical – and downright goofy – moments with this weird and wild trilogy. However, with this final outing of the band of misfits, audiences are treated to a deeply moving and unexpectedly heartbreaking storyline, making it one of the MCU’s most emotionally engaging films to date.
Vol. 3 opens with Peter “Star-Lord” Quill (Chris Pratt) a drunken, sulky mess. He’s not over Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and has pretty much forsaken the role of team leader. With Peter all but useless, the Guardians are stuck biding their time just hanging out in Knowhere.
As such, they’re totally unprepared when Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) crashes through Knowhere’s walls. A genetically engineered “perfect” being with incredible strength, Warlock is fixated on capturing Rocket. Fortunately, he fails. Unfortunately, Rocket is mortally wounded during the chaos.
The attack is enough to finally pull Peter out of his drunken stupor. Rocket’s at death’s door, and the group’s shocked to discover their med packs can’t fix him. The genetically and cybernetically enhanced raccoon has a kill switch implanted and can only be saved by retrieving his original programming.
The quest to save their heroic, wise-cracking furry friend immediately gets underway. The Guardians have a very limited window of opportunity to obtain the programming and heal Rocket against nearly insurmountable odds.
As Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Peter set out to confront the film’s biggest bad – the High Evolutionary (a terrifying Chukwudi Iwuji) – new heart-wrenching details about Rocket’s origin are revealed. The High Evolutionary is a deranged genetic engineer with a fixation on creating flawless beings for his utopian society. Rocket was just one of many lab animals he experimented on.
A terrified baby Rocket didn’t understand what was happening or why he was in such pain. At his most vulnerable moments, it was three fellow lab animals that provided him with comfort and companionship. Lylla the otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the walrus (Asim Chaudhry), Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), and Rocket spent their days planning for a future free from their confines, as promised by The High Evolutionary. However, a mind-blowing discovery redirected Rocket’s course, leading him to ultimately join forces with the Guardians.
Rocket’s advanced intellectual and reasoning capabilities stood apart from the other hybrid creatures, and the High Evolutionary sent Warlock to retrieve him for further experimentation.
Of course, there are other storylines in this final two-and-a-half-hour finale. But none of those other storylines, including Peter’s reunion with Gamora and his attempt to remind her of the feelings they previously had for one another, hold a candle to the reveal of Rocket’s tragic backstory. Yet as incredibly moving as part three of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is, there’s still plenty of the humor that helped catapult Star-Lord and his crew from lower-tier Marvel characters to box-office stars. Vol. 3 is also loaded with stunning action sequences backed by a rocking soundtrack.
Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Zoe Saldana know these characters well, have embraced their strengths and flaws, and collectively deliver their best performances as part of the MCU. Vol. 3 allows Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket to find a new layer to the feisty raccoon, and even Vin Diesel’s voice work for Groot has evolved as much as possible, given that he’s limited to a three-word vocabulary. And Drax’s emergence as the heart of the Guardians, thanks to Dave Bautista‘s terrific performance, feels well-earned. Drax appears to good-naturedly accept the role he’s been assigned of the least intellectually inclined member of the team, yet the pain he feels when those closest to him discount his contributions is there in his eyes.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be a bit lengthy, but it’s understandable given that it’s bidding a heartfelt farewell to a group of friends who’ve been through a lot together – and have saved the world on several occasions. This final installment has a lot of emotional depth, more so than the previous two films, and the decision to give Rocket the spotlight pays off with a movie that’s not only a funny conclusion to the Guardians of the Galaxy series but also surprisingly touching.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action, strong language, suggestive/drug references, and thematic elements
Release Date: May 5, 2023
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Studio: Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures
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