Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 Review

To absolutely no one’s surprise, this article will contain spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, so please, proceed at your own risk.

Marvel finally made the comeback they needed with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, and in this article, I will be sharing my thoughts about the film.

One thing that I most enjoyed about the film was the exploration of the character Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). It was so compelling to see his backstory be further explored and fleshed out which served to make him a much more complex and unique character than in previous Guardian of the Galaxy films. It was honestly quite moving to witness his torture at the hands of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) as well as seeing his reaction to the deaths of his friends, Leefs, Floor, and Lylla. I’m not too proud to admit that I was blinking away my tears during their deaths.

Another thing I enjoyed was the High Evolutionary. His portrayal as someone who just wants to change the world as well as his treatment of Rocket and the fact that he was so uber-unsympathetic made him a much more compelling villain. Chukwudi Iwuji will win many fans with the amazing job he did playing the character.

I also loved all of the Guardians in the film - something that I think will be shared by other viewers. Each of them got their moment to shine, and seeing them argue with each other, grow with each other, and make mistakes with each other, was incredibly rewarding, not to mention fun, to watch. The standout characters for me in the film were Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), and of course, Rocket himself. In comparison to other directors, there is no one who cares more about their characters than James Gunn, and this comes to the fore in this film and every other film of his back catalogue.

The soundtrack in this film is a banger (just like all the previous soundtracks for the Guardian Trilogy). My favorite songs would be Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machines and No Sleep Till Brooklyn by the Beastie Boys. I also enjoyed the visuals and the action quite a lot in the film. My favorite action scene would probably be the hallway fight on the High Evolutionary’s ship. The choreography, combined with the soundtrack and one take editing made it great.

Perhaps the most rewarding thing about the film is that they gave a proper conclusion to the Guardians without actually killing any of them off. Despite there being no deaths, it was still emotional and genuinely moving seeing them together for one last time, before they headed off on their separate journeys.

If I were to pick out any sort of complaint about the film it would be a tiny niggle I had with the character Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). The character as well as Poulet’s performance in the film was great,and so it left me wishing we could have seen more of him. Though admittedly it wasn’t unexpected, I wasn’t really a fan of him being nerfed, since he is one of the biggest powerhouses in the Marvel Comics. While I understand why it has been done, I am not really on board with it.

Overall, I give this film a 9/10. I loved seeing them one last time - the humor was engaging and fun and the characters were skillfully drawn and gripping to watch.