Very rarely do blockbuster movie franchises end on a high note without doing a disservice to the films that came before it, but filmmaker James Gunn succeeds in beating the odds with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 finally making it's way to theaters and delivering an emotionally satisfying finale to a ragtag group of misfit characters, who've grown to become a noteworthy staple for the MCU.
Picking up where Vol. 2 left off and taking place after Avengers: Endgame, Vol. 3 has Peter Quill, (Star-Lord), rallying his team to save Rocket from an old enemy, as well as the universe in a mission that could potentially spell the end of the Guardians if not successful. With Vol. 3 marking the end of the Guardians franchise, Gunn wastes no time in raising the steaks here and delivers an emotional backstory to Rocket's character that's often tough to watch. Although nothing tops the first Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3 manages to comfortably surpass Vol. 2 with the story being a clever mixture of heart, laughs, and a poignant tale regarding both friendship and family. It's the ideal finale that fans wanted the franchise to have while establishing Gunn as being one of the strongest Hollywood filmmakers working today.
As far as performances go, Vol. 3's cast kills it with each actor and actress perfectly matching their counterparts to the point where both operate in sync with each other. Chris Pratt makes for an ideal Peter Quill/Star-Lord with the latter shown to be devastated over the loss of his deceased lover Gamora, with her reemergence conflicting with his governing of the Guardians. Zoe Saldana is equally terrific as Gamora's varient, now serving as the leader of the Ravagers. Saldana does a fine job of playing a hardened Gamora, who has no recollection of her past life with Peter's team, yet becomes conflicted with wanting to help them fulfill their mission while uncovering the truth about her past. Both Pratt and Saldana's chemistry remain spot-on with the audience feeling the depression that Quill's character experiences with Gamora not remembering their relationship. Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan are terrific as highly skilled warrior Drax, and Gamora's adoptive sister Nebula, whose slowly healing psychologically from the abuse and torment that she experienced at the hands of her father, Thanos. The rest of Vol. 3's cast give scene-stealing performances with Pom Klementieff being fantastic as Guardians member, Mantis, whose Quill's half-sister and carries empathic powers, with Bradley Cooper providing the films heart as the genetically engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter, Rocket, and Noah Raskin voicing the character's infant version. Along with the Guardians ensemble, Will Poulter is strong as Adam Warlock, a powerful artificial being created by the Sovereign to destroy the Guardians with Chukwudi Iwuji dominating as Rocket's evil creator, the High Evolutionary, who seeks to forcibly enhance all living beings into a "special race."
With Gunn returning to the directors chair, he keeps everything consistent in regards to quality and atmosphere while maintaining the same Zany style humor that dominated the previous Guardians films and gave it such a warm experience for fans. As far as the action and violence goes, this is the darkest film in the series with Gunn showcasing several scenes that demonstrate a characters PTSD regarding his past experience, which includes both experimental and animal torture with the rest of the films Sci-Fi action being destructive. In terms of overall visual look, Guardians manages to avoid the criticism that recent MCU films have received with their effects looking rushed and unnatural. At 149 minutes, Gunn keeps things moving relatively steady with the story and characters being placed front and center. Like the previous Guardians, Gunn once again knocks it out of the park with the soundtrack consisting of catchy tracks including Radiohead's classic Creep, along with The Flaming Lips Do You Realize, and Reasons by Earth Wind & Fire that help establish the stories tone. With Vol. 3, Gunn delivers an experience for audiences that's as equally funny and heartwarming as it is visually stunning.
Some of the key themes explored in Vol. 3's story include teamwork, perseverance, and courage with Quill's team working together to save Rocket regardless of what challenges lie infront of them. Here, Gunn prioritizes giving more insight to Rocket's background including relationships with childhood friends that places the audience on the hook emotionally with his character arc. Along with making Rocket's backstory central to the plot, the script also tackles Peter's character being devastated by the loss of Gamora with him showing visible heartbreak and frustration towards her not remembering anything regarding their past. Gunn supplies the film with a healthy amount of the franchises trademark juvenile style humor, which includes a clever usage of the MCU's first F-bomb. Although the new film is the darkest of the trilogy, the themes that made the series feel so personal to audiences regarding friendships and family come into strong focus here and serve as being the heart of the story with it also marking the series most mature entry.
While it may upset fans that the franchise is coming to its long-awaited end, they'll be pleased with the way it goes about wrapping things up. As a film that's meant to bring the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise to a fitting close, one can't imagine a better finale to the series than the one that Gunn presents here with the newest installment being tremendously fun to watch while packing an emotional punch. Not only is Vol. 3 the best one since the first, it's one of Marvels strongest films to come out of its most recent phases with it recapturing some of the lost magic. In retrospect, fans couldn't ask for a better conclusion to James Gunn's remarkable superhero space franchise.
Final Verdict: A must see for Marvel fans.
Images Courtesy Of Disney
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