Well, they finally did it. The MCU was able to get me to shed a tear over a film. Just when I thought that Marvel Fatigue and a lack of valuable production time and creative voices were starting to rear their heads, they delivered. Not even during the climactic moments of Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame had I felt the emotional weight of a story come crashing down like waves in a tsunami onto me. What Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was able to accomplish in the vast and ever-expanding space of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is particularly special.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 continues the story of the famed Guardians. Now legends taking up shop in “Knowhere”, the head of a dead god featured in the trilogy’s second iteration, they’re attacked by a new player to the game: Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). Warlock, as introduced in the previous installment, is a creation of “The Sovereign”, who return in this film as servants to the movies other big bad, The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who wants to recapture Rocket for his race of perfect beings. Rocket becomes incapacitated in the opening minutes, and the rest of the Guardians embark on a quest to save his life and confront his maker.
It was apparent while watching the film that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could have been 30 minutes shorter and still delivered. I’m not upset at the long runtime, but it felt to be stretching for some areas when it didn’t need to. That said, the extra time didn’t hinder the film’s delivery of its narrative at all.
What makes this film so special is just how well it interweaves narrative elements and emotions together in harmony. There are moments that will make you laugh, moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, moments of joy that I actually felt along with the characters on screen, and moments that bring the waterworks. The stellar, and further expanded, cast deliver in spades on screen, and the clear chemistry they all have is more than evident after 5 total films together.
What fascinated me the most is how forward-thinking Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seemed. Watching the film with a backwards facing lenses, it’s incredible to see how much was set up in the first film that pays off two films and two Avengers tales later. Narrative threads almost 10 years in the making got proper payoffs that felt real. That’s a testament to James Gunn and his incredible work behind the camera and the pen. In a time where the WGA is on strike to support the pay of their writers, it’s great to see on screen how important writing is to the success of the film.
I also loved how much Gunn wanted to explore deeper into each character. Gone are the days of one-dimensional, “I’m just here to kick some ass” characters on screen. Each of the main members of the Guardians are given real, tangible development that make sense to their characters. I especially loved how much we get to explore Rocket’s background. He is, despite being incapacitated for a majority of the film, this movie’s main character. We get so much more of his story through some phenomenal, coma-induced flashbacks.
It wouldn’t be a Guardians film without mentioning the soundtrack. The filmmakers delivered yet another masterpiece of a soundtrack. From delicate, deeply impacting songs like Radiohead’s acoustic ‘Creep’ to heart pounding, action-accompanying anthems like ‘No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn’ from The Beastie Boys. Couple that with a delightful score from composer John Murphy and I was immersed in the film throughout it’s nearly 3-hour runtime.
We also wouldn’t be talking Marvel without action and digital effects. What I can say is that the action delivers in a big way. I was on the edge of my seat for every fight scene. There is also one particularly long one take fight scene that just took my breath away. I am a sucker for one take action done right, and they certainly did it right.
The digital effects, on the other hand, were not always the most thrilling. I was least impressed with the people of “Counter-Earth”. Not to say it was downright bad, but it was definitely off. Luckily, they’re not kept around either.
I said in my review of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania that the entire film felt like a “coming soon” trailer for the MCU and less about wrapping up Ant-Man’s story. Luckily, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we get the exact opposite. The film serves tremendously as the conclusion to a story independent from the larger universe it’s attached to. I appreciated this greatly and it worked to great effect.
Final Thoughts
It’s rare in cinema to get a trilogy of truly great films. The original Star Wars trilogy, Lord of the Rings and Toy Story come to mind. It’s doubly as impressive when you can, like these films have, cross barriers to huge mainstream success. It’s time we gave James Gunn and the entirety of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy their dues. They delivered on Marvel’s first truly great trilogy of films and did so without needing to lean into the material en masse already laid out by other MCU projects. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is truly spectacular, and I recommend you go immediately to see it.
