family movie review guardians of the galaxy 3

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Guardians of the galaxy vol. 3, common sense media reviewers.

Trauma, teamwork at heart of darker MCU threequel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Like previous installments, focuses on teamwork, p

Guardians are brave (if at times impulsive), smart

Centered around a White male lead. Though people o

Several upsetting scenes involving Rocket's past,

Flirting, intense eye contact, and a couple of com

Includes the first use of "f--k" in the Marvel Cin

Brands visible include Sony, Ford. Part of the bro

In an early scene, Peter gets so drunk that he mus

Parents need to know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the third (and theoretically final) feature film in the massively popular MCU sub-franchise about the ragtag found-family group. This time around, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Mantis …

Positive Messages

Like previous installments, focuses on teamwork, perseverance, and empathy. Demonstrates power of friendship and found family, the reality of coming to terms with your past while also moving forward, the necessity of offering -- and accepting -- forgiveness and second chances. Lessons about believing in yourself, warnings about the evils of bigotry, eugenics, supremacy.

Positive Role Models

Guardians are brave (if at times impulsive), smart, thoughtful, strategic. They might have had shady pasts, but they stick by a code and are loyal to one another, acting heroically to save their families and friends. They are examples of how individuals form kinship bonds. Peter learns to accept that things won't always work out the way he wants them to. Some villains are outright evil, but at least one finds redemption, illustrating the franchise's belief in second chances.

Diverse Representations

Centered around a White male lead. Though people of color play several key roles, nearly all are hidden under makeup and VFX, including Zoe Saldana (Black Latina) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (Greek-Filipino American) as Drax, Pom Klementieff (Korean) as Mantis, Vin Diesel (multiracial) as Groot, dulling any sense of ethnic diversity. The main visibly non-White character is The High Evolutionary, the central villain, who's played by Nigerian actor Chukwudi Iwuji. Women are more than sidekicks here and don't just exist to prop up the male characters. They have agency and contribute to the group, whether it's physical strength or super empathy/persuasion.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Several upsetting scenes involving Rocket's past, which is revealed to be a traumatic story of grief and animal torture/death (hybrid creatures made through experiments may be alarming to young kids). Massive destruction. Many weapons (guns, bombs, blades, more) used to blast, threaten, harm, and kill. Characters are shot, incinerated, and decapitated, with gore and skeletal remains visible. One main character is near death for much of the movie. Other sympathetic characters are killed or appear to die. Children are held captive. Intense one-on-one fights and one choreographed battle sequence that's Kingsman -like in its violence. When Nebula is badly hurt, she can snap her body parts back into place, which can be jarring. Medical procedures shown. Alien creatures bleed in many colors. Large, intimidating monsters/hybrid creatures. A character pries something out of someone else's bloody head after that person dies a violent, revenge-fueled death. A character is attacked, and his face is left a bloody mess. A character's skin-covered mask is taken off, revealing a bloody face below. Many people die when a person made for killing terrorizes and kills others. A leader destroys an entire planet of inhabitants whom he views as expendable experiments; this same attitude affects his opinion of most other living creatures. A living space station has a lot of squishy, goopy features that may be unpleasant for some. Mantis sometimes makes creatures do things against their will. Arguments/yelling.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Flirting, intense eye contact, and a couple of compliments. Mantis makes a security guard fall in love with Drax.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Includes the first use of "f--k" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: "Get in the f---ing car." Other strong language: "s--t," "d--k," "ass," "a--hole," "d--khead," "stupid," "douche bag," "bitch," "damn," "dammit," "screw you," "dang," "shut up," "idiot," "twit," "piss," "suck my --" (incomplete), "moron," "butt," "dumb," "freakin'," "friggin'," "oh my God," "hell." Groot's comments can sometimes be interpreted as cursing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands visible include Sony, Ford. Part of the broad MCU franchise with countless tie-in products available.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

In an early scene, Peter gets so drunk that he must be carried out of a tavern -- and it's clear that it's not the first time. A character witnesses a drug deal involving underage beings. The drug is later referenced as meth.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the third (and theoretically final) feature film in the massively popular MCU sub-franchise about the ragtag found-family group. This time around, Peter Quill ( Chris Pratt ), Drax ( Dave Bautista ), Groot ( Vin Diesel ), Nebula ( Karen Gillan ), and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) must enlist the help of "other timeline" Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ) to save Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) from a villain who believes he's working for the betterment of the galaxy by trying to create the perfect species. This is the darkest and goriest of the three Guardians films: It explores the deep-seated trauma that one of the characters experienced early in life and has upsetting scenes of animal torture and experimentation. There's also explosive sci-fi action violence, mass destruction, decapitations, weapons use, blood, skeletal remains, and a huge body count (some of them sympathetic characters). Expect a fair bit of strong language, including the MCU's first F-word (dropped by Quill in a moment of frustration), plus "a--hole," "s--t," "d--k," "bitch," and more. Characters flirt, and Quill gets extremely drunk. But he's also fiercely loyal to his crew, and the Guardians continue to demonstrate teamwork, perseverance, and courage. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (70)
• Kids say (83)

Based on 70 parent reviews

Lots of Animal Abuse - Know before you go

Too sad and violent and not very good or funny., what's the story.

In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, the Guardians, having (mostly) survived the events of the previous MCU films , are living in Knowhere in a state of low-key PTSD. That's particularly true for Peter Quill ( Chris Pratt ), who's still mourning the death of his Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ). Then Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) -- a killing machine genetically engineered and raised by Sovereign leader Ayesha ( Elizabeth Debicki ) to destroy the Guardians -- ends up surprising the gang and leaving Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) near death. Nebula ( Karen Gillan ) and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) discover that Rocket has a "kill switch" inside him that needs to be overridden if they want to save his life, so the whole gang -- including Groot ( Vin Diesel ) and Drax ( Dave Bautista ) -- head off to track down the code. Their search ultimately leads to the ultrapowerful High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who's trying to create utopian societies throughout the universe. Rocket's past -- and his connection to The High Evolutionary -- reveal how he came to be, what kind of creature he really is, and even how he got his name. Meanwhile, Peter must come to terms with the reality that the Gamora who's from the other timeline introduced in Endgame never lived through the love story he shared with the Gamora who died in Infinity War .

Is It Any Good?

Surprisingly heartfelt, this movie is the darkest and most personal of the three Guardians films -- but also the most uneven. Writer-director James Gunn knows how to make this ragtag bunch work, but there's a layer of sadness that envelops the proceedings, despite the many laugh-out-loud moments. On the one hand, this mission has the established camaraderie of the second movie, one of the most ruthless villains in the entire MCU (The High Evolutionary is memorably terrifying with his perfection obsession), and a decades-spanning soundtrack that includes everything from Radiohead's "Creep" and the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" to Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" and Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over." On the other hand, the extensive flashbacks to Rocket's past, while illuminating, have such a different pace and character development that Vol. 3 sometimes feels like two stories smooshed together. The introduction of Adam Warlock is also uneven, and Poulter, who's a talented and funny actor, isn't given much to do except preen, kill, and whine for most of the movie.

Then there's the Gamora factor, which is necessarily complicated because she's not the same Gamora audiences have grown to love. It's difficult to feel invested in this Gamora, and her presence is sometimes more unpleasant than humorous. Like Peter, many viewers are likely to miss the old Gamora too much to enjoy Saldana's performance here. Pratt knows how to continue to make Star Lord lovable and messy and a bit of a wreck, and Cooper does a lovely job of conveying the trauma that Rocket experienced, as well as his core desire to belong to a found family. Bautista gets a great moment to shine when he forms a bond with a group of genetically engineered children, and Gillan's Nebula has her biggest role in the group to date, stepping up as a real leader. The visual effects focus on hybrid creatures created for potential utopias and sequences of violent whole-world destruction. The hybrids are purposefully uncanny and unsettling. It's unclear whether there will be more Guardians films in the future now that Gunn has left the MCU, so this is a good time to enjoy his final contribution to the franchise -- and be thankful for the questions he finally answered here.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 . How does it compare to the two previous movies? To other MCU movies? What's the impact of violence on kids?

Which characters do you consider role models? How do they demonstrate teamwork , perseverance , and courage ? Why are those important character strengths ?

Talk about The High Evolutionary's vision: What's wrong with his way of thinking? What does he lose by viewing Rocket and his friends as failed experiments? Can you think of parallels to real life?

What did you think of the soundtrack to Vol. 3 ? Kids/teens: Does the movie make you interested in music from the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s?

What do you think happens next? Is the franchise done, will it continue as-is, or will it follow only a couple of the main characters?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 5, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : August 2, 2023
• Cast : Chris Pratt , Zoe Saldana , Karen Gillan , Dave Bautista , Bradley Cooper , Pom Klementieff
• Director : James Gunn
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors, Asian actors
• Studio : Disney/Marvel
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Adventures , Friendship , Space and Aliens
• Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 150 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements
• Last updated : July 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Parent Guide

There's nothing new in this marvel movie, except for a sexual expletive and excessive alcohol consumption. not exactly a franchise upgrade..

Theaters: After the events of the Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy rally together to protect the galaxy from a being determined to create the perfect society by any means necessary.

Release date May 5, 2023

Run Time: 150 minutes

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

Rocket (Bradley Cooper) has always been secretive about his past and the experiments that gave him his unusual size and intelligence. (Seriously, how many talking racoons do you see walking around, even on a spaceship?) But no matter how far Rocket has run, his past has found a way to catch up with him.

A mysterious superbeing called Adam (Will Poulter) is sent to retrieve Rocket and bring him back to the man who made him: The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a dangerous megalomaniac with a penchant for genetic and cybernetic engineering. Although the Guardians are able to stop Adam from taking Rocket, Rocket is fatally injured in the attack. Attempts to resuscitate him reveal a “kill switch”, a device which will destroy Rocket’s heart if any medical aid is provided without a proprietary code – a code which is kept at a facility used by The High Evolutionary. If the Guardians want to save their friend, they’re going to have to go right into the belly of the beast.

This has everything you’d expect from a Guardians movie – the petty bickering, the zany antics, the solid soundtrack – and nothing you haven’t already seen at least twice. They’ve been making the same jokes about these characters this entire time, and it’s not making things any funnier. This movie tries to balance things by filling out Rocket’s traumatic and emotionally intense backstory, but it’s not enough. It just feels like more of the same, now with animal cruelty. Not sure if that’s as appealing as the studio thought it would be.

Speaking of animal cruelty, parents might be distressed to see some of the content concerns that have cropped up. This film is noticeably more violent than most Marvel offerings, with much more graphic scenes of death, torture, and general destruction. It also includes Marvel’s first “f-bomb”, an achievement for which I’m sure we’re all duly proud. I mean, if you count from the first Iron Man movie, this franchise has been around for roughly 15 years – it’s a teenager crying out for attention with provocative language to compensate for the fact that we’re all getting sick of their nonsense.

I’m sure the usual cluster of die-hard Marvel fans will still have a fabulous time, and gladly sit around in the theater for another 15 minutes to chatter over whichever third-rate comic book character is going to crop up in the indulgent post-credit scene. I don’t begrudge them that – by all means, enjoy what you enjoy. Me? I was out of there before the first line of credits hit the top of the screen. I’ve got better things to do with my life than watch a major studio tease information that means nothing to me, and which they’ll just end up explaining in the next movie anyway. Pardon me for not waiting with bated breath.

About author

Keith hawkes, watch the trailer for guardians of the galaxy vol. 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Rating & Content Info

Why is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 rated PG-13? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements.

Violence: Individuals are frequently beaten, stabbed, shot, and blown up. There are several scenes depicting surgery and medical procedures, some of which are closer to torture than healthcare. There are references to genocide. An individual’s face is mutilated by an enraged animal. A character suffers extreme freezing and bloating due to vacuum exposure. Several individuals are decapitated. Sexual Content: None. Profanity: There is a single sexual expletive and one scatological curse. There are infrequent mild profanities and terms of deity. Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters over-consume alcohol to the point of unconsciousness. Aliens deal an unidentified drug.

Page last updated January 11, 2024

Related home video titles:

Fans will already be familiar with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1 and Vol.2 . The Guardians also play a role in the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame . Other recent offerings from the Marvel cinematic universe include Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , Thor: Love and Thunder , and Spider-Man: No Way Home .

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, guardians of the galaxy volume 3.

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James Gunn loves his outcasts. One of the most interesting things about his “ Guardians of the Galaxy ” movies has been watching the tug-of-war between Gunn’s outsider instincts and a franchise-generating machine that’s as insider as it gets. He's one of the few filmmakers who has operated in the massive system of the biggest movie money-making factory in the world without sacrificing his voice. Watching his “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is to see a director who knows how to balance corporate needs with personal blockbuster filmmaking. Mostly. This sci-fi/action/comedy still succumbs to a few of the MCU issues of late—bloated runtime, things-go-boom finale, too many characters—but there’s a creativity to the filmmaking, dialogue, and performances that modern superhero movies often lack. Much of the recent talk has been about the potential for AI-generated blockbusters , and I like when “GoTG 3” is at its messiest. Gunn is like that kid who is not only playing with his action figures; he’s pulling them apart and smashing them back together to make them into new creations. He doesn’t just love these losers, he wants to see them save the universe again. You will too.

“Vol. 3” opens with Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) listening to “Creep” by Radiohead. In another film filled with clever needle drops, it’s a tone-setter. Rocket sees himself as the weirdo, the creep, but the movie will teach him that he’s so f-ing special, of course. 

It all starts with an attack. The golden-hued Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) comes speeding into Knowhere, pummeling everything in sight with strength that would impress Superman. Rocket takes the worst beating and hovers near death for most of the movie, putting the film on two tracks—a flashback to Rocket’s origin story and the present-day tale of the Guardians trying to save him. The mission leads them to the High Evolutionary ( Chukwudi Iwuji ), a mad scientist who tried to speed up the evolutionary process for a utopia called Counter-Earth and created Rocket all those years ago.

Of course, the Guardians bring baggage on their quest. Peter ( Chris Pratt ) is emotionally unstable over what happened with Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña ), who was killed by Thanos but has returned as an alternate timeline version of the character who doesn’t remember her time with the GotG. Gamora gets involved with the Rocket mission, but the love story between her and Star-Lord doesn’t drive the narrative like the first two. Many filmmakers would have made “Vol. 3” about reuniting Peter and Gamora, but it’s more about a background to Rocket’s story, which allows for different chemistry between Pratt and Saldaña. She’s particularly good here, looking at the rest of the Guardians skeptically, especially the one who claims to love a different version of her.

As for the rest of the gang, it’s gotten a little too big for one movie to hold. Dave Bautista is fun again, but Drax has little to do. Same with Karen Gillan as Nebula, who has become a functional part of the team but lacks actual development. Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) is back for comic relief, and Groot ( Vin Diesel ) does his thing, but it’s hard to shake how this “Guardians” is overcrowded. I didn’t even mention the talking dog (voiced by Maria Bakalova ), Elizabeth Debicki as Adam’s creator Ayesha, or Sylvester Stallone ’s return.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is most appealing when it defies a “product over art” aesthetic by being clunky and weird. It might sound silly to say a film is at its best when it’s less refined, but many recent blockbusters lack the human touch. It's thrilling to see Gunn push through some of his genuinely unsettling creature designs, or settings that feel like they’re taking place in actual physical spaces instead of the bland CGI that makes superhero movies look like watching someone else playing a video game. There’s a version of “Vol. 3” that’s even more chaotic and personal—the final act especially feels like it’s knocking off prerequisites on an MCU checklist—but every time this blockbuster felt like it was edging more to content than art, it won me back.

It's in the small choices made by Gunn and an ensemble that would clearly follow him into battle at this point. Pratt has been phoning in some of his lead film roles lately, but he’s always clicked best on-screen as Peter Quill, equal parts hero and chump. Giving him a broken heart allows Pratt to push away some of the cocky smarm that has derailed him in other projects and allows us to like Quill again. Saldaña is having fun returning to the basics of a warrior like Gamora, convincing us she could carry a movie like this alone. But, most of all, this is Rocket’s film, a story of how he overcomes trauma to be the hero he was always meant to be.

While the villain is a bit underwritten—most characters are simply due to the cast's sheer size—something interesting here unfolds on a thematic level beyond the basic hero/villain narrative. Without spoiling all the details of Rocket’s origin, his arc shifted when he solved a problem in the High Evolutionary’s experiments on his own, sending the villain off into a spiral of insecurity and sociopathology. In a sense, this is a story of a vengeful God, someone who lashes out when his creation not only proves himself independent but arguably more intelligent than its creator. Tales of creations who turn on their wicked creators are as old as myth, but Gunn weaves that idea through a Marvel vision with just enough clever subtlety to give his film more depth than a lot of its peers. Gunn reckons with the idea of a wicked God, one who sees his creations as experiments more than actual beings. It’s a story that fits Gunn perfectly as he tries to defy the Hollywood machine by bringing his imagination to life. He's the creator who wants his creations to outshine him. 

The flashback/mission structure of “Vol. 3” sometimes drains the film of momentum, and everyone who has seen a Marvel movie knows that this will end with many team-ups and explosions. And yet even when the film is checking those items off the list, it does so with Gunn’s personality intact, whether it’s in his music choices or intense imagery that could startle younger viewers. So much of the recent MCU has felt cravenly desperate to do just enough to turn a profit. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is a reminder that the best blockbusters don’t just sing along to a well-known tune like “Creep”; they make the song their own. After all, we’re all the weirdos. And Gunn would say that makes us all pretty f-ing special too.

In theaters on May 5 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements.

150 minutes

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord

Zoe Saldaña as Gamora

Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer

Karen Gillan as Nebula

Pom Klementieff as Mantis

Vin Diesel as Groot (voice)

Bradley Cooper as Rocket (voice)

Sean Gunn as Kraglin / On-Set Rocket

Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary

Will Poulter as Adam Warlock

Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha

Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Dog (voice)

Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord

Daniela Melchior as Ura

Writer (comic book)

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 review – a big-hearted emotional rollercoaster

Putting a cute raccoon centre stage, James Gunn is taking no chances with this slick, mischievous, supposedly final third instalment of the Marvel series

W hile much of Marvel’s output has rather blurred together of late into a gaudy onslaught of overplotted multiverse-hopping, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies have, for better or worse, always had a distinctive personality. What elevates Vol 3 (supposedly the final film in the GOTG series) is the way it keeps that personality, nodding to the irreverent swagger that is a crucial component of the Guardians USP while delivering a series of devastating emotional sucker punches along the way.

To achieve this, director and co-writer James Gunn takes the fail-safe, heartstring-twanging route of placing adorable animals in peril, exploring Rocket the raccoon’s traumatic backstory, and touching on some unexpectedly dark themes – eugenics and vivisection – in the process. There’s a kinship with Bong Joon-ho’s Okja : both pictures celebrate loyalty and friendship while also acknowledging humanity’s capacity for unimaginable cruelty to other species.

As a young, impossibly cute kit, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) fell into the hands of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a mad scientist with a God complex who believes that a perfect society starts in a macabre animal-testing laboratory. Rocket escaped, but in doing so he was separated from his soulmate, Lylla (Linda Cardellini), a pure-hearted otter with prosthetic metal arms. Now the High Evolutionary wants to recapture his most successful experimental subject, and he sends beautiful, gilt-edged dullard Adam Warlock (Will Poulter, great fun) to reclaim the raccoon.

Classic rock needle drops and showy, snaking, single-shot action sequences – both GOTG trademarks – abound in a picture that balances a slightly overstuffed storyline with mischief, humour and the biggest of hearts.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 review: The best Marvel movie in years

Writer-director james gunn has since jumped ship to dc, and the mcu will miss him dearly, article bookmarked.

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When the Guardians of the Galaxy first debuted in 2014, they were a band of relatively obscure heroes served up as an amuse-bouche between the snappy spectacles of Iron Man and pals. Writer-director James Gunn had done a few splattery horror movies, an ultra-violent, indie comic book adaptation, and two Scooby Doo s. And leading man Chris Pratt was known primarily as the goofball from Parks and Recreation . But here’s the thing about being an outlier: you have nothing and everything to prove, and Guardians of the Galaxy taught every future comic book movie that there was no limit to how funny and dorky but still deeply sincere you could be with your heroes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is a farewell to the franchise (at least from Gunn’s perspective, as he’s since hopped over to DC), that’s really a reminder that they always represented some of the very best Marvel has to offer. What Gunn’s done here isn’t even rocket (raccoon) science – he’s just crafted well-drawn, textured characters in a story told with care and commitment. And it’s a story told in a world that continues to feel distinct and almost entirely self-contained, something safely quarantined away from the wider narrative of the MCU. Vol 3 contains both Marvel’s very first f-bomb (landed with perfect timing) and a heist on a fleshy satellite in which the Guardians bounce around in primary-coloured, 2001: A Space Odyssey -style space suits.

Gunn, who also wrote the film’s script, had repeatedly said that his trilogy finale would focus on one member of this intergalactic crew – the Bradley Cooper-voiced, eternally cranky Rocket Raccoon. That’s certainly true in one sense. Here, the majority of the action revolves around the Guardians’ quest to uncover Rocket’s true origins, which are linked to experiments conducted by galactic eugenicist the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, who makes for an exquisitely grandiose but sinister villain). We get flashbacks a-plenty to baby Rocket – watch out Grogu, your merchandise empire is about to fall – and the de facto family he finds amongst his naive, severely traumatised fellow experiments, voiced by Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, and Mikaela Hoover. It is, as you might be able to guess, sob-inducingly moving.

However – and this is frustratingly rare in comic book films – Vol 3 is fully invested not only in how its core characters have evolved so far, but how they can continue to evolve. No one is sidelined. No one is wasted. It is, on top of its main plot, a break-up movie about the hollow feeling of bumping into an ex and realising they’ve moved on. Although in this case Star-Lord (Pratt, reminding us that he can be extremely charming when the role calls for it) is having to deal with the fact that his ex, Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora, is actually an alternate-universe version with no memory of him.

Vol 3 is also about realising the friend that’s the butt of every joke is a complex person whose life still has worth and meaning (true in both cases when it comes to Pom Klementieff’s gremlin-souled Mantis and Dave Bautista’s overly literal Drax – their friendship is the funniest and sweetest element of the film). It’s also, finally, about the pressures of being covered in gold and absolutely shredded – Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, created to be the perfect man, actually turns out to be the pouty toddler to Elizabeth Debicki’s flustered mum Ayesha.

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It doesn’t matter who these characters are, whether they’re aliens, psionic dogs (the Maria Bakalova-voiced Cosmo) or adult men who haven’t emotionally moved on from the Eighties. The Guardians films have always been about the fact that many of us are like putty – shaped not by where we’ve come from but where we are and could end up. Vol 3 should make audiences thrilled about what comes next for Gunn in his new position as co-head of DC Studios. As for Marvel – well, it’ll be their loss.

Dir: James Gunn. Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter. 12A, 150 minutes.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’ is out in theatres

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Review: Raccoon Tears and a Final Mixtape

This dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film may only be for completionist fans.

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By Maya Phillips

Animal lovers, comic book fans and unofficial adjudicators of narrative continuity, action and style in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Lend me your ears. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is not the movie for you.

Perhaps this dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film is only for completionist fans like myself, arriving at the theater armed with overpriced popcorn and the hope that the director James Gunn’s latest could replicate the romp and anti-gravity gambol of the first .

For those who need help getting their multiversal timeline untangled, “Guardians” is the second film of the so far ecstatically bad Phase Five of the M.C.U., after the, to quote my colleague, “thoroughly uninspired” “ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. ” We last caught our whole team of lovable riffraff together in “ Avengers: Infinity War ,” when Thanos (Josh Brolin) threw his adopted daughter and galaxy guardian, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), into an abyss to get one of the Infinity Stones, which he used to snap away half of the universe. (There were some dancing Groots and a cute holiday special about abducting Kevin Bacon, but — sorry, Kev — they were irrelevant.)

Now the Guardians are settling in at Knowhere, a community in the severed head of a celestial that serves as their home base. With Gamora gone, Peter (Chris Pratt), a.k.a. Star-Lord, is still grieving, unaware of the fact that somehow Gamora — or, rather, a variant — is alive, sans her memories of him and the Guardians. When, a few minutes into the film, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) becomes victim to a deadly attack, the team is reunited with a hostile, partially amnesiac Gamora, who is reluctantly dragged into their plot to save him.

While Rocket is in critical condition, Peter and company do some risky snooping through Rocket’s traumatic back story to figure out how to save his life and stop the man pursuing him, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). A powerful god-figure, the High Evolutionary has genetically altered Rocket, other animals and even children to create a perfect race to inhabit his imagined utopia. (Yes, that’s another Nazi-coded villain for your Bingo card.)

So much of “Guardians 3” seems to erupt from left field, most prominently the main story, which is driven by Rocket, even though the Guardians have mostly played second-string to Star-Lord, the plot-driving hero. The shift makes sense given the role this film plays as the end of the trilogy, resulting in a Guardians team with a different starting lineup and an unclear position in the context of the rest of the M.C.U. But the shift also feels belabored and emotionally manipulative; scenes upon scenes of shot, blown up, tortured and incinerated C.G.I. animals with big, emotive eyes are as merciless as clips of injured animals set to a Sarah McLachlan song .

It seems “Guardians” needs this much gratuitous trauma bait to establish its stakes and prove that the bad guy is, in fact, bad. Which is unfortunate because Iwuji, who offered a much more nuanced performance in Gunn’s edgy-fun DC Extended Universe series, “Peacemaker,” is left with just a thin silhouette of an antagonist to work with here. (Will Poulter and Elizabeth Debicki also appear as idiotic secondary antagonists, for no real reason.)

Something like Thanos Lite or a knockoff Dr. Frankenstein, the High Evolutionary represents one of the central problems the franchise is facing in a post-“ Endgame ” M.C.U.: characters and circumstances that pale in comparison to Thanos and his cataclysmic, conclusive multi-arc-spanning plotline. Because at least the extent of Thanos’s power and the roots of his villain philosophy were clear. “There is no god — that’s why I stepped in,” the High Evolutionary says at one point. This tiny germ of a motivation does nothing but indicate all the questions that the film could have answered about this character to make him more interesting. Surely an atheist with a narcissistic personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder has some deeper psychology to unpack. Ah well.

Though this “Guardians” is certainly less fun than the others, there are still glints of joy in the more mundane and ancillary quibbles among the found family of misfits. Dave Bautista gives another priceless performance as Drax, and Bautista’s signature chemistry works with Pom Klementieff as Mantis. Groot (Vin Diesel) has leveled up in the bang-bang-shoot-em-up category, as has Nebula (Karen Gillan). Though the film makes no attempt to explain the logic behind Gamora’s magical reappearance (“I’m not some infinity stone scientist!” Peter exclaims after trying to puzzle things out), it does at least give Saldaña the opportunity to reinvent her character, which she manages beautifully. The same for Rocket, who gives an Oscar-worthy performance — via Cooper’s great voice acting, of course, but also via the animation, which makes his faces, postures and movements look so unbelievably believable.

Gunn makes the curious, bold choice to chase an unpleasant aesthetic that’s part Cronenberg, part “ Osmosis Jones. ” A series of scenes take place in a ship fashioned like viscera and innards, with fleshy globules and architectural dendrites, often in nude tones. Squishy sound effects add an unwelcome layer of grossness.

Even when the movie switches back to the more lambent palette of nebulae and the luminous shine of the stars, Gunn’s direction doesn’t serve the full tableau. His camera is too voyeuristic, spinning enthusiastically on every axis during group fight scenes rather than giving us a steady look at the choreography.

At least this “Guardians,” like the previous ones, stays on beat with a fantastic soundtrack of Spacehog, Beastie Boys and Earth Wind & Fire. But pumping soundtrack aside, after a breakout hit and the sequel, “ Everything Would Have Been Fine if Your Dad the Space God Played Catch With You: The Movie, ” this final piece of the trilogy makes one thing apparent: “Guardians” was just a one-hit wonder.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Rated PG-13 for some swearing and a zoo of horrors. Running time: 2 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this article misidentified the actress who plays a secondary antagonist along with Will Poulter. It is Elizabeth Debicki, not Maria Bakalova.

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Maya Phillips is a critic at large. She is the author of “NERD: Adventures in Fandom From This Universe to the Multiverse” and the poetry collection “Erou.” More about Maya Phillips

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'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' sends off its heroes with a mawkish mixtape

Glen Weldon

L to R: Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), Quill (Chris Pratt) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) go for a walk in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Marvel Studios hide caption

L to R: Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), Quill (Chris Pratt) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) go for a walk in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

What, in your mind, is the Marvel Cinematic Universe still missing?

We're neck-deep into Phase 5 now, after all; we've had dozens of movies and streaming series and one-off specials. And while critics can and do bemoan the surface similarities these disparate properties tend to share, the strength of the MCU remains how much variation it manages to offer up in tone, scope, stakes and subject matter. Looking for street-level angst ? Cosmic sweep ? Paranoid thrillers ? Mystic mumbo-jumbo ? Sitcom satires ? Gods and monsters ? Coming-of-age dramas ? Subatomic shenanigans ? Afro-futurist utopias ? Whatever the hell Eternals was supposed to be ? The MCU has something for you.

But maybe, after all these years, you find that your own very particular Marvel itch remains somehow unscratched. So I say this to a vanishingly small subset of you: If you've ever found yourself walking out of an Marvel movie and said to yourself, "I liked it. It was fine. But I don't know. I can't help thinking it could have used...just you know a lot more vivisection," then rest assured your tastes have finally been catered to, you sicko freak.

The gang's all here, sort of

But first: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is pitched as a sendoff to the rag-tag gang of misfits first introduced in James Gunn's 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy , who've since cropped up in several corners of the MCU. As a team, they've always leaned more into mercenary violence and bro-ish banter than anything so hopelessly quaint as heroism, though they do tend to wind up saving the day, despite themselves. They've added some new faces to their roster, one of which is technically an old face. (Zoe Saldana here plays an alternate-timeline version of her character Gamora, whom we met back in the first film; long story.)

There's dim but headstrong Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), dim but strong-strong Drax (Dave Bautista), gruff Nebula (Karen Gillan), empathic Mantis (Pom Klementieff), laconic space-Ent Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and tough but fuzzy raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper).

Also along for the ride: Kraglin (Sean Gunn) a space-pirate struggling with performance issues, Cosmo (Maria Bakalova) a telekinetic space-dog, and a brand new antagonist, Will Poulter's Adam Warlock, a genetically-engineered super-being with the mind of a petulant child in the body of an Instagram fitness influencer.

They're all up against a powerful being known as The High Evolutionary, played with gratifyingly over-the-top, scenery-devouring brio by Chukwudi Iwuji.

The High Evolutionary's nefarious plan? To engineer a perfect species to live in a perfect society of his creation. Which, alas, is where All! That! Vivisection! TM comes in.

Doing Moreau with less

Look, if you're trying to come up with a villain for audiences to dutifully, even reflexively hiss, eugenicists are a pretty good place to start; I get that. And if said eugenicist should also happen to go about their evil business by conducting unholy cybernetic experimentations on cute fuzzy animals like Rocket (in flashbacks) and innocent, adorable, wet-eyed toddlers (in the present day)? Sure. Fair enough. Bad guys do bad things, after all. It's in the job description.

The problem at the core of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn't the mere depiction of said animal experimentation, which created not only Rocket but a cadre of twee furry cyborg pals we get to (briefly) meet. It's the fact that writer/director James Gunn approaches those scenes without trusting his audience to naturally recoil at the idea of animal cruelty.

There is violent imagery, yes. But what makes those scenes profoundly unpleasant to sit through is not their violence itself, but Gunn's mawkish, maudlin, manipulative approach to it. Using every cinematic tool at his disposal, he so feverishly attempts to crank up the horror of those scenes that he only succeeds in exposing their cynical, plot-driven artifice. And by juxtaposing them with moments in which the experiments' animal subjects spout platitudes about the joy of friendship and their dreams of escape, Gunn's unbearable, ham-handed execution aims for pathos but achieves only bathos, its laughably inept evil twin.

Baby Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), one of the film's subtle, understated appeals to emotion. Marvel Studios hide caption

Baby Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), one of the film's subtle, understated appeals to emotion.

You can only tug on the audience's heartstrings for so long before they start to snap off in your hands. To watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is to watch a filmmaker under the wildly mistaken belief that the best way to get you to absorb what he's saying is by screaming it directly into your ear.

There's more to the film than Rocket's trauma narrative (in those flashbacks, Sean Gunn attempts to personify a younger Rocket by pitching Bradley Cooper's dese-and-dose Brooklyn accent up an octave or two, so we the audience get to experience some trauma ourselves).

Game, cassette and match

The central metaphor of Gunn's Guardians films has been the mixtape. Peter Quill's beloved, long-lost mother made him one filled with classic rock jams that supplied the soundtrack to his life (and to the first Guardians film).

Nowadays, Peter's updated his old cassette with a playlist that provides this third film with a more eclectic collection of needle drops (Beastie Boys, The The, The Replacements, Florence + the Machine).

And like any mixtape/playlist, Guardians Vol. 3 includes some real gems. At one point the team visits a space station that's entirely organic, and the production designers go to town creating doorways like heart valves and airlocks like open wounds. There's an extended slow-motion fight in a corridor featuring digital camerawork that swoops around the characters as they trade punches and kicks and laser blasts in a physics-defying manner. It's visually stunning if viscerally inert, like an extended videogame cutscene.

But some of the other songs in this cinematic mix don't hit as hard as they could. Poulter's Adam Warlock feels shoehorned into the overstuffed proceedings, and while Klementieff's Mantis gets more to do than she ever has, both the character and actor still feel underused.

The Guardians, as a team, have never adopted the usual superhero admonitions against the taking of lives. Even so, a scene in which one of our heroes casually instructs another one of our heroes to "Kill them all," still can't help but rankle.

Barbs and insults get well and truly traded — a Gunn hallmark — and most of them land. Mostly, though, a weirdly somber mood pervades the film. Maybe it's that the scenes of animal abuse linger longer, and cast a deeper pall, than the filmmaker has accounted for. If Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a mixtape, it's the one that your ex sends you after you break up with him, full of syrupy, sentimental tunes meant to reignite any last lingering sparks of feeling you may have once shared. It's "Seasons in the Sun" followed by "Alone Again (Naturally)" followed by "Everybody Hurts" followed by "The Christmas Shoes," and it serves only to remind you how right you were to dump the sappy chump when you did.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Review: Rocket’s Backstory Reveals Why These Are Marvel’s Top Heroes

James Gunn brings the underdog superhero trilogy to a satisfying close in this team effort to save Bradley Cooper's smart-aleck raccoon.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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For those who didn’t know the Marvel catalog inside-out, when James Gunn first unleashed “Guardians of the Galaxy” back in 2014, it felt like the company was suddenly calling in the B-team. Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor. Those guys were household names who deserved standalone movies. But Star-Lord? Drax the Destroyer? Lethal green-skinned Gamora, grunting tree-thing Groot and a sarcastic raccoon named Rocket? They felt like parodies of the better-known Marvel characters — not so much superheroes as a ragged crew of sci-fi scoundrels roaming the cosmos in search of trouble.

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In the interval since “Vol. 2”, Thanos smote his stepdaughter Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). Her death left the whole team in despair and sent Chris Pratt ’s dork-stud Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, spiraling. Frustrating as such off-screen developments may be, Gamora’s death and subsequent resurrection provides a unique opportunity for Gunn, who dedicates an entertaining subplot to Star-Lord trying to convince Gamora’s replacement that they made a good couple. “That person was some alternate future version of me,” she explains, hinting at how crazy-complicated the timelines and multiverse wrinkles of the other Marvel movies have gotten.

“Guardians” otherwise remains grounded in a single reality, which doesn’t mean that it’s not an incredibly complex and demanding narrative to follow at times. Floating in space on the severed head of a Celestial, the Guardians are interrupted by a visit from Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), the gold-skinned son of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) and someone who, according to the comics at least, is destined to join the Guardians at some point. For now, he arrives in berserker mode, smashing up Knowhere (as the outpost is called) and dealing near-mortal damage to Rocket, who spends most of the movie on life support, cueing flashbacks to his origins in a grimy, “The Secret of NIMH”-style science lab in another corner of the galaxy.

Warlock has come searching for the genetically modified raccoon, whose “creator” — a demented mad-scientist type known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) — is obsessed with repopulating an Earth-like planet with the most advanced form of various animal species. “There is no God! That’s why I’m taking charge!” Iwuji bellows in a performance of Al Pacino-level over-the-top-itude, playing this maniac as if his face had been ripped off and reapplied as a skin mask. The simple task of trying to summarize the High Evolutionary’s aims reveals just how loony they are, and yet, audiences go along with it because they care about Rocket.

Gunn has been incredibly successful about navigating the line between ironic self-awareness (on his part) and sincere emotional investment (on ours), and there are fewer of the absurd tonal shifts here than in the two previous “volumes” — as when Kurt Russell shattered a serious father-son moment by announcing, “Gotta take a whiz,” last time around. That strategy might get easy laughs, but it undercuts audiences’ connection to the characters. Here, Gunn tries his luck in the opposite direction, risking cheap sentimentality (if not full-blown bathos) by introducing likable new characters whose deaths will jerk tears a few scenes later — except he’s so darn good at it that audiences were audibly weeping when it happened at the film’s premiere. So mission accomplished on that front.

With wisecracking Rocket out of commission, the others get to step up their banter as the action zooms from one imaginative new environment to the next. First stop is Orgoscope, the High Evolutionary’s flesh-covered lab station, which looks like a giant tumor and allows Gunn to turn a standard snatch-and-grab heist into a trippy early-MTV set-piece, full of kooky costumes and old-school comedy routines. From there, the Guardians travel to Counter-Earth, a familiar-looking blue-and-green biosphere based on Star-Lord’s home planet, circa 1980, except the life-forms are all Highly Evolved animal species that walk and talk like humans.

The movie is such a mile-a-minute idea factory that Gunn will introduce a wonky high concept like this and devote just a short segment to exploring it. Fortunately, audiences have grown surprisingly comfortable with this strategy in a time of multiverse storytelling, which means the film can keep throwing fresh concepts at them every few minutes, and so long as Gunn takes a beat to show how this or that new alien species behaves, we get it. A good example might be the giant monsters Mantis encounters aboard the High Evolutionary’s getaway vessel: They look terrifying, with row upon row of shark-like teeth, but aren’t nearly the ferocious people-eaters they appear to be.

While the transportation comparison certainly fits, the obvious model for such level-to-level showdowns has been video games. But unlike other filmmakers, who make it feel like we’re sitting back and watching someone else get to play, Gunn keeps the surprises coming, so audiences are actively engaged throughout, trying to manage multiple storylines and the ever-changing loyalties between characters.

More than mere fancy, the genetic experimentation thread ties back to the state of contemporary earth science, while the High Evolutionary’s views toward Rocket suggests the unknown and slightly intimidating frontier as artificial intelligence threatens to outpace human thought. It’s easier to feel for an anthropomorphic raccoon than for a pseudo-sentient chatbot, but the ethical questions addressed are one and the same. Does the High Evolutionary “own” his creation? What higher purpose does experiment “89P13” serve?

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” arrives as the latest in a series of franchise-wrapping movies, and audiences have reason to be wary of what that means, given the send-offs received by characters such as John Wick and James Bond. Gunn toys with the mortality of his ensemble as well, but he does so responsibly, honoring the bonds we’ve made to these characters over the years, and recognizing that the Guardians can and will evolve.

Reviewed at Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, April 27, 2023. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 150 MIN.

• Production: A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a Marvel Studios presentation. Producer: Kevin Feige. Executive producers: Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Simon Hatt, Sara Smith. Co-producers: David J. Grant, Lars P. Winthe.
• Crew: Director, writer: James Gunn. Camera: Henry Braham. Editors: Fred Raskin, Greg D'Auria. Music: John Murphy. Music supervisor: Dave Joran.
• With: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Maria Bakalova.

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• Movie Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a gorgeous spectacle that confuses schmaltz for sentimentality

James gunn’s third guardians movie is packed with stunning set pieces, but its saccharine attempts at sentimentality and a by-the-numbers plot keep it from ever reaching lift-off..

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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The appeal of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films has always been their ability to feel truly set apart and distinct from the rest of Marvel’s multigenre cinematic universe, all while sticking to the studio’s house style just enough for crossovers to make sense. The first Guardians humorously opened up the MCU on a cosmic scale , and the second solidified its ragtag team of space outcasts as both a family and an important part of Marvel’s plans for the end of Phase 3 . Though Phase 5 is just ramping up , almost everything about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is crafted to be a celebratory farewell to the movie’s characters and the recent era of Marvel’s films they helped define.

Narratively, that’s a fantastic place for the third film in a series to be working from, and Vol. 3 feels like Gunn is working hard to show you just how much these movies have meant to him as a director. But for all of its stunning set pieces, imaginative production design, and a fascinating villain, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gets bogged down by a morass of cringey jokes and a schmaltz so cloyingly “sweet,” it’s almost insulting.

Set some time after the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special , Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tells the action-packed, flashback-filled story of how Rocket Raccoon’s (Bradley Cooper) life being gravely endangered gives the rest of the Guardians a reason to come together and really start working on some of the emotional issues that’ve been haunting them since Endgame . With Thanos gone and the universe mostly restored, things have been going relatively well on Knowhere, the severed Celestial head out of which Rocket, Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) operate as the newest incarnation of the Guardians. 

Despite having become an angry drunk since we last saw him, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still very much a part of the team as Vol. 3 opens on him mourning the death of the Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) he knew and loved before Thanos murdered her in Infinity War — a loss that hit all the Guardians heavily. But unlike Quill, who spends quite a bit of Vol. 3 lashing out with an unpleasant surliness that makes him difficult to sympathize with, pretty much everyone else on the team has made their peace with the fact that while their Gamora might be gone, there’s a different Gamora from the past (see: Endgame ) running around the galaxy now for them to love from a healthy distance.

Figuring out how to pick up narrative threads post- Endgame without feeling excessively stuck in the past is a challenge many of Marvel’s recent movies have struggled with, and Vol. 3 is no exception. There was no way for Vol. 3 to avoid addressing the Gamora paradox problem, and it’s actually a concept that’s always felt intriguing enough to warrant deeper exploration. But rather than unpacking that bit of existential time weirdness and all the ideas about grief baked into it, Guardians of the Galaxy focuses the bulk of its energy on revealing the secret, tragic backstory that led to Rocket’s creation and also conveniently frames him as the latest example of Marvel framing (animal) people as MacGuffins.

The specific reason the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) — an alien geneticist obsessed with engineering perfection into living beings — wants Rocket is far more interesting than the Scarlet Witch’s rationale for hunting down America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness and more unhinged than Namor’s plan to kill Riri Williams in Wakanda Forever. But whereas those films both tried to give their living MacGuffins active roles to play in the present, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tries to tug on your heartstrings with a series of flashbacks to Rocket’s gruesome childhood of being experimented on alongside other sentient, talking animals like Lylla (Linda Cardellini), an otter with cybernetic arms, Floor the Rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), and Teefs the Walrus (Asim Chaudhry).

As it’s jumping between the past and the present, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 often feels like a film that’s overstuffed with ideas, both good and bad, and doing everything in its power to make them all work in too short a time, even though the movie clocks in at over two hours.

The Guardians’ battles with the High Evolutionary’s Sovereign underlings, High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), and her prematurely hatched failson Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) make for some of the movie’s most dazzling fight sequences and do a very solid job of presenting them as a team of cosmic superheroes. But the more time Vol. 3 spends in the past focused on young Rocket — an uncannily cute CGI procyonid Cooper voices like a man doing gruff, stilted baby talk — the more it feels like Gunn doesn’t exactly trust you to have emotional responses to things without being spoon-fed concentrated schmaltz beforehand.

What Gunn does seemingly (and rightfully) have faith in is his own ability to dream up brilliantly twisted, fanciful locations and production designer Beth Mickle’s ability to bring them to life in absolutely stunning detail. As tired as many of Vol. 3 ’s gags and emotional beats are, almost every single one of its transitions to a new locale is a delightful showcase of what all Marvel Studios is capable of, visually speaking, when it’s firing on all cylinders to realize the vision of a filmmaker whose ideas it trusts. It’s also clear that the film’s cast has faith in Gunn, and he in them, and the result is a set of performances that — Pratt aside — work surprisingly well when the movie’s script isn’t getting in the way by making them say unfunny things. Unfortunately, though, that tends to be the case more often than not.

The degree to which you’re going to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will largely depend upon how personally invested you’ve become in these characters over the years. Because the movie really is meant to be a send-off rather than an adventure that will make you fall in love with the Guardians for the first time. To that end, Guardians of the Galaxy does manage to send its eponymous heroes off in a way that feels thematically “right” for a trilogy that’s always been about misfits finding themselves with the help of their found families and marching to the beat of their own weird drums.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also stars Sylvester Stallone, Daniela Melchior, Nathan Fillion, Nico Santos, and Dee Bradley Baker. The movie hits theaters on May 5th.

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Review: These Intergalactic Weirdos Are the Real Heart of the MCU

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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While every Marvel film that has followed “Avengers: Endgame” — in which that missing half of the population was restored, care of the Avengers, who had suffered their own grievous losses — has briefly touched on how emotionally devastating such an event would truly be, none have fully reckoned with it. Even “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” the first film to arrive after “Endgame” and itself the actual conclusion of “The Infinity Saga,” glossed over the feeling of the post-Blip world with a handful of jokes and a class trip to Europe (maybe get these kids some  therapy ?).

But eight films on from the end of that saga, only one film has even attempted to truly tap into the big, messy heartbreak that should have been guiding this franchise for at least the past four years: James Gunn ‘s “ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 .” Even Gunn’s film, his final Marvel entry and a closer on the trilogy he’s helmed for almost a decade, doesn’t directly tackle “the Blip” (does anyone remember that the Guardians lost more than half of their members for five years? no? OK…), it does aim straight for the kind of emotional honesty the MCU so desperately needs.

It doesn’t always quite land, but it says something about Marvel, about these characters, and about this filmmaker that this third film in a series that fits into a franchise of 32 total features is one of the most audacious, emotional, and original entries the MCU has ever seen. There’s life in this cinematic universe yet, if only other films within it are allowed to take the kind of swings that Gunn and co. opt for when it comes to proving something we’ve maybe all known: this intergalactic band of weirdos really is the heart of the MCU, and man, does it need some serious heart these days.

Set in whatever passes for the present day in the MCU, we find our wacky band of unlikely heroes hanging out at their current base of intergalactic operations: scrappy ol’ Knowhere, AKA the severed head of a Celestial (for anyone in need of an MCU catchup, just picture a super-race of massive gods, now picture one of their giant heads as a makeshift space station filled with a variety of colorful denizens). While Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista, hilarious as ever), Mantis (Pom Klementieff, in her best MCU turn yet), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) are trying to keep things as normal as they can possibly be in Knowhere, other members of the Guardians aren’t doing quite as well.

Gunn, who also wrote the film’s script, wastes zero time in getting to the meat of the matter: while Adam Warlock — long-teased in these films , Poulter is extremely funny as the character; while there could be more of him in this first entry, it does set up a continued tenure for him — wreaks havoc on the Guardians as a whole, he’s really looking for Rocket. And when he delivers a terrible injury to the pint-sized, genetically engineered super-raccoon, it sets into motion a fitting franchise-capper for the crew.

Like all Marvel baddies, he’s a man with a plan: a seemingly ageless scientist, the High Evolutionary wants nothing less than to create a “perfect species” who can then lead his “perfect society.” What that means in practice? He’s spent decades experimenting on a full range of “lesser” beings in an attempt to build an enlightened being (Rocket, plus a trio of new pals, including an otter, a bunny, and a walrus, are part of his 89th batch). And while the High Evolutionary’s ideas and ideals have an impact on the wider universe, it is refreshing to face off with a Marvel villain whose existence doesn’t threaten literally every other being in the MCU. He’s basically small scale!

But his impact on Rocket? That’s big enough. And while we know Rocket did eventually escape from his clutches, the path there is much darker and much more painful than most audiences could possibly imagine. The trick: Gunn doesn’t abuse that emotion, he uses it to fuel his other characters into action. The Guardians appeal because their hard-won bonds feel real, even within the confines of the outsized MCU and the particular environs the space jerks find themselves in.

As Peter and the gang (including Gamora, who is along for the ride as part of a job, no matter how much that hurts Peter) head for the High Evolutionary, they know it’s something of a trap (“a face-off!,” Peter tries to redirect), the kind that will inevitably lead to all sorts of big battles. Throw in Adam Warlock (and, in sadly limited amounts, his mother, played by the divine Elizabeth Debicki), add a serious dash of daddy issues, and plenty of winking humor, and you’ve got a classic “GOTG” adventure, one made of many disparate parts that mostly coalesce.

Gunn has always managed to bring his own flavor to the MCU — an outlier in a franchise that continues to flatten its stories and characters in hopes of fitting them all in one big box, over and over again — and his final entry in this space offers the kind of send-off only he could craft. And while it, inevitably, opens the door for more adventures for this wild band of unlikely heroes (the appetite of the franchise world is, of course, never fully satiated), it does so on its own terms. And, really, it does something wild, something increasingly rare along the way: it makes you feel , as messy and strange and unexpected as that might be. Now that’s a super story.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” in theaters on Friday, May 5.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review: James Gunn bids an emotional goodbye to the MCU

The finale to this sci-fi superhero trilogy is a welcome pivot from a recent run of Marvel disappointments.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

It's been almost a decade since the first Guardians of the Galaxy film debuted, and a lot has changed since then — both for viewers and for the characters. While we've watched Chris Pratt become a movie star and the MCU take chances on more colorful characters in the wake of Guardians ' success, these space-traveling heroes have run the emotional gamut: Pratt's Star-Lord killed his biological father and lost his surrogate one; Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña ) died and was replaced by a younger version of herself; Groot ( Vin Diesel ) has lived an entirely new life cycle as a baby, willful teenager, and now buff young man since his near-death at the end of the first film; Drax ( Dave Bautista ) has pivoted from seeking revenge for his lost wife and daughter to being an important emotional pillar of his found family; Nebula ( Karen Gillan ) has built a purpose for herself as a supportive teammate rather than her despotic father's custom-built weapon; and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) has learned that empathy is more about meeting people where they are than forcibly changing their mind.

That leaves Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ), who finally takes center stage in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for an emotional arc of his own. The previous films have only hinted at how an average raccoon became such a loud-mouthed pilot and skilled engineer, but now we are treated to flashbacks that show how he was a weapon experiment at the hands of an intergalactic geneticist called the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who is trying to engineer the perfect species for a perfect society. Though Rocket was only meant as a test subject on the way to that greater plan, the little guy's cleverness surpassed even his creator, who will stop at nothing to get him back after so many years apart. Rocket, meanwhile, wants to ensure that no other innocent animals or children have to suffer the same horrors that he did.

(Note: These origin flashbacks are probably the most lively that CGI animals have ever looked; Disney's 2019 The Lion King remake pales in comparison. That could be a double-edged sword for younger viewers, though. Proceed with caution if you plan on bringing kids who might blanch at seeing pain inflicted on cute animal characters.)

In standing against the High Evolutionary's exclusionary eugenics and celebrating the unique humanity of every misfit and outcast, GotG 3 comes closer to being an X-Men movie than any other MCU installment to date, and that's a high compliment. It's always nice when superhero movies remember that they're supposed to be about saving lives rather than taking them, and GotG 3 often plays like a celebration of life — even for animals that can't talk or fly spaceships. Unfortunately, sometimes this morality feels inconsistent. In one early scene of banter, Star-Lord chides Drax for even considering killing people to accomplish their mission; later, in the film's centerpiece action sequence (which is indeed awesome), the heroes drop one body after another. Sure, those are "bad guys," but either stand behind your principles or don't espouse them so proudly.

This might not be the last time we see the Guardians on screen, but it is the last time we'll see them directed by James Gunn now that he's moved into a more powerful role at rival superhero studio DC Films. In addition to turning formerly C-list Marvel characters like Drax the Destroyer into global icons, Gunn is one of the few filmmakers who were able to imprint his own distinct style and tastes into this massive franchise that can too often feel (especially lately) a bit impersonal. That personal touch includes the rockin' mixtape soundtracks, the trippy cosmic flourishes, even Star-Lord's upbringing in Missouri…all of which, rest assured, come into play in this finale to Gunn's sci-fi trilogy.

But the new movie also introduces a few new elements into the mix. Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) finally arrives after he was first teased at the end of 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . He comes off like a mix of the Zack Snyder/Henry Cavill Superman (an overwhelmingly powerful ubermensch who blasts across the screen and beats everyone else to a pulp) and Kid Miracleman (whose overwhelming power is fused to an adolescent naivete). Originally created by Marvel masterminds Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but most notably characterized by Jim Starlin, Adam Warlock is the reason we have Infinity Stones in the first place. He used to run around with the Soul Stone on his forehead, and the other five eventually followed.

Arriving as he does into a post-Infinity Saga MCU, Poulter's Adam still has an unexplained gem on his forehead but ends up feeling a little rudderless. His boyish innocence and try-hard quips are a far cry from the brooding, existentialist cosmic wanderer of Starlin's comics, and though it's fine for adaptations to riff on their source material, it doesn't seem like Gunn or producers knew exactly what they wanted from their version of the character. Adam is stuck grasping for screen time in the margins of bigger emotional arcs for characters we've known much longer, playing both antagonist and potential future hero from one scene to the next as if they were trying to squeeze the Rock's Fast Five arc into 15 minutes.

More successful is Iwuji's debut as the High Evolutionary, the intergalactic geneticist who originally experimented on Rocket to change him from a normal raccoon to the wise-cracking pilot and engineer we recognize. While so many Marvel villains are defined by their relatable motivation, the High Evolutionary is a straight-up megalomaniac willing to do anything to achieve his aims. Unlike Jonathan Majors ' Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , Iwuji isn't burdened by the daunting task of having to be the MCU's main villain for the next decade. Instead, the Shakespearean actor focuses all his energy on showing us a character who refuses to recognize the futility of his own worldview and keeps raging through failure after failure in pursuit of an impossible goal.

What GotG 3 shares with Quantumania is a clear influence from Rick & Morty in its use of non-human alien characters with gibberish names. However, that kind of spacey wackiness plays better in the mini-franchise already known for out-there adventures rather than the one known for down-to-earth heists. Perhaps due to Gunn's mounting responsibilities, GotG 3 does lack some of the visual flair of the preceding films. There's a lot of walking-and-talking, and the main group of characters walk towards the viewer in slow-motion enough times that you can't help but get a little tired of it. Though nothing quite matches the sequence from GotG 2 where Yondu (Michael Rooker) massacred an entire mutinous spaceship crew with his handy red needle, the aforementioned battle scene does have to be seen.

GotG 3 definitely marks the end of an era, though viewers shouldn't necessarily expect a repeat of beats from 2019's similarly climactic Avengers: Endgame . The MCU has been stumbling a bit since it bid goodbye to Captain America and Iron Man, and by reuniting us with characters we've known and loved for years, GotG 3 marks a welcome pivot from a recent run of unimpressive experiments and disappointing debuts. It'll be a long time, if ever, before we feel this kind of emotional payoff from this franchise again. Grade: B+

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Related content:

• James Gunn says he needed to finish Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for Rocket
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer teases one final adventure
• Zoe Saldaña explains why she went into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feeling 'bitter'

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Review: All creatures great and small in ‘Guardians 3'

This image released by Marvel Studios shows, from left, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Zoe Saldana as Gamora in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Sean Gunn as Kraglin in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Zoe Saldana, left, and Chris Pratt in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Jessica Miglio/Marvel-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Chris Pratt in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

This image released by Marvel Studios shows Will Poulter as Adam Warlock in a scene from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” (Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

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When Peter “Star-Lord” Quill, while inspecting a murky extraterrestrial region, pressed play on Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” in the first “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it would have been hard to imagine that James Gunn’s space opera would ultimately lead to something as sincere, poignant and kinda cornball as the trilogy-ending “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

But as Gunn has showed over over the course of these increasingly soupy sci-fi spectacles, the genetically spliced DNA of his chaotic, cartoonish cosmic vision is a double helix of opposites. Breezy ‘70s rock papers over extreme violence. Cynical exteriors cloak sentimental emotions. A ragtag group of outcasts, more so than even the cast of “Fast and the Furious,” talk a lot about “family” and “friends.” Against the odds, “Come and get your love” has turned out to be a legit invitation.

“Vol. 3” is a messy, overstuffed finale. But you rarely question whether Gunn’s heart is in it. Sometimes it spoils some of that effect by trying too hard to juxtapose tonal extremes, and show off its brash juggling act. Yet whatever this sweet, surreal sci-fi shamble is that Gunn has created, everyone here seems to believe ardently in it. And for even a movie that sends a golden-hued Will Poulter shooting through space to the tune of Heart’s “Crazy on You,” that earnest belief goes a long way.

The song, though, that kicks off “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is not an upbeat one. Radiohead’s “Creep” casts a sour mood over the Guardians, who we find in a lethargic state of disarray in the spaceport Knowhere following their 2017 “Empire Strikes Back”-esque second chapter.

Whether “Guardians of the Galaxy” is best suited to strike these solemn notes, or reach for such last-chapter poignancy in “Vol. 3” is debatable. I’ve always liked these films at their most cartoonish. Donning a degree of self-importance is probably the most Marvel thing about this “Guardians.” Gunn’s films — which, unlike most of the comic-book studio’s releases, are both written and directed by him — have always stood out for their distinct lack of Marvel house style. “Guardians 3,” unfortunately, has contracted a touch of “Endgame” grandiosity.

The group — including Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) — is quickly sent into emergency mode. Adam Warlock (Poulter), an artificial being created by the High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), comes careening into their lair, leaving Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper and played in motion capture by Sean Gunn) on his deathbed. To save Rocket, a cybernetically enhanced raccoon, the Guardians must hurriedly resuscitate him with his original programming.

This means traveling to the lab he was created in years before by the High Evolutionary (a sensational Chukwudi Iwuji, an all-time Marvel villain), a Doctor Moreau sort who’s been toiling to craft a “perfect” race of hybrid creatures to populate a copy of planet Earth. As the Guardians seek to infiltrate his realm, “Vol. 3” repeatedly flashes back to Rocket’s experience with the High Evolutionary: his transformation from raccoon, his joyful experience with other experimental creations and his harrowing escape.

It’s telling that in this “Guardians” swan song that Gunn centers Rocket and less so Quill, whose father-son drama dominated “Vol. 2.” (Here, he’s mostly in save-my-friend mode when not wrestling with the heartbreak of this version of Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora. Thanks to some “Avengers” events, she no longer even knows him.)

These are foremost epics of orphandom about distinctly un-superhuman characters. Mother and father figures float in and out, while the Guardians attract one forlorn figure after another. In “Vol. 3,” it’s both comical and even a little stirring just how far empathy reaches for all of God’s — and Marvel’s — creatures. Gunn has taken a woebegone B-team or C-team of comic book oddballs and cast them into a cosmic tapestry of weirdos and misfits, ranging wildly in size, shape, color and dancing ability.

In “Vol. 3,” Gunn really lets the freak flag fly, putting the Guardians in battle with not just the High Evolutionary but the notion of perfection. It’s not a coincidence that this “Guardians” film arrives, finally, in the suburbs — or at least some slightly warped version of it.

Gunn, a B-movie director at heart, fills these films with more sinewy than sleek worlds, full of florid beauty and opulent grotesquerie. (“Vol. 3,” more than the last two films, reminded me of “The Fifth Element,” a good thing.) It’s often clear that his ambitions are sometimes just a bit too much; this, like his DC film “The Suicide Squad,” “Vol. 3” could have used a firmer editor to corral some of Gunn’s impulse for excess.

This installment, of course, nearly didn’t happen after Gunn’s firing years ago . And partially because of that forced hiatus, he’s now ruling an even larger, more mainstream superhero cosmos at DC. That surely has something to do with the sense of parting that permeates the final act of “Guardians 3.” After so many speeches about friendship and togetherness, “Vol. 3” ends curiously elegiacally, and with one last dance.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements. Running time: 159 minutes. Three stars out of four.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 First Reviews: A Satisfying Finale for Gunn and the Gang

Critics say the presumably final outing for the guardians packs an emotional punch, enhanced by dazzling visuals and wild set pieces, even if its villains don't quite hit the mark..

TAGGED AS: First Reviews , marvel cinematic universe , movies

Here’s what critics are saying about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 :

Does it live up to expectations?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has everything you would expect from James Gunn and Marvel Studios. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 achieves what it sets out to do, which is provide a stirring and audience-pleasing finale. –  Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 offers a rare thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a satisfying ending to a trilogy. –  Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

I didn’t expect to feel so sad while watching this movie. –  Mike Ryan, Uproxx

How does it compare to the first two Guardians movies?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the weirdest, grimmest, most emotional entry in Gunn’s MCU franchise, but it’s also the strongest. –  Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

This edition largely succeeds like the other ones, thanks to the chemistry of the main ensemble. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Like its two predecessors, the film is refreshing in the context of its own cinematic universe. –  Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine

Given how almost the entirety of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 feels like a superficial, snarky, and sarcastic deviation, Vol. 3 will evoke similar frustrations. –  Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

(Photo by ©Marvel/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Where does it fit in the MCU?

Leave it to James Gunn to rescue Marvel from its self-inflicted woes with the best MCU film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame . –  David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

It’s the best MCU film in years, and a reminder of how much fun and moving the Marvel Cinematic Universe can actually be. –  Ross Bonaime, Collider

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels ripped out of an older phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe… a return to form. –  Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate

A blockbuster that is perfectly suited to its time, and offers a much-needed win for the MCU. – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

The impact of Rocket’s emotional arc is one of the most powerful we’ve seen in the entire MCU. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

James Gunn’s soulful style remain unlike anything else in the MCU. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

In a funny way, it makes sense that Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 is more grounded than the other Phase Four movies. – William Bibbiani, The Wrap

How are the visuals?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has some of the most stunning visuals of any Marvel Studios film. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

So bizarrely trippy at times it’s as if Gunn is aiming to create a midnight cult classic rather than a blockbuster superhero film. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Gunn ushers us into uncharted new realms of wackadoo production design and outlandish costumes, reminding us that he’s never been shy about letting his stylistic freak flag fly. –  Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

This insane adventure looks so good… Gunn and his team deliver a real sense of place to his various environments. –  Kate Erbland, IndieWire

A breath of fresh air following multiple MCU productions full of muted tones. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

One major aspect where Guardians 3 sets itself apart from Quantumania is the visual effects, which are vivid and spectacular. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

Gunn’s preferred aesthetic is stomach-churning. –  Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

What about the action?

The action sequences are also stunners, especially an epic climactic battle accompanied by the propulsive Beastie Boys classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

The action sequences feel experimental but never showy, as Gunn aimed to showcase these characters in new and compelling ways. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

Unlike many contemporary action films… [it] allows audiences to take in the fight choreography in all its glory. –  Caitlin Chappell, CBR.com

There is a hallway fight scene that will no doubt wow audiences. – Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Is it funny?

Often funny… The scene stealer turns out to be the good-natured, beefy Drax, with Bautista showing us his comedy chops. –  Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

I’m still chuckling at the ridiculous exchange among the Guardians over which buttons to press on their spacesuits to properly communicate with each other. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

The misfit team’s constant punchlines and I’m-just-busting-your-chops dynamic have grown exhausting. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

Is it also kind of dark?

Vol. 3 is perhaps also the darkest Marvel Studios has gone… There are some moments that are not for the faint of heart. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

The darkest contained MCU entry, Gunn’s examination of exploration, PTSD, and family bonds is fully engaging and tear-inducing. – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

At times, Vol. 3 can be unsettling… Abounds in intense depictions of animal torture. – Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine

This will be a difficult watch for some viewers. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

This is a movie that will probably traumatize some kids and maybe a few adults. – William Bibbiani, The Wrap

How is the soundtrack?

The soundtrack is once again top-notch. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Gunn, who might be the master of the needle drop for his perfect soundtracks, is at the top of his game here… His use of songs from Radiohead, Earth Wind & Fire, Rainbow, and The Beastie Boys creates a beautiful goodbye anthem. –  Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

Songs like The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” and Faith No More’s “We Care a Lot” feel more like an opportunity for Gunn to showcase his own musical taste than elevating a sequence. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

What about the villain?

One of the MCU’s most memorable and twisted villains. – Caitlin Chappell, CBR.com

Chukwudi Iwuji is great as the High Evolutionary… His outbursts are terrifying, and Iwuji wonderfully captures the ferocity and anger of a man who is committed to his beliefs. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

It is refreshing to face off with a Marvel villain whose existence doesn’t threaten literally every other being in the MCU. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Iwuji is also perhaps the strongest of the Guardians movie villains, turning in a multifaceted performance as the High Evolutionary. – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

The High Evolutionary is an especially effective villain during the flashbacks… but he feels far less threatening in the present. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

The High Evolutionary’s machinations, despite an intense, shout-to-the-sky performance of the old school from Iwuji, are all extremely melodramatic and Iowa-flat. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

Iwuji bellows in a performance of Al Pacino-level over-the-top-itude. –  Peter Debruge, Variety

The High Evolutionary’s inclusion is as forgettable as a majority of other Marvel villains. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

How is the introduction of Adam Warlock?

Poulter is extremely funny as the character. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Poulter does a good job with the material he is given, but it isn’t much, unfortunately. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

He ultimately fails to make a lasting impression. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

He never quite meshes with the rest of the narrative in a practical way. – Ross Bonaime, Collider

His scenes regularly grind the narrative momentum to a halt, and we can’t help but wish his entire plot was excised. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

Unfortunately, he feels like he’s only in this film out of obligation, and it’s sad to say Volume 3 wouldn’t have been much different if he were cut out. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

Is the movie too long?

It’s wildly self-indulgent. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

At a jam-packed, planet-hopping 150 minutes, it also feels less like a conventional moviegoing experience than the endorphin rush that comes from waiting years for the next season of your favorite TV series, then binge-watching all the new episodes in a single sitting. – Peter Debruge, Variety

This one is too damn long — but I’ll confess you likely won’t notice the bloated runtime simply because Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 almost never slows down. –  Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Is there too much going on?

Gunn has to juggle a lot with this finale, but once again, he shows he’s a master at knowing exactly how to work with a large ensemble. – Ross Bonaime, Collider

The story is a bit messy, though. Gunn has a lot of story he wants to tell and he tells every bit of it. – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

There are simply too many characters here, and while they all get their own mini-arcs, most of them feel hollow. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

How does it leave us feeling about the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The success of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 proves that it’s still possible for Marvel movies to hit and hit hard after more than 30 films. –  William Bibbiani, The Wrap

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a reminder that with the right cast, crew, and story, superheroes can still deliver. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

When I think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the MCU, I think of Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III , “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters everywhere on May 5, 2023.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Review

Rocket science..

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters on May 5, 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 offers a rare thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a satisfying ending to a trilogy. While the Guardians series will probably continue on in some fashion, writer-director James Gunn ties up this iteration of the team with the same humor and heart as the first two, but this time adds in unexpected darkness in the form of Rocket’s genuinely disturbing origin story. It’s what makes this somewhat busy but mostly lovable threequel such an emotionally rich comic book movie.

A lot has happened with the Guardians since Vol. 2 was released in 2017; the original Gamora died, a past version of Gamora survived, and Peter Quill and Mantis learned that they’re brother and sister. Yet Gunn deftly turns that tangled ball of MCU lore threads into a devilishly fun yarn. This film has all the silly dialogue and gags you’d expect but there’s a far more dramatic tone to it, which is a welcome change after the second movie had the characters breathlessly laughing at their own jokes. 

It turns out there was a good reason Rocket never shared much about his past. He was created by a power-mad super-scientist known as the High Evolutionary and was subjected to horrific abuse, and it’s in a series of harrowing flashbacks that we come to a whole new understanding of Rocket, and the ever-excellent Bradley Cooper peels back the layers of this gruff raccoon with a tender performance. The method used to show us the flashbacks isn’t the most original, especially if you watched The Book of Boba Fett last year, plus it takes Rocket out of the action for far too long. Still, it cannot be overstated how a cybernetically enhanced raccoon is the emotional lynchpin of this movie–and it works! 

The High Evolutionary is an especially effective villain during the flashbacks.

The High Evolutionary is played with a maniacal intensity by Chukwudi Iwuji, who delivers his perverted philosophy on perfection with an ice-cold brutality. He’s easy to hate because he’s essentially animal cruelty personified. While his motivation and worldview are certainly something new to the MCU, his high-tech purple armor and blue-energy powers have him looking a tad too much like Kang the Conqueror, another power-mad bad guy we just saw in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The High Evolutionary is an especially effective villain during the flashbacks because we learn about his misguided search for perfection and watch him inflict his twisted science on Rocket, but he feels far less threatening in the present, largely because the stakes never reach a truly dangerous level.

One major aspect where Guardians 3 sets itself apart from Quantumania is the visual effects, which are vivid and spectacular, from the fleshy and slimy organic space station to the horrific cyborg-animal henchmen. Everything feels crunchy and gross and real, especially during the jaw-dropping all-in-one-take hallway fight for the ages. On the flip side, the rendering of young Rocket and his animal friends are top notch–a perfect blend of cartoonishness and realism, with more big sad eyes than one can handle.

Guardians 3 sets itself apart from Quantumania with vivid and spectacular visual effects.

The High Evolutionary’s unique brand of evil offers juicy themes of control and expectation that complement the Guardians’ stories well, particularly that of Peter Quill and Gamora. Quill pines for the old Gamora who fell in love with him, but the Gamora in front of him wants nothing to do with him. There’s a hard lesson to be learned about trying to make someone the person you want them to be as opposed to who they really are, regardless of what came before. This version of Gamora is far closer to the ruthless assassin raised by Thanos than the heroic warrior who originally joined the Guardians, and it was an unexpected joy watching Zoe Saldana act with such rage and brutality, not to mention a scathing impatience towards Quill. For his part, Chris Pratt takes that abuse with his typical schmucky earnestness. 

The rest of the Guardians put up a strong showing, and scenes where the entire group gets to play off one another are the best Volume 3 has to offer. We’ve watched them grow into a family over the years and it’s a treat to bask in their chemistry one more time. Karen Gillan’s Nebula is the standout among the group, as she takes a more prominent role and has a new robot arm capable of doing all sorts of cool stuff. Though naturally, there are a few quibbles to be had. Drax and Mantis each get their moment to shine, but by this point their oblivious idiocy has long since been overmined for laughs. Groot is, as always, there to say his three favorite words and kick ass, and with his formidable new physique he does just that, yet considering that this is a movie about Rocket’s past, it’s disappointing we didn’t learn anything about the beginnings of their friendship. 

It's disappointing we didn't learn anything about the beginnings of Rocket and Groot's friendship.

Then there’s Adam Warlock, who is by far the biggest surprise in that he plays a shockingly small role. With the way he was teased at the end of the last Guardians movie, one might think he would be the main big bad, but the High Evolutionary is very much the central antagonist and Warlock is pretty much just his lackey. That’s kind of a letdown because in the comics Warlock is a wise and powerful cosmic being who played a key role in the saga of the Infinity Stones, but with that story already concluded in the MCU, it seems there just wasn’t much left for Warlock to do. Unfortunately, he feels like he’s only in this film out of obligation, and it’s sad to say Volume 3 wouldn’t have been much different if he were cut out. Also, it’s a big departure from the comics that this Warlock is effectively a child in the body of Superman, kind of like Marvel’s version of Shazam. And while Will Poulter does absolutely nail that idea and earn some laughs, it’s hard not to feel disappointed that we lost out on a unique cosmic character and in exchange we got yet another space idiot. 

With a large central cast and many supporting players, along with an always-escalating sense of peril, the plot tends to have one too many things going on at any given moment, but the core focused around Rocket’s trauma is rock solid and acts as an emotional anchor to keep it on track. Ultimately, Guardians 3 finishes the story that began in 2014 and delivers well-earned answers and closure for this family of misfits. There’s a sophistication to Gunn’s storytelling that’s completely singular to the Guardians movies, where humor, heart, and song intertwine. That’s on full display throughout the film and it’s a delight to enjoy one last time before he puts on a red cape and flies over to DC Studios.

The Verdict

The Guardians of the Galaxy deliver their swan song in Vol. 3 and it’s a rockin’ good time. Through Rocket’s tragic origin story we’re given a new appreciation for this whole family of lovable malcontents. And even though the plot has a bit too much going on, some of the humor feels stale, and Adam Warlock was woefully underused, the cast’s incredible chemistry and James Gunn’s soulful style remain unlike anything else in the MCU, and this movie sends them out on an emotional and action-packed high note.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the galaxy vol. 3 review.

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News Marvel

Chosen family on and off set in guardians of the galaxy vol. 3.

The third and final entry in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has landed on Disney+ . Written and directed by James Gunn, executive produced by Kevin Feige, starring returning Guardians Chris Pratt (Star-Lord/Peter Quill), Zoe Saldaña (Gamora), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, with newcomers Maria Bakalova (Cosmo), Chukwudi Iwuji (The High Evolutionary), and Will Poulter (Adam Warlock), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming on Disney+.

Writer-director James Gunn started working on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy nearly 12 years ago. Back then, he could only dream of the reception the series would have. “I had hopes. I felt really good about it from the beginning; I felt like we were doing something different; I felt like the world kind of needed a space fantasy that was different from ones we had seen before. So I was very pleasantly surprised when my hopes did come true,” he said. “But I think in terms of the story that we were telling over the three movies, I did have a sense of how it was going to go from the beginning.” But Gunn’s biggest takeaway from the past decade will be the people involved in the making of the films. “In terms of this family of people, I’ve been really good at hiring non-jerks — not only non-jerks, but people who are actually positive, compassionate, loving, kind people,” he shared. “I’ve just grown incredibly close to these people, I really love them, and it makes making movies a much more pleasant experience. So my main memories are not going to the premieres or going on these press junkets, it’s being on set and having the little moments.” Chris Pratt, who has led the series as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, agreed. “Making movies is really fun. When you get to do it with people that you love, it’s even more fun,” he explained. Despite that, he said, sometimes the resulting film can be a disappointment. However, “with James, both the journey and the destination have been glorious. The films are incredible. I don't know how he does it. Selfishly, I’d be willing to deal with a terrible journey to get to this destination — but it happens to be an incredible journey as well.”

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has a bird’s-eye view of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a hand in each of its entries, but this conclusion feels momentous even to him. “You know, we’ve had trilogies before — we've had a number of them actually — and I was thinking, why does this feel so different, and so much of a passage of some sort?” he wondered. “And it’s because Guardians really was the first movie that was completely outside the realm — it tied in with Thanos and Infinity Stones, but the Avengers were not in it, and we weren’t setting up Tony Stark’s next adventure, or Captain America... So it does feel like this trilogy represents something unique within the pantheon of the MCU that I’m very proud of.” 

• DVD & Streaming

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• May 5, 2023
• Chris Pratt as Peter Quill; Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Dave Bautista as Drax; Vin Diesel as Groot (voice); Bradley Cooper as Rocket (voice); Karen Gillan as Nebula; Pom Klementieff as Mantis; Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha; Sean Gunn as Kraglin; Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord; Will Poulter as Adam Warlock; Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary

Home Release Date

• July 7, 2023

Distributor

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Movie Review

Everyone seems so mystified that Gamora is alive.

After all, Thanos did chuck her off that cliff (as chronicled in Avengers: Infinity War ). The fact that she showed back up (in Avengers: Endgame ) would be enough to confuse even the most seasoned of scenario-hopping time-travelers.

But for Gamora, the real mystery is how a previous version of herself wound up with such … losers.

This Gamora never fell in with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and she certainly never fell in love with Peter Quill, aka Star Lord. She wonders what sort of madness would’ve ever compelled her to do either. I mean, look at these guys! Quill’s so goofy , so sincere —not the tall, green and lethal fellow perhaps Gamora would’ve envisioned herself with. (If she was romantically inclined, that is. Which she’s not. Too much of the galaxy to plunder.)

And the rest of the Guardians? Well, they’re an equally strange bunch. Drax calls himself The Destroyer, but he seems to do precious little destroying. Mantis seems about as dangerous as a Pomeranian puppy. The tree guy is certainly big , but his vocabulary could stand some improvement. What Nebula—Gamora’s adopted sister—sees in these lunks is beyond her. Clearly, Nebula’s gone soft. In the head.

And we’ve not even mentioned the raccoon.

Why, that little critter is the whole reason that the Guardians got in touch with Gamora and her band of Ravagers in the first place.

Apparently, the thing is dying or something. Some big gold guy shot the raccoon full in the chest with his energy hands, and now the beast needs medical attention. But here’s the thing: The raccoon has a mysterious killswitch lodged in its innards. Any tampering with the animal (as in, giving it medical attention) will kill it, too.

The Guardians need the code to turn off that kill switch and save the raccoon. To do that , they need to fly to a weird organic-planet-thing. And to access that planet, they needed Gamora’s help.

Gamora thinks that’s a whole lotta work (and given her staggering fee, a lotta money) for just a pet . In fact, it’s a lot of work for a person . Gamora wouldn’t put in a tenth of that effort to save anyone in her life. All this talk about friendship and love … those are just other words for weakness.

But they paid well, so she helped.

Unfortunately, the plan didn’t go quite as expected. And now Gamora’s stuck with these losers for at least a while. She’ll have to hear Drax laugh and Quill cry and Groot say the only three words he knows over and over and over . She’ll have to hear about love and friendship and family . Ugh.

Hope none of it rubs off on her.

Positive Elements

Much to Gamora’s initial dismay, the Guardians of the Galaxy are all about love and friendship and family. And our discussion of all three begins with the character that this new/old version of Gamora cares the least about: Rocket Raccoon.

We learn quite a bit about Rocket’s backstory here—how he got to be the tech-gifted mammalian he is. But we also learn that in his old life, he had another quasi-family. Even in the horrific conditions they lived in and the terrors they were all subjected to, we discover that their bonds of affection were enough to make the place bearable. Love endures anything, as the Apostle Paul tells us—but love also helps us to endure.

Rocket’s new family is no less loving, and we see the tremendous lengths to which they’ll go to save their friend, risking their own lives for any chance to bring him back. It’s mystifying to Gamora, especially at first. But love is a powerful thing—more powerful than Gamora would’ve ever expected. Indeed, throughout the film we witness “weaknesses” that prove to be strengths. Drax’s goofy levity turns out to be much more impactful than his ability to destroy. Mantis’ empathy turns dangerous adversaries into assets. A character offers unexpected mercy to someone who doesn’t deserve it, and so on.

Quill is also forced to think about family—specifically the family he left behind when he was abducted from Earth ever so many years ago. While Quill at first shows little interest in reuniting with his grandfather (remembering him, essentially, as a mean old man), Mantis reminds Quill that when Quill last saw his grandpa, they were all in the midst of deep grief.

We see lots of heroism and sacrifice, as you’d expect. Innocent lives are saved. A telekinetic dog proves her worth. Characters gain new confidence and understanding. And the galaxy is, mostly, guarded.

Spiritual Elements

We’ve noted in past reviews that movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe are getting more spiritual—and often not in a good way. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 puts a lot on the spiritual menu—and much of it is surprisingly positive.

The main antagonist here, the High Evolutionary, believes that creation is woefully imperfect, and he aims to “correct” that perceived fault. His track record is dismal, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He’s created several galactic races in his quest to design a more “perfect” universe. We should note that he also reserves the right to destroy his creations—be they people or planets—and he’s beholden to no one else but himself. “There is no God!” He tells someone. “That’s why I stepped in!”

But the High Evolutionary, the movie suggests, is wrong.

[ Spoiler Warning ] We see a sort of afterlife here—one in which old friends are reunited and where the sky never ends. Rocket is himself is the product/victim of experimentation. But he’s reminded that “there are hands that guide the hands.” Clearly, the implication is that there’s an intelligence far beyond that of those who experimented on him.

As you might expect, we encounter a lot of talk about evolution here: Some creatures go through millions of years of that process (as the film imagines it here) in a matter of seconds. Guardians of the Galaxy does not attempt to debunk evolution as secular biologists would teach it. But it does suggest that however the universe was created, a great and loving consciousness was behind it—and that it is hubris to think that we could do any better.

A new character is named Warlock (though his powers are not particularly occult). We briefly see the spirit of someone who died.

Sexual Content

Quill tries to remind Gamora of their past relationship (or rather his relationship with a past/future Gamora): He’s clearly still smitten with her. When she tells Quill that the woman he used to love sounds more like her sister, Nebula, Quill briefly looks at her in a whole new way. (He compliments Nebula on her eyes—telling her that after Thanos ripped out her original pair, he chose a good set of replacements.)

Mantis, who has the ability to plant thoughts in people’s minds, makes a male planetary gatekeeper fall madly in love with Drax. The gatekeeper playfully but chastely flirts with Drax, much to his annoyance and Mantis’ amusement, and we learn it’s far from the first time that Mantis has pulled the same trick.

Female characters wear formfitting outfits on occasion.

Violent Content

As one would expect from an MCU movie, violence is absolutely an inescapable part of the action here. It’s likely not necessary to tell you that people are shot and blasted and hit and kicked and thrown around and occasionally blown up. But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels like it takes the mayhem and, yes, carnage up a notch. So a few special warnings.

First, the blood. While there’s very little of it technically, many of the alien creatures instead bleed a sort of yellowish-clear ooze—and it goes everywhere . If that ooze had been crimson, this likely would’ve earned an R-rating.

Some characters, good and bad, suffer some really terrible injuries. One suffers a grotesquely broken neck, but continues to fight as it snaps back into place. Arms and legs are broken and bend in unnatural positions. A face is ripped off (largely out of view of the camera), and we later see the bloody, semi-skeletal structure that was left.

We see the handiwork of the High Evolutionary: grotesque and torturous half-animal, half-metal constructs that look as if they were pulled right from a horror movie. (Think Sid’s creations in Toy Story and multiply those by a factor of three or four.) Other creations are painfully forced to “evolve,” and many are immediately destroyed. When Nebula learns about what Rocket went through, she says that it’s worse than anything Thanos did to her.

An entire planet is destroyed, presumably killing its millions or billions of inhabitants.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word ( the first we’ve heard in the MCU ) and plenty of other euphemisms for it (“friggin’” and “freakin’” are the most common). We also hear an s-word and other profanities, including “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—,” “d–k” and “p-ss.” God’s name is misused thrice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

When the movie begins, Quill is still deeply despondent over his lost love (even though she’s technically alive), and we’re introduced to him when he’s very drunk and quite bellicose. When Drax learns that his friend has passed out, he says, “Again?”, suggesting this has become a very common occurrence.

Other Negative Elements

Drax tells several people how skilled he is at metaphor and allegory, including one such verbal description that involves a description of his excrement. A dog-like creature urinates and, later, licks its privates.

The orgo-planet visited by the Guardians can be goopy and slimy.

We should note that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can also be extremely dark. Creatures are clearly terrified of their captors, and torturous experiments seem to be commonplace. While those experiments mainly take place off camera, younger and sensitive kids may well be pretty bothered by what they see here.

Marvel movies have always been a mixed bag, and this one may be the most mixed of all.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is fast paced and frenetic. It’s a little more violent than your average, baseline superhero film, and some of the resulting grotesqueries might draw a wince … or several. Deaths are commonplace. And the wholesale annihilation (albeit mostly offscreen) is in some quarters is truly catastrophic. And literal bombs aren’t the only things that are exploding: One f-bomb does, too.

And it’d be difficult to underestimate how dark the movie can feel in places. Guardians of the Galaxy films have always managed to blend rollicking comedy with a lot of heart. But this movie’s heart sometimes feels as though it’s breaking.

But what a heart it has.

Gamora plays a critical role in Vol. 3 , because it’s through her eyes that we’re able to see so freshly the squabbling, deeply loving dynamics of the Guardians. Through her, we can better appreciate their sacrifice, their character, their foibles, their love. When Gamora essentially demands that Nebula should help her leave this pack of misfit superheroes, Gamora pulls the ultimate card. “We’re family!” she says.

“So are they,” Nebula tells her. And she means it.

Vol. 3 is as much a story of belonging as it is superheroing, and what it means to love and care for difficult people in difficult times. As such, we find that we can relate to these people—even if the “people” are cynical raccoons and walking trees. Our own struggles do not involve space travel or fighting aliens on literally living planets, but the Guardians feel, paradoxically, down to earth. They feel like us. They feel like home.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has plenty of problems, and I’d urge parents interested in taking their kids to this to use plenty of caution. This is will be a difficult movie for many. But it’s also the best MCU film since Endgame and perhaps the best Guardians movie yet made.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Review: Marvel’s Beloved Misfits Get A Most Awesome Sendoff

Come and get the tissues..

It’s crazy to think it’s been a year shy of a decade since Guardians of the Galaxy first shook up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When James Gunn ’s wonderfully weird space opera came out in 2014, it didn’t just break away from the comic book movie norm; it propelled, dizzied, and most of all boogied its way into the mainstream despite it deriving from a serious Marvel Comics deep cut. With the finish line now here for the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which comes to an end with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , we’ve officially witnessed one of the most solid movie trilogies in some time as the last film ends things on a high note. 

Release Date: May 5, 2023 Directed By: James Gunn Written By: James Gunn Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Will Poulter, Chukwudi Iwuji and Maria Bakalova Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements Runtime: 150 minutes 

The new Marvel blockbuster cuts through the bombastic space junk of the genre that could have derailed and then crashed its course (well… for the most part), and caps off its run with a steady hand on a heartfelt story about found family and the pursuit of embracing one’s broken pieces rather than letting them pierce through one’s heart and soul. It's all that, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is also another stylish, laugh-out-loud, offbeat and Awesome Mix of a movie that is something beautifully human and alien at the same time. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 certainly had some odds stacked against it through its development. Between Gunn initially getting fired from the project back in 2018, thus delaying its production for years, to there arguably being a bit too much Marvel lately for audiences to see more intergalactic adventures with fresh eyes. And yet, the threequel manages to play off its heroes to just the right tune that makes one want to dance out of the theater after curling up and crying in catharsis as the credits roll. 

Every character is handled with great care, but Rocket’s story is the star. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also stands on the shoulders of Avengers: Endgame , the last major Guardians of the Galaxy outing four years prior, and yet it finds a way to get back to its contained world and march forward to the beat of its own drum again. Sure, it’s got the job of reminding audiences that one central character, Zoe Saldana ’s Gamora, was thrown off the cliffs of Vormir and what’s left of her has no memory of the superhero team, but even so, it beautifully finds a way to bring audiences into the present moment of the story seamlessly without recapping ad nauseam. Plus, it’s not concerned with shoe-in cameos to set up the next MCU film, as its own world is enough. 

This movie picks up as Chris Pratt ’s Peter Quill is very much in grief regarding the death of his Gamora. But, as it is made clear from the opening scene and on, Star-Lord is no longer the main character of the title. This is Rocket’s time to lead the pack. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 finally tells the origin story of Bradley Cooper’s genius space raccoon. James Gunn has fittingly saved the best story he’s ever told in the series (and perhaps in his career) with Rocket’s backstory. It remains a through line across the entire film and very much centers the message of the movie while bringing home Guardians of the Galaxy as a three-part story. 

The crux of action in this movie is incited when Rocket’s life is placed in grave danger and the rest of the team must passionately do what they do best: scour the galaxy and find themselves in precarious situations for the greater good, all while often flying by the seat of their pants to stay alive through it all. Throughout the film, the Marvel movie takes great care in fleshing out every single main character in the team, especially finding full dimensions for Karen Gillan ’s Nebula, Dave Bautista ’s Drax and Pom Klementieff ’s Mantis in ways the franchise had yet to achieve prior. On one hand, the comedic beats are sharper than ever, on another its cleverness can sometimes be too wacky for its own good. 

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’s villain is the perfect foe that beautifully foils what makes this team great. 

The big bad the Guardians find themselves stacked against is Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary, a scientist who seeks to create the ultimate species by any means necessary. The latest Marvel villain is not only a formidable foe, but one that is directly connected to Rocket's dark past, told in a series of flashbacks that grounds the entire film. The High Evolutionary makes for one of those rarely complimentary, and quite classic hero and villain dynamics, as the blatantly flawed heroes drive a wedge in his path to perfection. 

With the High Evolutionary’s plans at the core of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , Gunn finds a really weighty pathos to drive the story. The film gets deep into the cost of the idea of human superiority while using the stakes to underline the core messages of the trilogy as a whole. One comes away from it filled with deep empathy and the recognition that within each of us is the desire for love and acceptance, and it’s the people around us who accept us (whether that be by blood or not) that make it all worth fighting another day. The movie especially arrives at that place with its development of characters over the years. In this one, they all really joke and bicker the best they ever have in a way that is both fun to see bounce on screen and brings an authenticity to it all. 

Third-act clunk aside, James Gunn caps off his trilogy with tons of great action, earnestness and good fun. 

As good as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is, no, it still cannot escape some of the formulaic tendencies of the Marvel machine that can take one out of it and think “how much longer is this final act going to be?” The first two acts absolutely sing and breeze right through, but you might find yourself getting a tad restless given all the moving parts (and spaceships) at play as the story steers towards its conclusion. Not unlike Gunn’s The Suicide Squad , at one point there’s just too much going on all at once, between random creatures, big jokes and fight sequences to not slip out of the movie’s crazy world for a few moments as it all clashes with one another. 

That being said, along with a sharp focus on story, both the visual effects and action sequences are rather slick and truly immersive to witness take place on the big screen. And of course,  there’s some memorable (and quite unexpected) needle drops. Unfortunately, Quill has moved to a digital music player, which is just not as novel as the first two movies’ use of soundtrack. 

James Gunn is also working with some eccentric science fiction moments that really pop and dazzle on screen in ways we just don’t get to see enough in big-budget films. Truly, the big imagination and attention to detail gives Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a boost among Marvel films, and honestly most blockbusters today. Gunn is one of the few filmmakers not afraid to just be out there and really nail it from a technical level, because he can and wants to be. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be the thirty-second MCU movie, but it's among the rare few that serves as simultaneously as epic popcorn fun and a meaningful and iconic cinematic storytelling with enough gusto to it to send one to tears at the thought of it. And, while the finality isn't quite a clean slate, the bunch of beloved a-holes absolutely get an emotional and worthy sendoff. 

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Nears Important Milestone at Global Box Office

James Gunn's trilogy capper has audiences hooked on a feeling.

The emotional conclusion to writer-director James Gunn ’s deeply personal Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy of superhero movies — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — might have underwhelmed in its opening weekend at the box office, but the film quietly passed an important commercial milestone recently. After just under a week in theaters worldwide, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is nearing the $350 million mark.

The film has made $138 million domestically, and another $205 million from overseas markets , for a combined global gross of $344 million. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was produced on a reported budget of $250 million, which is massive, and grossed $118 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. This was seen as a bit of a disappointment, although it came in line with updated projections. But Disney and Marvel Studios would have ideally liked for it to have matched, if not outperformed, the second film’s $146 million debut in 2017.

That said, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 fared much better than the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy , which grossed $94 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. But that was nearly a decade ago, in 2014. The moviegoing landscape, as well as the audiences’ appreciation for these characters, has changed vastly in the past few years. While the Guardians were considered something of a niche property within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe when they were first introduced, they have since established themselves firmly in the hearts of fans across the globe.

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Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was marketed as the final film in the trilogy, and promotional material focused on the character of Rocket Raccoon . Voiced by Bradley Cooper and performed on set by Sean Gunn via motion capture, Rocket was always the wildcard of the group, but Gunn had been hinting all this while at a troubled past. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies follow the adventures of a group of misfits, led by Chris Pratt ’s Peter Quill, and are acclaimed for their quirky humor and heartfelt storytelling. Both previous installments were also beloved and performed exceedingly well at the box office.

How Does Guardians of the Galaxy 3 's Box Office Compare to the Previous Chapters?

By comparison, the first Guardians of the Galaxy film grossed $333 million domestically and $770 million worldwide, and the second film grossed $398 million domestically and $863 million worldwide. However, there’s no doubt that Marvel, as a franchise, is having some difficulty recently. The once-unbeatable studio’s last theatrical release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earned some of the worst reviews in the franchise’s history and also underperformed with less than $500 million worldwide.

It’s too early to tell, but Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will have to make up for its slow start by hoping that positive reviews keep pulling crowds to theaters over the next few weeks. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it “a funny, exciting, and emotional conclusion” to the trilogy in his review, and opening day audiences awarded it an A CinemaScore. Hopefully, this will translate to long legs at the box office, because the film has a clear road for another week or so before Fast X screeches into theaters. The film also stars Zoe Saldaña , Dave Bautista , Karen Gillan , Pom Klementieff , Vin Diesel , Chukwudi Iwuji , and Will Poulter . You can watch our interview with Gunn here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

On The Red Carpet

'guardians of the galaxy, vol. 3' actors who play villains share what their characters are like.

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" hit the box office this past weekend and fans were treated to James Gunn's complex and entertaining villains: Adam Warlock and The High Evolutionary.

The actors who played the characters, Will Poulter and Chukwudi Iwuji, shared what it was like playing Gunn's creations.

The third installment of the galaxy's most heroic band of misfits has the crew going to great lengths to save Rocket, who has been put into grave danger.

Getting in the way, for one, Poulter's character Adam Warlock.

"There's no limits, really, to the imagination of James Gunn. And to be a kind of pawn on the chessboard is really, really exciting," Poulter said.

Poulter said he wants viewers to know that his character is trying to do the right thing, even when he gets it wrong.

"He's something of a baby chicken who is trying to be a rooster. That's a weird analogy," he said.

However, Iwuji said his evil character, The High Evolutionary, thinks he is right about everything.

"He believes he is the answer and solution and it's not personal. It's just how he operates," Iwuji said. "Although, it does get very personal as it turns out, because he has a lot more cracks inside that facade than he allows people to think he does."

As for Poulter and Iwuji themselves, the opportunity to have a role in Gunn's newest film is a dream come true.

"You know, you're like, we're here, we've arrived at doing this thing because I was an audience member and I would go to watch movies. And somehow, I've gatecrashed the party," Iwuji said.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this station.

Related Topics

• ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
• LOS ANGELES
• GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
• MARVEL STUDIOS
• ON THE RED CARPET
• MOVIE SEQUELS

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20 facts you might not know about 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Posted: 14 May 2024 | Last updated: 15 May 2024

It took a while, for a multitude of reasons, but eventually, we got “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Would time diminish the series? Would the movie prove a fitting sendoff? Would it truly be a sendoff? There is a lot to unpack in terms of the production of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Here are 20 facts you might not know about the film that finished out the “Guardians” trilogy. Cue the mixtape!

Production began a long time before it came out

Before “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” came out, there was talk of James Gunn returning to write and direct a third film in the series. This news was officially announced in April 2017, just before “Vol. 2” would come out in May of that year. However, the film would not come out until May 2023 for a few reasons.

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Gunn had some ideas for what to do with the third film

Gunn completed a treatment for the third “Guardians” movie in June 2017, with plans for the film to be released in May 2020. After originally including Adam Warlock in his script for “Vol. 2,” he was removed and only hinted at in a mid-credits scene, with the plan to include the cosmic character in the third film thanks to a suggestion from Kevin Feige. There was also talk that Mark Hamill might appear in the movie in a role that was never disclosed, and may not have made the final cut.

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Gunn was fired

We won’t wade into it too much, but certain individuals on the internet made some bad-faith claims about tweets Gunn had posted in the past. Now, these tweets existed, but they were shock value, provocateur jokes from a guy who got his start on Troma films. Disney took the bait on the kerfuffle and announced that Gunn had been fired and that they had severed all ties with the writer/director.

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The cast rallied around their director

In the wake of Gunn’s firing over joke tweets (dodgy as they may have been), the director himself took to Twitter to acknowledge he had started his career working in the realm of the “outrageous and taboo” and said his days of saying things just to get a reaction were “over.” Several actors, and also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, rallied around Gunn, and the cast of “Guardians” issued a joint statement in support of Gunn.

Gunn’s screenplay was still going to be used

While rumors were a director new to the MCU was being sought to direct the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, it was planned that the screenplay Gunn had written would still serve as the basis of the script. As support for Gunn swelled, Marvel tried to convince Disney to change their mind, but they remained steadfast…for a bit.

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Disney got chumped by Warner Bros.

In the middle of October 2018, Gunn finalized his exit settlement with Disney. Soon after that, Warner Bros. swooped in to hire Gunn to write, and possibly direct, “The Suicide Squad.” Seeing their former director quickly brought in by their main rivals in superhero films, reportedly the day after the “Suicide Squad” news dropped, Disney notified Gunn they were OK with him directing “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” However, production was pushed to February 2021 to allow Gunn the time to directed “The Suicide Squad.”

The villain changed during the screenwriting process

Gunn was already planning for the third film in this franchise to focus on how Rocket came to be. Originally, though, it was going to be Marvel villain Annihilus, a Fantastic Four antagonist for the most part, as the villain in the film. Ultimately, though, Gunn landed on the High Evolutionary for the role.

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Gunn didn’t have to look far for his High Evolutionary

Chukwudi Iwuji plays the High Evolutionary, and Gunn had plenty of experience with the actor. Gunn was working on “Peacemaker,” his HBO show spun off of “The Suicide Squad,” while also prepping “Vol. 3.” Iwuji had a role in that show, and in fact, his screen test for the High Evolutionary was shot on the “Peacemaker” set.

Gunn, and Iwuji, didn’t want a “sympathetic” villain

In the MCU, you can find villains that are considered more complex, such as Killmonger and Thanos. Gunn, though, had no interest in that. Based on the character of Doctor Moreau, whom Gunn called “a detestable character,” the High Evolutionary was designed to be the “cruelest MCU villain.” He and Iwuji were careful not to do anything that could engender any sympathy from the audience.

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A few actors were considered for Adam Warlock

Building off the tease of Adam Warlock at the end of “Vol. 2,” somebody needed to be cast in the role, as we never actually saw him in the second film. George MacKay and Rege-Jean Page were also in the mix for what was an “untitled character,” but as Will Poulter worked toward getting the role, he was given more and more information about the character of Adam.

One actor got to pull MCU double duty

Linda Cardellini didn’t have exactly the most robust role as Laura Barton, wife of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, though she did get to pop up here and there and have a decent role in the “Hawkeye” show. However, Cardellini now has a second character in the MCU as well. She voiced “Lylla,” the otter who is friends with Rocket.

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The movie has several cameos in it

If Gunn likes you, apparently you are good to go in your career. Iwuji isn’t the only example of that in “Vol. 3.” In addition to getting his buddy Michael Rooker back as Yondu one more time, Daniela Melchior has a small role after having been in “The Suicide Squad.” Nathan Fillion got another small role, this time as a guard at Orgocorp. Pete Davidson plays one of the creations of the High Evolutionary in a cameo. That is also true of Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma and the guy who gave Gunn his start.

One cameo was nixed, though

Originally, there was a cameo written into “Vol. 3” for Kumail Nanjiani, a friend of Gunn’s. Then, the actor was cast as Kingo in “Eternals,” nixing the cameo. Kumail was probably too busy getting shredded to shoot the cameo anyway. Speaking of too busy, Miley Cyrus couldn’t return to voice Mainframe, so voiceover artist Tara Strong took the part.

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The film mostly used practical effects

Marvel movies are CGI fests, and the strain they have put on visual effects artists has become a common talking point. Of course, there are special effects in “Vol. 3,” but Gunn used mostly practical effects in the movie. Originally, this wasn’t the plan, but the sets that were constructed were too big to use ILM’s “StageCraft” technology, which was used by the likes of “The Mandalorian.” For example, the Guardians’ ship was a four-story set by itself.

“Vol. 3” made linguistic history

Movies in the MCU may have comic book violence to them, but they are fairly tame all things considered. In fact, the F-word had never been used in an MCU movie (“Deadpool” not being in the MCU, of course), even though you can use it once in a non-sexual context in a PG-13 movie. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” crossed the Rubicon by having Peter Quill say it to Nebula. It was reportedly improvised by Chris Pratt, but at the behest of Gunn.

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Putting the soundtrack together was an intensive experience

The needle drops of Gunn’s “Guardians” films have become synonymous with the movies. In 2017, prior to his firing, Gunn said he had a starting list of 181 songs he was considering for the movie. Eventually, he got that pared down, but one song was out of his reach. “Russian Roulette” by the punk band Lords of the New Church couldn’t be included because the legal rights to the song were in dispute.

It helped cull some MCU fears

Critically, and commercially, the MCU had dipped from the peak of “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was able to get things back on track. It made $118.4 million domestically in its first weekend, beating the projection of $110 million by a bit. Notably, though, it made $62 million in its second weekend to top the box office again. The 48-percent decline was the best second-weekend hold of any MCU sequel. It was also the best of the Marvel films in the last couple of years by a sizable margin. For example, second best is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which dropped 67 percent.

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The film was a huge box office success

Perhaps people were just excited to see the Guardians of the Galaxy back. The third film in the trilogy made roughly $340 million domestically and just over $808 million worldwide. Perhaps it has a run left somewhere in the world that can boost that a bit, but it’s still a big-time success. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2023. Domestically, it is second as well, though as of this writing, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is hot on its heels, and even “The Little Mermaid” might jump it.

Have we seen the last of the Guardians?

At the end of “Vol. 3,” the film notes that Star-Lord will return, but notably, only Star-Lord is mentioned. Pratt has said that he would return to play Quill if he likes a script. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, seems apathetic about returning. Meanwhile, Zoe Saldana has said that she is indeed done playing Gamora, but is cool if another actor steps into the role. All in all this is almost definitely the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

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And Gunn is assuredly done with the MCU, one assumes

Gunn may have come back to conclude the trilogy he always had in mind for his “Guardians” films, but his tumultuous time with Disney is likely over. In 2022, Gunn returned to Warner Bros. and DC in a big way. He and Peter Safran are now in charge of DC Studios, with Gunn effectively now the Kevin Feige of DC. Gunn is also writing and directing “Superman: Legacy,” to be released in July 2025.

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