"Let's give the galaxy something to remember us by." My review of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"

Writer and Director: James Gunn

Full Title: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Originally Released: May 4, 2023

Production Company: Marvel Studios

Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Digital Cinema Projector

IFCO/BBFC/MPA (Cert. #): 12A/12A/PG-13 (54328)

Length: 2h, 29m

10/10

This is by far the best film I've ever seen. James Gunn's Marvel swansong is proof that the MCU can hasn't run out of stories for established characters.

Spoilers ahead for all 3 "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies as well as "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania","Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame". If you haven't watched any them yet, I'd recommend that you do before reading ahead.

I'm a huge Marvel fan and have been for as long as I can remember and I'm always looking forward to each entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but recently it's been extremely hit-or-miss since "Avengers: Endgame" ended the accumulation of the past 11 years of storytelling with the deaths of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff.

Phase 4 was very inconsistent in not only its quality but its interpretation of the multiverse, having some of the highest highs with films like "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home", but also some of the lowest lows with films like "Thor: Love and Thunder" and "Black Widow".

I have been lucky enough to choose the better films to watch in the cinema, for the most part. I really liked all the films I watched when I saw them in theaters, and even went to see "Spider-Man: No Way Home" a second time in theaters 9 days later.

I watched "Shang-Chi" about 2 weeks after it came out. "No Way Home" 2 days after it released and had to pause "tick, tick,...BOOM!" to go watch it (and had to perform in a talent show the next morning whilst still reeling from the previous night's sadness). "Multiverse of Madness" 2 days after it released (and had to leave my tennis lesson a few minutes early). "Quantumania" 2 weeks after it came out. And last Friday I watched this film, 2 days after it released (coming straight from my piano lesson). Beginning to see a pattern?

The first Marvel film I ever watched was "Guardians of the Galaxy" when I was 9 (even though I wasn't allowed and my parents only found out 2 years later when I asked to see the second in cinemas and let slip that I had already seen the first, despite both being rated 12), so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

With the start of Phase 5, I hoped that Phase 4 was just a blip (no pun intended) in the MCU but "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" was half baked. There's no other way to put it. The CGI was unfinished, the pacing was all over the place, and the only redeeming quality was Jonathan Majors' Kang The Conquerer.

Anyways I digress, this film feels fresh and it definitely the darkest the MCU has gone by far. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was marketed as more of a dark horror-esque comedy than anything we've before. It was a dark-ish comedy with light horror elements thrown in for Sam Raimi-ness. "Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3" was marketed as more of a sad comedy. It is dark dramedy with some depictions of animal abuse.

364 days, 3 films, 2 TV shows, and 2 "Special Presentation"s later, the MCU has almost completely changed. This film is essentially the amalgamation of the those. "Werewolf At Night" was darker (not just literally as a black and white horror comedy), "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" introduced an intergalactic sociopathic antagonist not against the destruction of entire civilisations (Kang), and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" dealt with loss.

Secondly, the film also features "fuck" in all its uncensored glory in the most fitting way for James Gunn. Not as an introduction to a badass character like Dwayne Johnson's "Stay the fuck out of my way" from "Fast Five", or as a tense "fuck-you flip-flops" from Andrew Garfield in "The Social Network", but a comedic gag.

Peter Quill: "Push it down."

Nebula: "I am pushing down on it."

Peter: "Push the button." (Nebula pushes into the keyhole) "It looks like you’re pushing the keyhole."

Nebula: "The what?"

Peter: "There’s a button under the handle. Press that in."

Nebula: (finally unlocks the door) "Okay… now what?"

Peter: "Open the fucking door!"

A huge moment for the franchise is just some improv from Mario Jumpman Mario himself, Chris Pratt.

Thirdly, I cried so much in the film. I was essentially crying non-stop from Rocket's brief interaction with the afterlife to the credits hitting. To quote "The Godfather Part III",

Michael Corleone: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

I've cried in the cinema before (most recently in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" when Aunt May died), but never this much. It was a fitting conclusion to not only the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy, but also James Gunn's and Dave Bautista's times at Marvel Studios.

My penultimate point is about Gamora. She was thrown off of a cliff in "Avengers: Infinity War", brought back as herself from 2014 in "Avengers: Endgame", and now has to deal with the Guardians (almost exclusively Star-Lord) trying to remind her of her past with them as an alternate version of her. Instead of being a "will they, won't they", it's played as a recurring joke which suits the film much better.

Finally, the stakes were much more personal. Rather than the fate of the universe being at stake, it's the fate of Rocket and the Guardians as a team. Keeping a more "grounded" plot of a group trying to save their friend, the film felt fresh and much more tense as it's a fan favourite character on the line.

While they achieve the first goal of saving Rocket, their experience leads to Guardians breaking up essentially meaning they failed at their secondary goal. This bittersweet conclusion is a fitting end to the trilogy as they've all got stuff to be addressed and only a Zune to do it. Peter Quill obviously had to go back to Earth for new music. How else would there be an Awesome Mix Volume 4? Jokes aside, James Gunn ended the film perfectly in my opinion.

I'm conclusion, this film is amazing. It had the right mix of backstory, comedy, and serious moments. I would talk more about the sad parts but I want to finish this, not been my eyes out for another few hours. After watching this film, I decided to branch out from just book reviews to include Film and maybe more reviews in the future. I also cried. A lot. I wrote this to get everything of my chest, so apologies for the erratic nature of this review.