James Gunn’s goodbye to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a memorable one. The third installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy enterprise is a surprisingly emotional affair. It makes you laugh as much as it makes you cry. The 159-minute film also makes you realise that it’s been long since a good MCU film was released.
All creatures, big, small and potentially disgusting, are welcome in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3. It is the story of those who are made to feel like the other. They live, laugh and fight nonetheless.
After six years since the last Guardians film, the ensemble cast returns to take you on an emotional roller coaster that hooks you in till the very last scene. The story picks up after Avengers: Endgame (2019). Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is drowning his sorrow of having lost Gamora (Zoe Saldana) in endless bottles of alcohol. Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) try and pick the pieces, and also build a home for all those affected by multiple wars.
A balancing act
The entry of superhuman Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) is ominous for all the reasons. He is also the reason for Guardians to come together and back the grumpy Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) with all their might, even if it means battling the all-powerful High Evolutionary, played by Chukwudi Iwuji.
Gunn’s screenplay mostly revolves around Rocket’s backstory. And how he became the gutsy raccoon trotting around the galaxy with guns bigger than his body.
The film’s biggest win is how it balances the gut-wrenching moments with the fun and banter the franchise has always been known and loved for. The spaceship band is still tight and the actors make sure to never lose sight of the end goal—entertaining its audience one last time.
The special thing about Guardians of the Galaxy is that you don’t see one character to be more powerful than the other, especially in the main gang. Gunn makes sure let each of the evolve and grow at their own pace without stealing the spotlight from others. That’s also the reason why no single performance stands out in the film.
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Story of outcasts
Guardians of the Galaxy is about the human-like creatures as it is about the ‘outcasts’—those dismissed as being on the lower rung of the evolutionary ladder. The film never comes off as preachy in its delivery of messages. And by showing the ‘tough’ characters at their most vulnerable, Gunn gives Marvel fans an Endgame-like moment, turning on the waterworks in the audience.
Look out for a dog named Cosmo who is modelled on Laika, the first dog sent to space by Russians. His Russian accent and telekinesis power might make you adopt a dog immediately.
The fact that Gunn never loses sight of what the franchise started out with, makes it so enjoyable, unlike what happened with Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania(2023).
Guardian of The Galaxy: Vol 3 is corny, emotional and an action-filled ride. But it just chooses to be itself and nothing else. That is its biggest triumph.