Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) | Film Review

2023 has seemed to suffer quite a bit from superhero fatigue, as both Ant-Man 3: Snoozeamania and Shazam! The Sequel No One Saw both crumbled at the box office compared to industry expectations. All eyes remain firmly planted on the man who would be King (of DC anyway) and his final entry in the series that elevated the former Troma auteur to the stratosphere: Can James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 reinvigorate the comic book movie landscape?

Damn right it can!

If you are not already a fan of Gunn’s lovable misfits, I am not sure how any critic can convince you of your wrongness. In a genre ripe with recycled plots, archetypes, and tropes; the Guardians are the answer to our cinematic prayers. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt, possibly his best effort in the role), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña, demonstrating her multifaceted range with this harsher variant of Gamora), Drax (Dave Bautista, warm and hilarious as always), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel) all return for this final go-round, along with recent enlistees Mantis (Pom Klementieff, quickly becoming a fan favorite), Nebula (Karen Gillan, once again evolving the character deeper than ever expected), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn, who it should be noted also does Rocket’s motion capture work).

This time, a mysterious megalomaniac known only as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, debuting as the best Marvel baddie since Thanos, sorry Kang) is hunting down his past pet project we now know as Rocket. This is an origin story of sorts, as Rocket’s history is thoroughly explored through nuanced flashbacks which demonstrate just how disgustingly far the High Evolutionary would carry his animal experiments in pursuit of a new, perfect world. Free of defects, far from dignified.

After Rocket is severely wounded during an attempted extraction by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a being created to eviscerate our heroes, the Guardians set off on a mission to find a key to saving Rocket, and destroying the High Evolutionary before he ends them all.

Though Vol. 3 features a similar plot to Vol. 2 in its bones, Vol. 3 is the most emotional of the bunch. Maybe it’s the animal lover in me (take a listen to our recent interview with PETA), or maybe it’s the fact that the CGI and Bradley Cooper’s voice work combine for the most powerful animated character to hit screens since Gollum in Rocket Raccoon. Whatever it is, there is a depth of heart and humanity in Rocket’s story that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The entire cast bring their A-game, but this is Rocket’s movie, and his story is exquisitely told. In other words, bring tissues or wear a shirt that can contain the tears you’re about to lose.

As with each Guardians film, the sublots are aplenty and our heroes are constantly finding themselves split up for no other reason than we need some banter. James Gunn knows these characters better than Disney (as he wouldn’t have had Quill kill half of the universe over his ego), and therefore the writing is frequently like a kid in a candy store, taking more and more bites until it’s obvious he’s already full.

Gunn has a fascination with the weird, and a devotion to the miscreants of the universe. Oddities are his specialty, and his endearment for anyone on the fringes of the “norm” is evident with his every film. He also stacks the deck yet again with a fantastic soundtrack playlist (bonus points for working the Beastie Boys in here) and wonderfully bombastic visuals. In other words, this is a director who loves his outcasts, and that is the secret to the success of this franchise: the filmmaker’s passion is never in doubt.

Peter and Gamora do address their rather complex relationship, Drax, Mantis, and Nebula evolve into Charlie’s Angels of the Galaxy, and Groot demonstrates abilities that probably would have been super helpful in all the previous films. The comedy is here, and the heart is prominent, so is this a perfect send-off for our team?

Therein lies the rub. The film takes a little bit to find its footing, and I have to admit the numerous threads are all over the place for most of the first third. It might not be the strongest of the three volumes (the first is near perfection), but once the film starts to gel, it’s glorious to the finish line. As we arrive at the conclusion, where we see what’s next for our team, that is where the audience reaction will be interesting.

Completing a trilogy like Guardians could have gone so many directions, and walking into the film, every fan will have their plan for how it should all wrap up. James Gunn, to his credit, is not interested in fan service. Instead, we conclude our trilogy with the logical progression of each character as Gunn sees it, and there is a lot to unpack. Needless to say, but I will anyway, Disney did the right thing by bringing Gunn back after unceremoniously firing him over years-old tweets. Gunn IS this franchise, and by doing so Disney saved the Guardians, our joy, and possibly the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. Ooga Chaka, indeed.

Listen to our full review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: