So long, Guardians of the Galaxy.
Back in 2014, pundits were saying that Guardians of the Galaxy would be the first real flop for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Coming from director James Gunn who hadn't tackled a big budget blockbuster like this before, and adapting an obscure team of heroes.
Of course the film was a hit and is still considered by many to be one of the best Marvel films. It was followed a few years later by a sequel which I think is much better than the first, but I understand I might be in the minority here.
It's been a rocky road to the third film. Gunn was fired, then rehired, and is now the chief executive of the direct competitor of Marvel over at DC.
It would've been easy for him to phone in this final ride for his lineup of the Guardians, but by gum James put his all into it.
The film opens with the safe haven of Knowhere being attacked and our heroes barely making it out with their lives. Fortunately due to their sci-fi thingamabobs they're able to fix any and all injuries except for those of Rocket, the procyonidae weapons expert of the gang.
Due to a device inside his body, Rocket is unable to be operated on or healed, so the rest of the Guardians go off on a journey to find Rocket's maker to find out how to disable the device.
Peppered throughout the wacky hi-jinks are flashbacks to Rocket's past, finally detailing his tragic origin story which Gunn has teased in the previous two films.
Although there are massive plot threads carried on from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is very much the final part of the Guardians trilogy more than it is a wider MCU film.
I've dabbled quite extensively in the art of the film franchise in my time and while it's not incredibly rare for the third film in a franchise to be good, it is rare for the final part in a trilogy to stick the landing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of the best conclusions of a trilogy I've ever seen. I would put it up there with War for the Planet of the Apes and Before Midnight. Two films it feels frankly insane to compare it to.
I've always said that Vol. 2 is probably the most emotionally mature Marvel film, the funeral at the end is one of the only MCU moments to make me tear up and Gunn is a good enough director to know that audiences didn't need a classic zinger to undercut the tension.
Vol. 3, and more specifically the scenes involving Rocket's backstory, contain a lot of gravitas. After half a dozen films featuring the character in some capacity we are able to spend some time just sympathising with him and not needing to hide it inside a joke or worry about it feeling unearned.
As for some notes on the typical blockbuster nature of the film, the CGI is multitudes better than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earlier this year.
Chris Pratt's Star Lord character sticks closer to its portrayal in the last two Guardians films, recovering from the minor character assassination he suffered in his two Avengers appearances.
The villain, The High Evolutionary is the most hate-able Marvel villain maybe ever. Not for the scores of people he's killed but because he made a CGI raccoon sad when it was a baby.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a fantastic victory lap for the team and made me realise I could still love a Marvel movie.
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