Despite retaining strong box office figures, critical and public opinion surrounding the Marvel Cinematic Universe has, for some time, been on the decline. Following the monumental conclusion of Phase Three in Avengers: Endgame, there have been few films that have managed to keep the franchises momentum going throughout the Fourth Phase.
With the third Ant-Man film providing a lacklustre start to Phase Five, the future of the future of the franchise seemed uncertain, would it ever be able to recover?
But fear not, the Guardians of the Galaxy would save us, right? The MCU’s goofball comedy series has been a hit ever since they debuted in 2016, but following a tumultuous production seeing director James Gunn fired and then later re-hired once cast threatened to step down from the project, as well as COVID related production issues, and that ever looming question of whether the film could make itself relevant in a post-Endgame world, the Guardians were going to have their toughest challenge yet.
Following an attack from Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is critically injured and in need of significant medical assistance. However, Rocket’s cybernetic enhancements are protected by elaborate security measures that can only be overridden using a special key held by his creator, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). Requiring help from the new Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the Guardians of the Galaxy consisting of Peter (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) must take on the High Evolutionary and save their friend.
With the third Ant-Man film providing a lacklustre start to Phase Five, the future of the future of the franchise seemed uncertain, would it ever be able to recover?
But fear not, the Guardians of the Galaxy would save us, right? The MCU’s goofball comedy series has been a hit ever since they debuted in 2016, but following a tumultuous production seeing director James Gunn fired and then later re-hired once cast threatened to step down from the project, as well as COVID related production issues, and that ever looming question of whether the film could make itself relevant in a post-Endgame world, the Guardians were going to have their toughest challenge yet.
Following an attack from Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is critically injured and in need of significant medical assistance. However, Rocket’s cybernetic enhancements are protected by elaborate security measures that can only be overridden using a special key held by his creator, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). Requiring help from the new Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the Guardians of the Galaxy consisting of Peter (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) must take on the High Evolutionary and save their friend.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favourite films in the MCU, and one of my favourite superhero films ever. Its sequel failed to live up to its predecessors near perfection, but it’s still an enjoyable film that provided more of what the first film did so well. Then the Guardians seemed relegated to appearances in other films, Infinity War, Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder, with varying degrees of involvement.
A lot of pressure was on Volume 3 to hit the mark, and thankfully Gunn & co. Succeeded in closing off the trilogy on a high. It still doesn’t come close to the first film in my eyes, but there is little that can, but Volume 3 does easily fall in my higher rankings of MCU films.
The Guardians are in a bad place at the start of the film. Peter’s a washed up drunk, Rocket is as miserable as ever, Gamora has joined the Ravagers, and Nebula is struggling to work alongside Drax and Mantis.
Putting Rocket on his deathbed is a great way of bringing everyone back together, and it also allows exploration of Rocket’s backstory which has previously been closed off because Rocket found it too painful to discuss.
There are a number of surprisingly dark and even gory moments in the film, and honestly, I’m surprised the film was able to get passed by censors with only a 12 rating. This is one of the most sinister Marvel films yet, and that’s all thanks to the High Evolutionary and the excellent performance brought in by Iwuji.
This is a performance that stands toe to toe with Jonathan Majors’ turn as Marvel’s new big bad, Kang, in Ant-Man Quantumania, and given how big of an effect the High Evolutionary has over the universe given his story I think I would have preferred to have seen him be the next great main antagonist of the franchise, rather than being relegated to a single film.
Seeing Rocket’s origins is tough to watch, and the friendship he forms with his cellmates Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor (Mikaela Hoover), was at times genuinely heart-wrenching; particularly with how the High Evolutionary toys with them for his experiments.
A lot of pressure was on Volume 3 to hit the mark, and thankfully Gunn & co. Succeeded in closing off the trilogy on a high. It still doesn’t come close to the first film in my eyes, but there is little that can, but Volume 3 does easily fall in my higher rankings of MCU films.
The Guardians are in a bad place at the start of the film. Peter’s a washed up drunk, Rocket is as miserable as ever, Gamora has joined the Ravagers, and Nebula is struggling to work alongside Drax and Mantis.
Putting Rocket on his deathbed is a great way of bringing everyone back together, and it also allows exploration of Rocket’s backstory which has previously been closed off because Rocket found it too painful to discuss.
There are a number of surprisingly dark and even gory moments in the film, and honestly, I’m surprised the film was able to get passed by censors with only a 12 rating. This is one of the most sinister Marvel films yet, and that’s all thanks to the High Evolutionary and the excellent performance brought in by Iwuji.
This is a performance that stands toe to toe with Jonathan Majors’ turn as Marvel’s new big bad, Kang, in Ant-Man Quantumania, and given how big of an effect the High Evolutionary has over the universe given his story I think I would have preferred to have seen him be the next great main antagonist of the franchise, rather than being relegated to a single film.
Seeing Rocket’s origins is tough to watch, and the friendship he forms with his cellmates Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor (Mikaela Hoover), was at times genuinely heart-wrenching; particularly with how the High Evolutionary toys with them for his experiments.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 does feel a little on the long side though. Coming in at two and a half hours, it’s the longest film in the trilogy by a reasonable margin, and the pace can have a tendency to slip. There’re not any particular scenes I feel need to be removed, but there are ways the film could have been made a bit snappier and shaved a few minutes off the runtime as a result.
The digital effects thankfully seem to be a lot better than what Marvel has been producing (guess the slave driving in the VFX workshops seems to be producing some results finally), and that’s a welcome sight as Guardians Vol 3 is filled to bursting with the stuff. It’s never as crazy as what we saw in Vol 2, but it has its fair share of visually spectacular moments.
The soundtrack is of course a highlight, it wouldn’t be a Guardians film if it didn’t have a great selection of songs to go with it. From The Beastie Boys to Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen to Florence and the Machine, and some returning favourites, Guardians rocks and the songs elevate the sequences that use them spectacularly.
It seems as though Gunn and everybody else involved with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 did exactly what everyone hoped they would. They offered up more of what made the last two films so enjoyable, drawing from the major event films that the Guardians have starred in since Vol 2, but crucially not allowed those elements to overwhelm the zany and fun core of the film.
It’s a little on the long side, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 feels refreshingly great for the MCU, and whilst one success in a sea of mediocrity is nothing to get too excited about, it does give me hope that the future of the MCU could pull itself back together if Guardians closed out its trilogy this well.
The digital effects thankfully seem to be a lot better than what Marvel has been producing (guess the slave driving in the VFX workshops seems to be producing some results finally), and that’s a welcome sight as Guardians Vol 3 is filled to bursting with the stuff. It’s never as crazy as what we saw in Vol 2, but it has its fair share of visually spectacular moments.
The soundtrack is of course a highlight, it wouldn’t be a Guardians film if it didn’t have a great selection of songs to go with it. From The Beastie Boys to Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen to Florence and the Machine, and some returning favourites, Guardians rocks and the songs elevate the sequences that use them spectacularly.
It seems as though Gunn and everybody else involved with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 did exactly what everyone hoped they would. They offered up more of what made the last two films so enjoyable, drawing from the major event films that the Guardians have starred in since Vol 2, but crucially not allowed those elements to overwhelm the zany and fun core of the film.
It’s a little on the long side, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 feels refreshingly great for the MCU, and whilst one success in a sea of mediocrity is nothing to get too excited about, it does give me hope that the future of the MCU could pull itself back together if Guardians closed out its trilogy this well.