Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an emotional, funny, heartfelt, bold, and thrilling final outing for the MCU's best characters. As someone who holds those first two films and these characters so dearly, James Gunn truly delivered everything I could've asked for in a trilogy captor and then some. This film is every bit as funny as one might expect, but boy it also gets surprisingly dark to the point that I'm surprised that Disney let Gunn get away with some of the elements and even themes he goes for in this installment. These have always been the MCU's most emotionally resonate films and that's in part thanks to the clear love that Gunn has for these characters. I can't even begin to count the number of times I got seriously choked up watching this one.
Everyone in this outstanding ensemble cast gets their big moment to shine and this remains the team in the MCU with the absolute best chemistry. Chris Pratt is just as charismatic as ever and I'm tempted to say this might be his best work yet as Peter Quill/Star-Lord. Love seeing this side of Zoe Saldana as Gamora and where they go with her relationship with Quill. This is also the best Karen Gillan has been as Nebula and I absolutely love seeing how far this character has grown since we meet her in the first one. Dave Bautista & Pom Klementieff are both hilarious again as Drax & Mantis, but also share some of the film's best emotional moments too. But without a doubt, the MVP here is Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon who has shot up as at the very least a Top 3 character of the entire MCU for me. As the marketing has been suggesting, this is Rocket's movie and the way the film explores his backstory is devastating yet so impactful. He's the heart of this film as he kind of has been since the beginning. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is easily one of Bradley Cooper's best performances ever.
James Gunn just really didn't pull any punches with this final outing and I'm kind of surprised at how much Disney lets him get away with how darker this film is. It's every bit as funny as the first two, but it's even more emotional than you might already be expecting. It helps that we've had many films to fall in love with these characters, but Gunn has also just created some really satisfying arcs with this band of misfits. It's often so much more grim than the first two that this tone shift easily could've felt too jarring, but Gunn is a pro at balancing these comedic scenes amidst some of the heartbreaking drama. These core group of characters have always felt like an actual family and that theme has never been stronger than it is in this one. I'm curious to see how this one will perform with the family crowd considering how grim it isn't afraid to get.
For all of the rough VFX work in recent MCU projects, this is the most visually arresting Guardians film yet and easily has the best action as well. Feels like actual effort was put into these VFXs and even the makeup & creature designs are pretty stellar too. The action set pieces are strong and something else I've always loved about these films is how much they feel like a true space adventure. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster watching these films and this one definitely took me on quite an emotional one. The Vol. 3 soundtrack also kicks ass and has some of the best needle drops to be found in any of these films. And despite the composer change, the official score here is still pretty great as well.
There are some small hiccups. Will Poulter as Adam Warlock is definitely an entertaining presence, but he's also barely in this film which does have me questioning his inclusion in the first place. But Poulter is at least really fun in the role and I'm curious to see utilized better in the future. At about 2 hours and a half, this film has a lot of moving parts to juggle and I won't deny the film almost feels like it's losing focus at a certain midway poiny. Luckily, Gunn knows exactly what he's doing and holds this film together with some masterful character work. I've seen some complaints about Chukwudi Iwuji's The High Evolutionary villain being too one note and while I can understand that issue, I love that we have a bad guy here who is a bad guy just because. Movies need to bring back simple villains who are just assholes and despicable without any backstory explanation. I've never hated an MCU villain more.
James Gunn and team delivered a home run for the finale of our band of galaxy misfits. I'm a guy whose still enjoyed most of the recent MCU outputs, but I haven't walked out of one of these films feeling this much buzz and emotions in quite a long time. This is easily one of the most emotionally charged, heartfelt, funniest, and most mature MCU films to date. And I'm going to miss these characters dearly if it really is their swan song which it does feel that way. It's too early for me to say where I rank this one compared to the first two, but this was a wholly satisfying and near perfect conclusion to what has become one of the greatest film trilogies period. I can't wait to see it again. And also highly recommend catching this one on an IMAX screen.
Final Grade: A-