The long-awaited third movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy series is finally hitting theaters this weekend. This movie is the thirty-second major Marvel release in theaters and doesn’t include all of the Disney+ series, movies, and specials that have been released along the way. And while we’re excited to see one of our favorite teams back together on the screen – there seems to be a bit of Marvel fatigue going into the movie. It seems like no matter how up-to-date on your Marvel movie and series you are, you might be missing a few details as you go into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
The return of the Guardians of the Galaxy means we have the return of the whole team together again. Gamora is back after her return in Avengers: End Game, but of course, she’s not the Gamora that started the team with the Guardians. This is pivotal to the story and adds tension between her and Peter as well as Nebula. And despite, what seems like a character regression for Gamora, which creates an opportunity for her development, the rest of the team seem to have matured and grown with their time living in Knowhere spaceport. With Quill still mourning the loss of his love, Nebula softening and finding a home and family, and the rest of the team finding their footing in the world. Of course, as things are starting to settle down, it’s the perfect time for something to go wrong.
The main story throughout the movie is about saving Rocket’s life, who was fatally injured when the High Evolutionary sent someone to retrieve him and return him to the lab he was created in. Finding that his design has a kill switch, the team is racing against time to save him and will do whatever it takes to save his life.
Mixed in between break-ins and capers that the team was originally built on, we get flashbacks of the past for Rocket and how he came to be. From being a small baby raccoon to a rage-filled fighter, he ends up as, is quite the journey and has a lot of losses along the way. It’s dark, it’s emotional and some of the other creatures are downright creepy just looking at them. Fans get to know how Rocket came to be, and a better understanding of him overall.
Of course, with the return of the original Guardians cast we do have a lot of new faces making their appearance in this story. The universe is big, so of course this is expected. We do have smaller roles filled by Nathan Fillion and other familiar faces, but one of the main additions is Adam Warlock, played by Will Poulter. While the character isn’t played as written in many of the comics, Warlock being a bit “off” is explained away by him being removed from his pod too early. This of course results in a bit of a bumbling fool with infinite power in his hands. Poulter, which many fans will recognize from his other roles including We Are The Millers, seems to balance the role of a powerful god-like creature with low intelligence well, making him equally dislikable and enduring at different points of the movie.
Guardians of the Galaxy movies have always been fun with a touch of darkness, but this third installation just seems to sit in the dark for the majority of the run time. Yes, the movie focuses on Rocket’s past and how he got to be the sarcastic and sometimes vengeful sidekick to Quill, but a lot of the time it may be harder for some fans to watch. With a lot of scenes showing animals, humans, and creatures locked in cages, and others showing medical experiments being done on them. Of course, this does give the team even more reason to fight the High Evolutionary, but it doesn’t make these scenes any easier to watch.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 isn’t the strongest of the series, even if it is great to see the whole team back together again. And before the baton is handed to the next generation of the team, it does give this group a good send-off. The movie is in theaters everywhere this weekend.
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About GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3:
In Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova.
Directed by James Gunn.
(MARVEL STUDIOS)