Written And Directed by James Gunn
Rocket: "We'll all fly away together ... one last time ... into the forever and beautiful sky."
With James Gunn's cinematic future due to be the DCU for the foreseeable future and the chain of events that led to such a thing, we're damn lucky he even got to round off the concluding part to this very definitive side of the MCU. All things come to an end and there's no denying that this movie definitely served as an ending for this specific group of characters. Well, mostly.
If Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt) drove the main narrative for the first two movies, then it was Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) who definitely drove it here. The movie opened with a flashback to his origin and in the present day an encounter with the newly born and slightly dim witted Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) led to his life in danger and everyone else banding together in order to save him.
Through flashbacks and beautifully done ones I might we learned that Rocket's evolution came courtesy of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who merely viewed Rocket as an experiment before becoming incensed by the latter's superior intelligence. Yup, if there was an award for a truly despicable baddie, it would be this guy.
The High Evolutionary was so threatened by Rocket, he ended up killing the latter's friends, Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry) and Floor the Rabbit (Mikaela Hoover) in order to get his point across and that was just in flashbacks. In the present day he had no issue with destroying other planets and threatening the Sovereign (whom he created) in order to get what he wanted. Hence the returning Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) trying to get Adam to get Rocket for the High Evolutionary. A task which ADam repeatedly failed at.
Character wise, Adam Warlock might be the most divisive aspect of the movie. He's a bit too dumb for his own good, though his affection for a cute little creature does endear him before he ultimately changed sides during the third act. Not to mention becoming a part of a group that in this movie alone went through quite the evolution of it's own.
The group being the Guardians, united in wanting to help Rocket but all having different ways of handling the growing threat of the High Evolutionary. Nebula (Karen Gillan) had no problem with contacting Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the Ravagers for help. However she did have a problem with Peter and Gamora's more strained dynamic and often lost her patience with both Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) although as the movie progressed, the three of them really stepped up as a team and and as individuals while the now swole version of Groot (Vin Diesel) was also given some rather cool moments on screen.
As for Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova), they had their own strange dynamic and were largely kept out of the main action until the last half hour when both their individual skill sets came in handy. There are a lot of characters in this movie, but James Gunn fortunately knows how to handle large cast members with nearly everyone faring well for this final saga.
As for the Guardians themselves, I'm surprised this movie didn't straight up kill any of them, because there were definitely moments throughout where it looked like every character was about to get it. However where every character ended up felt right for all of them and after nearly a decade of them on the big screen and Disney+, this was a great place to end this journey.
- Some of James Gunn's faves such as Michael Rosenbaum, Nathan Fillion as well as Daniela Melchior and Jennifer Holland all popped up in very small roles here. As did Howard the Duck (Seth Green) and Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone).
- The mid and post credit scenes had Rocket leading a new team and Peter on Earth with his grandfather, played by Gregg Henry.
- Going by one final credit, perhaps we should expect the return of The Legendary Star Lord? I'm betting he'll appear in Secret Wars.
- Was anyone surprised when Yondu (Michael Rooker) showed up? I would've been surprised if he hadn't.
- Standout music: Come And Get Your Love by Redbone, Creep by Radiohead, Dog Days Are Over by Florence And The Machine and No Sleep Til Brooklyn by Beastie Boys.
- Chronology: Around 2023 or past that point. Mostly on Knowhere, Counter-Earth and Orgocorp.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 marked the end of a journey and it's been a wild one. The weirdest corner of the MCU came to an end and did it in style. Every one of the characters got the best and in some cases bittersweet ending and we got a really despicable baddie with the High Evolutionary. James Gunn definitely ended his time with the MCU on a high note.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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