Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review: ‘The end of an era’

Everything about the promos for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been preparing audiences to say goodbye to the colorful cast of characters we’ve come to love. Lines like “Are you ready for one last ride?” and “We’ll all fly away together,” indicated we’d see at least one main character killed off. Even the opening Marvel logo features only footage of the Guardians. All in all, it feels like the end of an era.

Mild spoilers ahead!

We start at the Guardians’ new HQ, Knowhere, the giant floating head of a dead Celestial. There’s definitely an irony to watching Nebula (Karen Gillan) hanging up a sign translating to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The group is formalising just as it feels like it’s about to end.

We see the group, as per the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (a Disney+ release) with the additions of Craglan (Sean Gunn) and the dog, Cosmo (Maria Bakalova). Cosmo the spacedog makes a delightful addition providing some tickling comedy with Craglan that will make you think twice about calling an actual dog a ‘bad dog’.

The action launches early on with the arrival of Superman-like Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). Teased in an end-credit scene for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 the character, besides making short work of the Guardians in his intro, is sadly relegated to a fairly minor role; only being of actual use once at the very end.

In the chaos, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is put out of action, becoming the driving force for the majority of the film as the gang hurries to save him. Through some fairly emotional flashbacks, the raccoon’s tragic backstory is explored, explaining his genius-level intellect, and pilot and weapon skills.

As mentioned in passing in the first Guardians film, Rocket was the subject of experimentation on animals. Here, we finally meet his maker, the diabolical and two-dimensional High Evolutionary played by Chukwudi Iwuji. This unimaginative cliché of a Marvel villain goes from gently delivering generic bad-guy dialogue to manically screaming. The character is very much a one-movie villain who comes equipped with a CGI army and who has just decided to show up now.

His one objective is to create an alternative utopian world. His first attempt, ‘Counter Earth,’ fails, suffering from issues such as homelessness, drugs, and violence. So he wants a second go and our heroes must stop him as well.

The key theme in Guardians Vol. 3 is the idea of family, as it always has been with these heroes. More so than the MCU’s Earth-based heroes, the Guardians films have always focused on finding your tribe, dysfunctional or otherwise.

Fans will be glad to know this group comprised of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Gillan), Mantis (Pam Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) are still as mad as ever. Gamora (Zoe Saldana) also returns.

The family theme is hammered home even harder this time as audiences are taken on a story that goes from being utterly heartbreaking and tear-inducing to heartwarming and rousing.

MCU fans will also be glad to hear the Guardians bring back their familiar brand of zany comedy. This balance is especially welcome after the make-every-other-line-a-joke approach to Thor: Love and Thunder.

Everything builds to a fairly typical third act involving your standard action set pieces, CGI armies, and whatnot. Still, Guardians Vol. 3 is a surprisingly emotional entry into the MCU. In its closing moments, Florence and the Machine’s ‘Dog Days Are Over’ signifies the end of this era for the Guardians and the beginning of another.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in cinemas on 3 May.