When I think of Marvel films I never truly can say that there is a perfect film for the franchise. The MCU has cooked up some of the most influential films of the last 20 years and while 90 percent of them are amazing films, I can say none of them are perfect. That was until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I was first introduced to the Guardians in 2014 and I could remember it like it was yesterday. I wanted to see the film in theaters but at the time I couldn't afford it. So I asked my grandmother for the film on DVD for Hanukkah and she promised she was going to get it for me. I stayed away from spoilers and waited many months. Once I finally obtained the film and watched it at 11 pm in my room I fell in love. I fell in love with a group of rejects and outcasts and finally related to something in a superhero movie. Then the 2nd film came out and I fell in love with them even more. Now we are at the 3rd and final film and the love was still there but something changed. I watched this family for 9 years and grew up with them in my adult years and I never thought I would be able to say this but as much as I love the first Guardians film and the 2nd, they aren't perfect films; but this finale of the team, this final film for this team, this film is perfect. I could stop writing this film and not explain to you why it's perfect and make you watch the films to understand why it's perfect but there is a reason why you made it this far into reading. You too have seen the film and love this family just as much as I do. I never thought I would say this early onto a review but at this point my review is simple: 5 out of 5, 100 percent a perfect film. Now that we got that out of the way it's time to do this film some justice and continue to talk about this film and this beautiful team and give a review of a lifetime. And yes I know I promised The Whale review in my last review but right now this one is more important. That and I need more time to put my thoughts into paper and really think about that film. Anyway, I think it's time to talk more about this beautiful film and talk about why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is Marvel's Magnum Opus and a Perfect film.
* SPOILERS AHEAD*
Now it’s obvious at this point that this is my favorite film so far this year and might be staying as my favorite film of the year once my Top 10 Best Films of 2023 list comes out. But for me to abruptly review the film wasn’t the actual plan. My obsession with the film after the first viewing, listening to the soundtrack constantly and begging one of my co-workers after she said she wanted to see the film but didn’t know for sure after she found out some people said it would be hard for people to watch cause of animal cruelty to watch the film and 2 days before re-watching the film I finally decided this review couldn’t wait. I had to let out all of the emotions I have for this film. And yes there were many emotions throughout the film.
James Gunn and this website seems to be the one place you will see true heart for a movie review. This is technically my 3rd movie I am reviewing that had James Gunn as a big part of the film (The Suicide Squad and the Scooby-Doo films). So I don’t think I need to re-introduce my love for him and his legacy as a filmmaker so far. But I do need to say this one thing. We almost never got this film. A couple of allegations and past tweets got Gunn fired from Disney, which led him to direct The Suicide Squad and thankfully Disney grew some balls and hired him back on to finish off his Guardians trilogy. And he didn’t disappoint. I know I said this in my The Suicide Squad review but I called that film his Magnum Opus….and now I’m kind of saying this one is. At this point I can’t decide which one is the better film he made but right now I need to talk about the Marvel film. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has such a fantastic cast; I mean they've been working with each other for years so I sure hope it is a fantastic cast. The cast includes Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Batista (Drax), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Vin Diesel (Groot), Chukwudi Iwuji (the High Evolutionary), Sean Gunn (Kraglan, motion capture for Rocket), Will Poulter (Adam Warlock), Linda Cardellini (Lylla), Elizabeth Debicki (Ayesha the golden High Priestess), Maria Bakalova (Cosmo), Nathan Fillion (Master Karja), Asim Chaudhry (Teefs), Mikaela Hoover (Floor), Miriam Shor and Nico Santos (Recorder Vim and Recorder Theel) and Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord). Now while the cast was phenomenal, it was everything else around this cast that perfected the film. The cast did their thing and made sure to make such a perfect movie but we need to first talk about the soundtrack. I don’t know who’s in charge of picking out the songs for the soundtrack but give them a gold medal because this soundtrack is extremely incredible. It’s up there with the first Guardians film as one of the best soundtracks in film history but I never thought I would fall in love with songs like “The Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine and “We Care a Lot” by Faith No More but at the same time hearing “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” by Beastie Boys during a huge 3 minute fight scene and falling in love with the scene. Yeah this soundtrack totally rocked and will be bought one day. Also I need to talk about the visuals and CGI in the film. It’s not the greatest CGI in the world but it’s better than any of the Marvel films within the last year. But also the prosthetic make-up work in this film is so incredible. You can barely tell that there are people under the make up with certain character designs. Like they can pull off an alien or whatever those animal creatures were in the middle of the film and in the trailer. Maybe they are just furries? I’m dragging on too much and would rather start talking more about this movie.
Peter Quill. I think it’s pretty well known now who Star-Lord is. But his story is actually pretty depressing if you think about it. Throughout the two films and also in Avengers Infinity War we watched Peter watch his own mother pass away from cancer, learn about his father who would later be known as the reason why his mother died from cancer (his father was half God like and planted the cancer into her head), he watched his father figure Yondu die in front of him as he was saving him from dying in space, he lost the love of his life and was one of the multiple reasons why Thanos was able to kill half the universe. Peter has been through a lot but thanks to the events of Endgame he was about to go through one more; heartbreak. Gamora was brought back from a different part of the MCU timeline thanks to the events of Endgame and in this movie Gamora has no memory of what happened between her and Quill and the rest of the Guardians. And honestly that has to be hard for Quill because you can see it in his mannerisms that this man misses the love of his life. Peter’s story in this film is kind of sad actually as we are watching a man who holds this burden and can’t live with the fact that the love of his life is alive but it isn’t the same person he once fell in love with. We watch him try so hard for him to try and get her to fall in love with him again or try and remember their love for each other and each time failing. I wouldn’t say it was him trying and failing but him trying to accept that she will never be the girl he fell in love with and at the same time he needs to save his best friend from dying. I will talk more about that said friend later, you’re probably aware of whom we are talking about just from watching the trailers, but for now let’s continue on with Quill’s part of the film. Quill’s journey in these films is gut wrenching. I mentioned it before but he watched his mother die in front of him at age 8 years old after she lost her hard battle with cancer. That itself is sad to begin with because at any age watching a parent pass away in front of you is hard but at age 8 is just heartbreaking. That and he never was able to take the time to cope with her death as he was abducted by aliens aka Yondu and ravagers and the only source of cooping he had was well I guess running away from that eventful day and listening to the music his mother left him for his walkman. Those were how people listened to music back in the day to our GEN Z kids reading the review and being able to stream their music on ITunes on their phones. The thing about Quill is while we saw him grow as a character and be this leader, we never saw him feel broken. The man lost almost everything and yet we never saw the character take in everything and ever feel broken. We saw a glimpse of it in GOTG Vol. 2 after he learned about Ego planting the cancer into his mother’s head and also in Infinity War after he learned that Thanos killed Gamora to gain the soul stone but we never actually watched him cope and act how a person would act after loss. It was in this movie in the very beginning that we saw how he reacted to losing Gamora, not the one that was alive but his Gamora. He drank his life away in a sense and constantly thought about her and missed her. You ever just have that one person in your life that is living their life and moved on and yet you can’t and all you think of is that one person and all the memories you had with each other and that feeling of never having another great moment together and still being in love with that one person. That’s what Peter is dealing with right now.
Throughout the film you can see that he is hurting each time he is around Gamora. I feel what this man is going through but at the same time our stories are completely different. Yes this is a film where the events never actually happened but it’s the fact that it feels too real because the message behind this one part of the film’s story is very real and can be very relatable. I will touch on more about the film’s message and return back to Quill in a bit but while Peter’s story is very heartbreaking, there is one who has a more heartbreaking story that made this film what it is.
Rocket and his story is the heart of this film. We knew nothing about Rocket in the last two films except that he was experimented on, his best friend is Groot and he has a very strange obsession with getting mechanical body parts. In this movie, James Gunn perfectly showed us Rocket’s story; a story of a young raccoon who lost everything he cared about and was abused from the very beginning of his existence. From the very beginning shot you can see that Rocket was the heart of this movie. I will even go back into Vol. 2 with the last shot being Rocket which would later foreshadow his huge part of this current film. I think the plan from the beginning was for Rocket to have his time to shine and we finally get to see his story but in the end Gunn so fucking incredible at showing us one of the saddest stories in cinema history. That could be me reaching but I mean I felt the film’s story with Rocket and how he lost his first real family. I’m not going to lie to you but I cried both times watching this movie, mostly with the scenes with Rocket. Watching Rocket go through such a traumatic experience at being experimented on to then seeing a little raccoon left with nothing but pain, to then finally not being alone and finding others like him that care about him. The introduction of Lylla, Teefs and Floor was one of the saddest moments in this movie. But it was watching their journey of becoming this family and it then being taken away because of a man who wanted everything to be his way and his vision and if he didn’t get that he would destroy. But the bond Rocket, Teefs, Floor and Lylla make is so lovely to see as even though they were experimented on and put back together in different ways, they still find a way to enjoy life with each other. Rocket however seems to be gifted with such great knowledge, something many of the villain’s creations doesn’t fully have, at least to the extent of Rocket’s knowledge. But with such a great gift comes such a huge sacrifice. Rocket’s sacrifice would be losing his friends. High Evolutionary has yet to be mentioned in this review but he is such an incredible villain. You do not empathize with him, relate with him in any way; all you can do is hate him because he is pure evil. And that’s what makes him such a great villain. It’s because he did everything terrible to Rocket amongst others and he isn’t someone who you can justify their reasoning. He is the definition of what someone evil should truly be. He is also the reason why Rocket is the way he is. Throughout the films Rocket expresses his hate and despair about the way he is but we never get a true reason to why; that was until this movie. But seeing Rocket’s story is truly heartbreaking and the vibe it left in the theater is unforgettable. Sitting next to my co-worker and seeing her cry as I try to hold back tears as we watch Rocket try to save his friends or vice versa the Guardians try and save Rocket. Spoiler territory coming so be ready. Rocket dies in this movie for a moment. He is in the beautiful sky, he and his friends always talked so much about and he reunites with Lylla and his friends and the expression on his face is gut wrenching. He blamed himself for their deaths and for the first time in a long time he feels so much regret. He lost the one true thing in his life he loved the most, love. The love he had for Teefs, Floor and Lylla was powerful and once that was taken from him he became broken. We saw it when he screamed and cried after High Evolutionary killed Lylla as Floor screams for her, Teefs and Rocket to run and go but all Rocket can do is scream and cry because he lost the love of his life. This then led to anger and eventually the death of both Floor and Teefs. But Rocket reuniting with his friends in pretty much heaven was the kicker of all tears. But Lylla telling him his time in the big beautiful sky is not here yet destroyed me. He still had purpose in his life and that purpose is the Guardians. They might not be Lylla, Teefs and Floor but they became his family. Rocket needed to be there with them and also stop High Evolutionary. He needed to stop running away from the pain and everything that makes him hurt. He needed to let go of the burden he continues to hold onto and rise from it. He needed to become the true leader he always knew he was. Rocket’s story made this movie special and broke me, so much so that I realized the true message of this entire film.
I’ve learned something from watching this movie and that you have so much purpose in life, but the most important thing I learned from this film is to accept yourself for who you are. I know I mostly talked about Peter and Rocket but each member of the Guardians has a placement of this film and its message. Peter accepts the fact that he and Gamora will never have the same love they used to and at the same time that his time as being a Guardian is over and he needs to stop running from his past and return home. Rocket accepts his life as what he has become and his purpose in this life is to now become the leader of the Guardians but more so live his life and create such a beautiful future with his new family, aka the 2nd family he created way back in the 1st film. I know I barely mentioned her in this but Nebula was a shockingly great character in this film. The first two films she was either an anti-hero or the side villain and finally she got to show off her true abilities and showed care for the characters. When she found out Rocket was alive she broke down into tears. Just like Rocket she was too abused by her creator, Thanos, but she never showed any remorse or connection with anyone. That was until she joined the Guardians and now she has compassion and a family that truly loves her and she accepts that. Plus she will be taking care of the many life forms on the planet Knowhere. Drax can finally be a father again and accepts that because well Nebula said it best but he is great at being a father. Gamora is no longer the Gamora we know her as but she knows that these people that risked their lives to save a member of their family were once hers even though that isn’t the case now. She accepts that and shows her loyalty to them even though she returns home to her new crew. Groot, well Groot never truly had a reason to accept his own fate and a purpose because his purpose in life was being a true great friend to Rocket and the rest of the Guardians. Plus that moment we finally understand Groot makes our acceptance to the Guardians even more better. Yeah that happened in the film but after spoiling almost half the film I might as well say that we understand Groot now. Mantis also finds her purpose in life and that’s to find herself.
She is probably the only member of the group who hasn’t found herself and accepted who she is yet because she never had a chance to be on her own so she chooses to also leave the team and go on her own path. I truly feel this message and it’s why I felt so emotional both times watching this film. The Dog Days are Over for this team but they accept each other for who they are and can truly continue their lives accepting themselves with whatever purposes they have. It’s very relatable to ourselves as we all have different purposes in life. It could be a husband or father to your family, being a hero to someone that needs guidance or it could be a talking tree that wants to make the world bright or a talking raccoon who wants to build machines and fly them with his friends in the big bright blue beautiful sky. We all have a purpose in this thing called life and no matter what anybody says, you should accept yourself and fight hard for what you are longing for.
I fucking loved this movie so much like I wish it never ended. I loved every minute of this film and I know many people will disagree with me saying this film isn't perfect but in my honest opinion I think this is the most perfect film from the MCU. The visual effects were simply amazing and the sound production of this film was extremely incredible. Every person in this cast was pure perfection as well; not one person in this film, to me, did anything wrong and if they did then I don't care because it didn’t ruin anything for this movie for me. I just can’t believe James Gunn pulled this off again with these Guardians of the Galaxy films. I’m going to take this time to talk about the little things and details that I wanted to mention earlier but obviously I got caught up with multiple scenes and moments in this film that I just couldn’t. A lot of people mentioned in their reviews how Adam Warlock wasn’t used properly and he seemed like a 2nd fiddle to High Evolutionary and I kind of want to debunk this whole idea that he was used poorly. I think Adam Warlock was used the right way in this film as his character was supposed to be premature as he is literally taken out of his cocoon before he can become a fully utilized path of destruction or super power man as we see in the comics. I think having him kind of child-like and not understanding multiple scenarios makes sense for this film and it’s story. I also love that this film uses comedy the right way unlike many MCU films that will use comedic moments in the film when a certain scene should be kind of dramatic. Even though it would then cut to a scene with Rocket the use of the comedic moment is done properly and yes you may still be laughing from said scene but once you see Rocket being mistreated again or something terrible happen the focus of the viewer switches as the mood of the film. I like that it was done properly and wasn’t heavily comedic in moments that definitely needed to be dramatic. I know I mentioned Nebula earlier but I do need to talk about her again because her character in this film is so good. Her character arc in these films have grown as she went from being this robotic warrior who is ready to kill anyone in her way to this caring person who has a heart and feelings. Her character has grown from these three films and even in the other MCU films she has been a part of but we see her character evolve and it’s like that for all the Guardians as they all evolve but they all weren’t a villain character like she was in the first film. Seh gradually changed in each film and in this film we see her full potential as being such a powerful character that we can love and cherish. Finally I want to talk about this soundtrack because it needs more love and attention. I mentioned earlier how I loved this soundtrack but after a 2nd viewing of the film and constantly listening to it on Spotify, yes I know I have problems, I realized that these songs were not just put in here because they sounded great and it works for the film, but they parallel to the characters. Radiohead’s “Creep” is used in the beginning of the film as we follow Rocket’s character and in the lyrics it literally describes a person being a weirdo and how they don’t belong in this world and for Rocket he didn’t start out this way in the world but was created into what he thinks is a monster. He’s an outcast/outsider, as are all the Guardians as each one are kind of like outcasts. Or even Florence + the Machine’s song “The Dog Days are Over”; this song literally is the powerful scene stealing song that has made headlines for the film. But why? The song is about finding happiness and finding the light at the end of the tunnel. For the Guardians each one of them were struggling with something. Peter lost his mother and the love of his life and kept running away from that burden. Drax lost his family. Nebula was created to be a monster as was Rocket but for Rocket he lost everything in his life he cared about and hid his pain and bubbled it in. All these characters have been fighting with demons and at the same time moving forward with their lives and throughout these films we see their struggles and we feel their pain but they kept on fighting and in this film the final fight was done and they won again but they still had one more fight, their realization of letting go of their burdens and finding that light. I went a little off topic but this soundtrack works so well with the film’s message and the characters themselves. There so much about this movie that I truly want to talk about but can’t because this will be a 100 page paper. But there is one final thing I do want to talk about. Why was this film so perfect to me?
I watched these guys throughout my early adulthood to now at the age of twenty seven and throughout the three films I have kind of grown myself and gone through a couple of struggles myself. I lost my grandmother from cancer, the grandmother that bought me the first Guardians movie on DVD that would later spawn my love for these characters and films. That happened in 2017, the year the 2nd film came out. In that film Peter lost his father figure, Yondu, and the final song used in that film was called “Father and Son” by Yusuf/Cat Stevens. 5 years later I lost my father and when Spotify for my father I used that song and I broke down crying because it reminded me of my father. One year later this film comes out and Peter is hurting from the loss of Gamora and the love they once had. I broke up with my girlfriend in November 2022, not trying to get too much into details but I put myself in a bad mental state and kept thinking about the past and how we once were in love, kind of like how Peter kept thinking of Gamora and his love with her each time he thought about her all those years leading up to this film and each time he is around her. While I connect with Peter in these films I also connect with Rocket. Sure I wasn’t created by a monster who abused me mentally and physically but I struggled with bubbling in my pain and struggles and hurting my mental health in the process. What did I do? Well just like Rocket I stopped running away from my problems and I move forward. Sure I still struggle with it here and there but that’s how life works. But what does this have to do with the film being perfect? It’s because my connection with these films and characters made this one final movie connect with me so much that I couldn’t find one bad thing about it even when each review I read say something bad about the film or each reviewer give it a not so great review, I myself looked past it and still as I write these words down and talk about this film I don’t see a single problem with this perfect film. This perfect ending to a perfect trilogy created by a man who is no way perfect but when he works on something he truly loves then you will get the most perfect execution in the end even if it’s not perfect for the world, it’s perfect enough for him. It’s why I felt the emotions and felt each scene with Rocket or Peter or any of the Guardians and even let out some tears for some scenes. It’s because I felt Gunn’s vision and saw the true passion he had for making this film; for making this entire trilogy. I left the film twice happy and emotional at the same time and both times I knew the film had to end but I didn’t want it to end because I didn’t want to say goodbye to this group of outcasts and I wanted the story to continue. But all good things must come to an end and this film ended perfectly. Each character is happy and living their lives to the fullest. This was my most anticipated film of the year and it most definitely lived up to the hype that I was giving it. I’ll even say this and probably some of you guys may agree with me but this doesn’t even feel like a MCU film. None of the Guardians films feel this way but this one in particular doesn’t even feel like a superhero film/comic book film. I’m happy that Disney gave Gunn a 2nd chance and let him finish his story and do it his way. Not many MCU films are done this way and it’s very noticeable. This film could have been just like the latest MCU films within the last year and been terrible. I’m not including Spider-Man: No Way Home into that because that film was actually great and felt more like a Spider-Man film than a MCU/Avengers film. This film is the best MCU film since Endgame and I know many headlines and people are saying that but it’s the truth. I may not be excited to see a MCU film for a long time and I’m okay with that. Endgame was the swan song for the MCU for many people but for me this was my swan song. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will always play a big part in my life and will always remind me to keep moving forward and always find that little light in the end of the tunnel, the tunnel of happiness.
Final Review: 5 out of 5 Stars, 100 out of 100 %, a PERFECT FILM!
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