‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’: Great, satisfying finale to James Gunn’s trilogy

CEBU, Philippines —  “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” feels like a finale in three ways. For one, this is writer-director James Gunn’s final movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) before he commits fully to his role as co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios where he will oversee various projects including “Superman: Legacy” which he will write and direct. Second, some cast members such as Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista has no interest to reprise their roles as Gamora and Drax the Destroyer, respectively. Third, after two films and a Disney+ Christmas special focused on the gang of space outlaws and their crossover appearances in “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Endgame” and “Thor: Love and Thunder”, it feels natural to end their trilogy on a high note.

It’s been nine years since the first Guardians movie was released and it’s easy to forget that this project felt like an outlier in Marvel Studios’ offerings at that time because this is the first film that doesn’t focus on The Avengers. It’s also based on an ensemble of characters that weren’t even at the top tiers of Marvel fans’ favorite superheroes.

While it was never destined to flop since it already found an audience craving superhero films and had recognizable names such as Saldana, Vin Diesel, Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, and Dave Bautista, the biggest question was whether audiences would enjoy this wacky group of outlaws on the big screen.

Flash forward to the present, the Guardians have made its pop culture footprint and Marvel fans have been waiting to see how Gunn will finally properly tie the bow to his trilogy. And he did so in a way that feels satisfying for fans who spent a decade invested in these characters.

Rocket (voiced by Cooper) is the backbone of Vol. 3 as it tackles the backstory of how he became a talking raccoon. Without spoiling too much about his character, the rest of the Guardians are scrambling to help him to ensure that the gang won’t crumble, which already lost one crucial member in Gamora whose death was depicted in “Infinity War.”

While Rocket’s story has taken the driver’s seat, it also focuses on Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Pratt) who leads the gang in helping Rocket while still grieving over his love, Gamora. However, a variant of the green-skinned anti-hero from “Endgame” (still played by Saldana) makes an appearance. She is almost different from the Gamora that the Guardians grew to know – or love, in Quill’s case. As such, they struggle to connect because of variant Gamora’s indifference towards him and Quill’s difficulty in accepting that this is not the same Gamora.

Other Guardians also have their own stories to shine in, though these are treated as long “epilogues” to their arcs established in previous movies. Nebula (Karen Gillian) finds ways to heal herself after the death of her abusive and genocidal adoptive father Thanos, while Drax and Mantis (Bautista and Pom Klementieff) continue to deepen their sibling-like rivalry with mean-spirited, yet well-intentioned banters. As for the Guardians mascot Groot, he is just doing Groot stuff as usual. Kraglin (Sean Gunn) is more of a sidekick in this film with Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) who is asked by the Guardians to stay put in their home location while they head off to help Rocket.

The film also introduces new characters, most notably the villains for the Guardians’ final adventure: Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and “The High Evolutionary” (Chukwudi Iwuji). There are mixed results of how the MCU treats villains in their films, some of which shows in Vol. 3. Fortunately, Gunn is able to develop these characters as much as he could given the multiple plots in the finale.

Warlock’s character feels underutilized, though moments where he shines were entertaining and his character has the potential to be a favorite despite his limited screen time. “The High Evolutionary” could have been another one-dimensional Marvel villain had Gunn not given the character reasons why he is an antagonist in the first place. He is certainly not up there as one of the best MCU villains, though he is also not at the bottom either. Iwuji’s performance was essential to making this character work as an effective villain with reasons that may give viewers some insight into his motivations.

The film runs for two hours and 30 minutes, which should be enough to wrap the story of the Guardians. It was a bit overloaded at times, evident in the middle of the movie where everything was happening all at once and it may be overwhelming for some. Surprisingly, all of them ended with a smooth landing that connects everything together.

The biggest strength that Vol. 3 has is its emotional storytelling. There was certainly care and effort from Gunn to treat these characters and their stories with nuance, while retaining some of the MCU elements that work in favor of Vol. 3. It felt like Gunn was in control of his characters.

Its effective emotional storytelling is complemented by its soundtrack. Quill’s iconic “Awesome Mix” still plays an important role in Vol. 3 as it had in earlier films. His music taste grew thanks to an MP3 player he was given at the end of the previous movie, which allows for Quill’s new songs such as the acoustic version of Radiohead’s “Creep”, Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days are Over” and the re-appearance of “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone from the first movie to be applied for other Guardians, especially Rocket who grew fond of Quill’s music more than anyone else in the gang.    

Ensemble team-ups are what Gunn has always been good at since the first Guardians. Even as the gang expanded, he never forgets how important it is to build their dynamics as a team. This is particularly why some Marvel fans favor the Guardians over the Avengers as there is simply more chemistry within these former-space-bandits-turned-heroes of the galaxy. From the silly banters to expressing support and worry for each other, it’s no wonder why saying goodbye to the Guardians is painful and emotional for fans who may not see some of them again in future MCU projects.

The closure of their character arcs should satisfy Marvel fans who waited years. Yet it also leaves room for their possible return, should the actors be interested to do so.

It’s worth pointing out that this may not be the final “Guardians” movie, though this is definitely the last time for Gunn as director. If there is going to be another Guardians iteration, it’s going to feature a different line-up. As such, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” serves as a fitting finale to Gunn’s one-of-a-kind trilogy within the wider MCU. Four stars out of five.