GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 (2023)

Marvel’s starting to get a bit much, they have hit us with show after show and movie after movie, so much so that you need to do about three days worth of homework just to follow along and know what’s happened. I think the bubble is about the burst and the fan fare that these superhero movies once had is slowly and surely fading away. That being said, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was not just the best Marvel film since Spiderman No Way Home, but one of the best Marvel films ever.

James Gunn has taken a movie in a franchise that usually relies on humour and bright colours and made a dark moving emotional Guardians of the Galaxy film that cantered around the origins of Rocket Racoon. It moved me, tugging at my heart strings, making me feel and putting the audience in the shoes of Rocket and the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. This film managed to tick so many boxes, it was still on a grand scale that you expect with most Marvel films, the cast were great, the CGI was magnificent but it didn’t feel goofy. It was a fitting end to this chapter of the Guardians Of the Galaxy.

What made this film stand out more than the other Marvel films is because it doesn’t feel linked to the other characters, it feels like it’s in its own little universe. Ant-Man and Dr Strange were horrible this year and I didn’t care that much for Black Panther 2, this felt different. James Gunn was able to get a story about an obnoxious, abused Racoon out there for the world to see and made the audience feel.

It’s not without it’s flaws, being a Marvel film, they turn a story that would take about ninety minutes to be told and turn it into two and a half hours’ worth of content, there’s a lot of jumping back and forth and there are some moments that aren’t necessary or help the plot move along at all. Not everything needs an explanation but there were some bits that just seemed so out of place that would’ve saved the runtime around thirty minutes at least.

It was still a fitting glorious end to that chapter in the MCU.

Rating: 🍿🍿🍿🍿