Congratulations, James Gunn. You outdid yourself once again. In his filmography, he has few misses and as his career has progressed, his films have gotten better and better. As of right now with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we’ve seen the pinnacle of Gunn’s writing, directing, and building of characters. Not only did I laugh hysterically in the theater when watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, I found myself weeping and then ultimately grinning with glee as the final credits rolled.
NOTE: There are spoilers ahead and if you haven’t yet seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and don’t want it spoiled, I’d stop reading. This is your final warning.
Rockets Backstory Was Riveting And Brought Me To Tears
In everything I read prior to viewing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a major highlight that many people adored was seeing Rockets backstory. I fall into that same category. Seeing his backstory was disturbing and sad, yet also added clarification. When we meet Rocket in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, he’s this angry and feisty raccoon. As fans, we don’t really know why, but we accept it.
Through the whole film, Gunn bounces back and forth between flashbacks of Rockets early life and present day which works because the whole plot is saving Rockets life after Adam Warlock nearly kills him trying to bring him back to the High Evolutionary.
The High Evolutionary
The High Evolutionary is the films main antagonist and his main objective is to create the perfect world. He experiments on animals and if they don’t workout, he just kills them. We see that he created Counter-Earth. It’s a replica of Earth, but inhabited by kind animal-humanoids that speak a different language. His goal in testing was to craft animal-humanoids who were kind and not aggressive.
When these tests fail, Rocket informs him on a switch to make in the process and it works successfully. After Rocket escapes him, the High Evolutionary makes it his life mission to retrieve Rocket and study his brain.
Subject 89P13
As a baby raccoon, Rocket is taken by the High Evolutionary and experimented on. In this process, they attach a kill switch to his heart (which creates the plot of saving Rockets life). He is a “guinea pig” in the High Evolutionary’s conquest to create the perfect society. Rocket is thrown in a cage with three other mutated animals that are also in batch 89; a walrus with wheels attached to it, an otter with bionic arms, and a rabbit with robotic spider legs and a metal voice box over her mouth.
The four animals in batch 89 grow a strong bond that really tugs at your heart strings. I mean, it got to the point where I’m almost crying twenty minutes into the movie. These four animals are going through hell, yet they find solace in one another and give each other hope. The further we get into the movie, the more we see these animals hopes raise. In a scene where Rocket is with the High Evolutionary, he sees the building of Counter-Earth and the sky and when he’s returned to his cell with the other animals, he tells them about the sky. This moment leads to the animals fantasizing about the new world and living together one day.
In a heart warming scene, the animals pick their names for when they get to the real world. The otter chooses Lylla, the walrus picks Teefs, the rabbit picks Floor, and Rocket names himself Rocket after having seen a rocket ship.
When you think that these animals will be released to the new world, the High Evolutionary stomps on your feelings and informs Rocket that he’ll be euthanizing the four of them. This leads to Rocket trying to free them and when they get out of their cages, Teefs, Floor, and Lylla are shot dead leaving Rocket to escape on a ship and never look back. At this point of the movie, seeing them die had me ugly crying. These were Rockets best friends and they dreamt of living life together. That was ripped away by the High Evolutionary.
A Reunion Of Batch 89
The tipping point of my tears is when Rocket comes close to dying. Star-Lord gets the key de-active the kill switch on his heart and him, Groot, and Gamora attempt surgery on him. As they rush with surgery, Rocket begins to slip away. As he slips, he sees the white light at the end of the tunnel and meets a familiar friends. Lylla walks towards him and embraces him. The two hug and she tells him that some friends are waiting. Rocket picks his head up seeing Teefs and Floor waving at him.
Now at this point, I’m WEEPING. Completely ugly crying. There was a lot happening. Star-Lord is screaming and crying as he’s trying to save Rocket. Rocket is crying because he feels survivors guilt for getting his friends killed. Rocket asks Lylla if he can stay with them and she says yes. But responds quickly telling him just not right now, you still have a bigger purpose. I’ll be honest, I was positive he was dead. There was no way I could have foresaw what was going to happen in that moment. He then jolts awake on the operating table to the sight of Star-Lord, Gamora, and Groot.
I just rewatched this scene to write this portion and I’m crying right now. It’s a sad scene that for some reason just hits me in the right spot. I don’t get it, but man it hits me.
Will Poulter Felt Underutilized, But Bounced Back
When I had viewed trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, I was under the impression that Will Poulters character, Adam Warlock was the main antagonist, but he was actually a mercenary trying to bring Rocket back to The High Evolutionary. In the first two hours, he appears sparingly in few scenes, but when he does appear he’s great. His powers are strong and you see a soft side of him when he adopts Blurp. He’s a great character, but not necessarily a great villain, but that’s okay because he isn’t the main villain.
As the film rolled on, I thought that maybe he was underutilized, but Gunn redeemed himself by turning Warlock to the light. After he is weakened by the destruction of Gamora and Star-Lords ship and they take Blurp with them, Warlock collapses in front of the Guardians and Groot saves him by carrying him back to Nowhere. When Warlock realizes this, he asks Groot “Why would you do this?” We get the iconic “I Am Groot!“, but Drax translates it and tells Warlock, “He believes everyone should get a second chance.” He uses that second chance to save Star-Lord from dying in space and reunites him with the Guardians. It’s a great attitude turn and pristine writing from Gunn to make this already kind of likable character extremely likable and part of the gang.
Going Home
As the film concluded, Star-Lord turned over the Guardians to Rocket in a touching ceremony. He told him he was the captain and the group went around the circle giving a chest pound in respect. This was the moment where the original Guardians of the Galaxy were going their separate ways. Star-Lord wanted to stop running and returns back to Earth to live with his grandfather. I found his return to be heartwarming because when he last saw his grandfather, Peter’s mother had just passed away and he left with just a backpack and an iPod.
Even though Peter felt like he had an unresolved conversation with the love of his life, Gamora, she returned back to her new family of Ravagers. We saw her embrace with the head of the Ravagers played by Sylvester Stallone and he seemed genuinely proud of her. While it appeared that there was a budding love interest with Drax and Mantis, she embarked on a journey of self reflection through the galaxy and Drax stayed on Nowhere with Nebula to raise the children saved from the High Evolutionary.
Rocket seems content on Nowhere with Groot as he tends to the baby raccoons that were saved from the High Evolutionary, but a post credit scene that I will touch on later on reveals other intentions.
Overall, I thought that the peaceful separation of the group made the clear point that the Guardians franchise is done, but also acted as great fan service. I adored this breakup because everyone left on their own terms. No one had to die or was sent into hiding. Like I said, it was on their terms.
We Were Once Again Given A Banger Packer Soundtrack
The entire Guardians of the Galaxy franchise collected its lore due initially due to its remarkable soundtrack of songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Since the start of the films, James Gunn has perfectly inserted songs like Hooked on a Feeling and Cherry Bomb and in Volume 3, he once again gave us perfectly placed hits that absolutely rocked.
To kick off the film, we see one of Rockets many flashbacks to his traumatizing upbringing and then the camera pans through his eye as he sings Creep by Radiohead. Immediately, I was hooked because Creep is my favorite song from the English rock band. Why this worked so well was because it showed Rocket walking through Nowhere and looking at the Guardians who are somber and all kind of have that feeling that Tom Yorke sings about; “But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, What the hell am I doin’ here? I don’t belong here.”
Another fantastic music interjection was in the final battle when the Guardians finally all come back together to get off the High Evolutionary’s ship. It’s a badass montage with Rocket leading the way as he puts his foot down to stop running and finally stand up for something. As the Guardians march into this battle, No Sleep Till Brooklyn by the Beastie Boys plays. We hear the Rick Rubin produced joint about the exhaustion of tour life play while Star-Lord shoots guards and Drax body slam animatronic aliens. It was badass.
Gunn Utilizes 21st Century Tracks To Conclude Vol. 3
My overall favorite needle drop of the whole film though came as we watched the Guardians separate on their own terms. Rocket still possessed Star-Lords iPod and scrolled through the decade playlists and tapped on “2000s”. What ensued next was a gleeful dance party of the Nowhere natives, Groot, Rocket, Nebula, Cosmo, Drax, and Kraglin while the Florence and the Machine track Dog Days Are Over played. It was a heartwarming scene that felt like the proper way to end the entire Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
What Does The Future Hold For The Guardians of the Galaxy?
As the final credits rolled and we saw the two end credit scenes, a message came across our screen reading “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return“. What we know is that Peter is back on Earth with his grandfather, Gamora went back to the Ravagers, Mantis went on sabbatical, and Nebula and Drax stayed on Nowhere to raise the children and animals saved from the High Evolutionary’s ship.
In the two end credits, Peter is seen eating breakfast with his grandfather and then the newly founded Guardians consisting of Rocket, Groot, Adam Warlock, Cosmo, Kraglin, Blurp, and one of the rescued children from the High Evolutionary. They’re led by Rocket and this appears to be the new wave Guardians. But the main question many fans have is regarding the entirety of the Guardians and their future.
In an interview with the New York Times, Gunn stated “Whatever Marvel does with those characters, I can’t wait,” He added “I hope they use them. I can’t wait to see another filmmaker take on the Guardians, and I hope that they do it in a way that they take ownership of the characters. But I feel good, I feel happy.” It appears to be very clear that Gunn is moving on from the trilogy, especially seeing that he’s writing, producing, and directing the upcoming Superman Legacy film that’s set to release in 2025.
With Gunn Done, Where Do The Actors Stand
It’s also been made clear that Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista have washed their hands of the franchise. The two are looking past it, but the franchises lead actor Chris Pratt seems semi-open to more projects about Guardians of the Galaxy. Gunn stated “Chris is open to doing more stuff, although I think he has to be convinced. It does change some things: Like, I wouldn’t have had Dave in the post-credits scene. But I’m not sure if much would have changed beyond that.”
Personally, I found Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to be a beautiful send off. Adding a fourth would be a bastardization of the greatest MCU franchise, especially if Gunn isn’t involved. The way he writes makes you actually care about every character. He did this with the 2021 Suicide Squad and in Guardians of the Galaxy, you emotionally invested in every character from Peter Quill to Rocket to Cosmo. I just don’t think it’d feel right if we saw a half hearted Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 without Chris Pratt, James Gunn, Dave Bautista, and Zoe Saldana. I also like to have something to imagine. For example, I like to imagine that Rocket is leading the new wave Guardians… but I don’t need to see it.
Something cool that Gunn could do that I’d like is a series of short films regarding the characters new paths. With Star-Lord on Earth, I wouldn’t mind a fifteen minute short of him assimilating back to Earth. It could be him listening to new music; Taylor Swift and DaBaby maybe? I would also like to see a short of Drax and Nebula raising the kids on Nowhere. Maybe even Kragin with Cosmo where he calls her a good dog. There are opportunities there, but a fourth feature film without Gunn shouldn’t be the choice.
My Final Guardians of the Galaxy Rankings
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: 5/5 Stars
2. Guardians of the Galaxy: 4.5/5 Stars
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: 4/5 Stars
It truly is the best franchise in the MCU and Vol. 3 has solidified itself as the best film in the entire MCU.