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James Gunn loves his outcasts. One of the most interesting things about his “ Guardians of the Galaxy ” movies has been watching the tug-of-war between Gunn’s outsider instincts and a franchise-generating machine that’s as insider as it gets. He's one of the few filmmakers who has operated in the massive system of the biggest movie money-making factory in the world without sacrificing his voice. Watching his “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is to see a director who knows how to balance corporate needs with personal blockbuster filmmaking. Mostly. This sci-fi/action/comedy still succumbs to a few of the MCU issues of late—bloated runtime, things-go-boom finale, too many characters—but there’s a creativity to the filmmaking, dialogue, and performances that modern superhero movies often lack. Much of the recent talk has been about the potential for AI-generated blockbusters , and I like when “GoTG 3” is at its messiest. Gunn is like that kid who is not only playing with his action figures; he’s pulling them apart and smashing them back together to make them into new creations. He doesn’t just love these losers, he wants to see them save the universe again. You will too.

“Vol. 3” opens with Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) listening to “Creep” by Radiohead. In another film filled with clever needle drops, it’s a tone-setter. Rocket sees himself as the weirdo, the creep, but the movie will teach him that he’s so f-ing special, of course. 

It all starts with an attack. The golden-hued Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) comes speeding into Knowhere, pummeling everything in sight with strength that would impress Superman. Rocket takes the worst beating and hovers near death for most of the movie, putting the film on two tracks—a flashback to Rocket’s origin story and the present-day tale of the Guardians trying to save him. The mission leads them to the High Evolutionary ( Chukwudi Iwuji ), a mad scientist who tried to speed up the evolutionary process for a utopia called Counter-Earth and created Rocket all those years ago.

Of course, the Guardians bring baggage on their quest. Peter ( Chris Pratt ) is emotionally unstable over what happened with Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña ), who was killed by Thanos but has returned as an alternate timeline version of the character who doesn’t remember her time with the GotG. Gamora gets involved with the Rocket mission, but the love story between her and Star-Lord doesn’t drive the narrative like the first two. Many filmmakers would have made “Vol. 3” about reuniting Peter and Gamora, but it’s more about a background to Rocket’s story, which allows for different chemistry between Pratt and Saldaña. She’s particularly good here, looking at the rest of the Guardians skeptically, especially the one who claims to love a different version of her.

As for the rest of the gang, it’s gotten a little too big for one movie to hold. Dave Bautista is fun again, but Drax has little to do. Same with Karen Gillan as Nebula, who has become a functional part of the team but lacks actual development. Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) is back for comic relief, and Groot ( Vin Diesel ) does his thing, but it’s hard to shake how this “Guardians” is overcrowded. I didn’t even mention the talking dog (voiced by Maria Bakalova ), Elizabeth Debicki as Adam’s creator Ayesha, or Sylvester Stallone ’s return.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is most appealing when it defies a “product over art” aesthetic by being clunky and weird. It might sound silly to say a film is at its best when it’s less refined, but many recent blockbusters lack the human touch. It's thrilling to see Gunn push through some of his genuinely unsettling creature designs, or settings that feel like they’re taking place in actual physical spaces instead of the bland CGI that makes superhero movies look like watching someone else playing a video game. There’s a version of “Vol. 3” that’s even more chaotic and personal—the final act especially feels like it’s knocking off prerequisites on an MCU checklist—but every time this blockbuster felt like it was edging more to content than art, it won me back.

It's in the small choices made by Gunn and an ensemble that would clearly follow him into battle at this point. Pratt has been phoning in some of his lead film roles lately, but he’s always clicked best on-screen as Peter Quill, equal parts hero and chump. Giving him a broken heart allows Pratt to push away some of the cocky smarm that has derailed him in other projects and allows us to like Quill again. Saldaña is having fun returning to the basics of a warrior like Gamora, convincing us she could carry a movie like this alone. But, most of all, this is Rocket’s film, a story of how he overcomes trauma to be the hero he was always meant to be.

While the villain is a bit underwritten—most characters are simply due to the cast's sheer size—something interesting here unfolds on a thematic level beyond the basic hero/villain narrative. Without spoiling all the details of Rocket’s origin, his arc shifted when he solved a problem in the High Evolutionary’s experiments on his own, sending the villain off into a spiral of insecurity and sociopathology. In a sense, this is a story of a vengeful God, someone who lashes out when his creation not only proves himself independent but arguably more intelligent than its creator. Tales of creations who turn on their wicked creators are as old as myth, but Gunn weaves that idea through a Marvel vision with just enough clever subtlety to give his film more depth than a lot of its peers. Gunn reckons with the idea of a wicked God, one who sees his creations as experiments more than actual beings. It’s a story that fits Gunn perfectly as he tries to defy the Hollywood machine by bringing his imagination to life. He's the creator who wants his creations to outshine him. 

The flashback/mission structure of “Vol. 3” sometimes drains the film of momentum, and everyone who has seen a Marvel movie knows that this will end with many team-ups and explosions. And yet even when the film is checking those items off the list, it does so with Gunn’s personality intact, whether it’s in his music choices or intense imagery that could startle younger viewers. So much of the recent MCU has felt cravenly desperate to do just enough to turn a profit. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is a reminder that the best blockbusters don’t just sing along to a well-known tune like “Creep”; they make the song their own. After all, we’re all the weirdos. And Gunn would say that makes us all pretty f-ing special too.

In theaters on May 5 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements.

150 minutes

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord

Zoe Saldaña as Gamora

Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer

Karen Gillan as Nebula

Pom Klementieff as Mantis

Vin Diesel as Groot (voice)

Bradley Cooper as Rocket (voice)

Sean Gunn as Kraglin / On-Set Rocket

Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary

Will Poulter as Adam Warlock

Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha

Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Dog (voice)

Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord

Daniela Melchior as Ura

Writer (comic book)

• Andy Lanning
• Greg D'Auria
• Fred Raskin
• John Murphy

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Review: Raccoon Tears and a Final Mixtape

This dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film may only be for completionist fans.

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By Maya Phillips

Animal lovers, comic book fans and unofficial adjudicators of narrative continuity, action and style in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Lend me your ears. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is not the movie for you.

Perhaps this dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film is only for completionist fans like myself, arriving at the theater armed with overpriced popcorn and the hope that the director James Gunn’s latest could replicate the romp and anti-gravity gambol of the first .

For those who need help getting their multiversal timeline untangled, “Guardians” is the second film of the so far ecstatically bad Phase Five of the M.C.U., after the, to quote my colleague, “thoroughly uninspired” “ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. ” We last caught our whole team of lovable riffraff together in “ Avengers: Infinity War ,” when Thanos (Josh Brolin) threw his adopted daughter and galaxy guardian, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), into an abyss to get one of the Infinity Stones, which he used to snap away half of the universe. (There were some dancing Groots and a cute holiday special about abducting Kevin Bacon, but — sorry, Kev — they were irrelevant.)

Now the Guardians are settling in at Knowhere, a community in the severed head of a celestial that serves as their home base. With Gamora gone, Peter (Chris Pratt), a.k.a. Star-Lord, is still grieving, unaware of the fact that somehow Gamora — or, rather, a variant — is alive, sans her memories of him and the Guardians. When, a few minutes into the film, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) becomes victim to a deadly attack, the team is reunited with a hostile, partially amnesiac Gamora, who is reluctantly dragged into their plot to save him.

While Rocket is in critical condition, Peter and company do some risky snooping through Rocket’s traumatic back story to figure out how to save his life and stop the man pursuing him, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). A powerful god-figure, the High Evolutionary has genetically altered Rocket, other animals and even children to create a perfect race to inhabit his imagined utopia. (Yes, that’s another Nazi-coded villain for your Bingo card.)

So much of “Guardians 3” seems to erupt from left field, most prominently the main story, which is driven by Rocket, even though the Guardians have mostly played second-string to Star-Lord, the plot-driving hero. The shift makes sense given the role this film plays as the end of the trilogy, resulting in a Guardians team with a different starting lineup and an unclear position in the context of the rest of the M.C.U. But the shift also feels belabored and emotionally manipulative; scenes upon scenes of shot, blown up, tortured and incinerated C.G.I. animals with big, emotive eyes are as merciless as clips of injured animals set to a Sarah McLachlan song .

It seems “Guardians” needs this much gratuitous trauma bait to establish its stakes and prove that the bad guy is, in fact, bad. Which is unfortunate because Iwuji, who offered a much more nuanced performance in Gunn’s edgy-fun DC Extended Universe series, “Peacemaker,” is left with just a thin silhouette of an antagonist to work with here. (Will Poulter and Elizabeth Debicki also appear as idiotic secondary antagonists, for no real reason.)

Something like Thanos Lite or a knockoff Dr. Frankenstein, the High Evolutionary represents one of the central problems the franchise is facing in a post-“ Endgame ” M.C.U.: characters and circumstances that pale in comparison to Thanos and his cataclysmic, conclusive multi-arc-spanning plotline. Because at least the extent of Thanos’s power and the roots of his villain philosophy were clear. “There is no god — that’s why I stepped in,” the High Evolutionary says at one point. This tiny germ of a motivation does nothing but indicate all the questions that the film could have answered about this character to make him more interesting. Surely an atheist with a narcissistic personality and obsessive-compulsive disorder has some deeper psychology to unpack. Ah well.

Though this “Guardians” is certainly less fun than the others, there are still glints of joy in the more mundane and ancillary quibbles among the found family of misfits. Dave Bautista gives another priceless performance as Drax, and Bautista’s signature chemistry works with Pom Klementieff as Mantis. Groot (Vin Diesel) has leveled up in the bang-bang-shoot-em-up category, as has Nebula (Karen Gillan). Though the film makes no attempt to explain the logic behind Gamora’s magical reappearance (“I’m not some infinity stone scientist!” Peter exclaims after trying to puzzle things out), it does at least give Saldaña the opportunity to reinvent her character, which she manages beautifully. The same for Rocket, who gives an Oscar-worthy performance — via Cooper’s great voice acting, of course, but also via the animation, which makes his faces, postures and movements look so unbelievably believable.

Gunn makes the curious, bold choice to chase an unpleasant aesthetic that’s part Cronenberg, part “ Osmosis Jones. ” A series of scenes take place in a ship fashioned like viscera and innards, with fleshy globules and architectural dendrites, often in nude tones. Squishy sound effects add an unwelcome layer of grossness.

Even when the movie switches back to the more lambent palette of nebulae and the luminous shine of the stars, Gunn’s direction doesn’t serve the full tableau. His camera is too voyeuristic, spinning enthusiastically on every axis during group fight scenes rather than giving us a steady look at the choreography.

At least this “Guardians,” like the previous ones, stays on beat with a fantastic soundtrack of Spacehog, Beastie Boys and Earth Wind & Fire. But pumping soundtrack aside, after a breakout hit and the sequel, “ Everything Would Have Been Fine if Your Dad the Space God Played Catch With You: The Movie, ” this final piece of the trilogy makes one thing apparent: “Guardians” was just a one-hit wonder.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Rated PG-13 for some swearing and a zoo of horrors. Running time: 2 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this article misidentified the actress who plays a secondary antagonist along with Will Poulter. It is Elizabeth Debicki, not Maria Bakalova.

How we handle corrections

Maya Phillips is a critic at large. She is the author of “NERD: Adventures in Fandom From This Universe to the Multiverse” and the poetry collection “Erou.” More about Maya Phillips

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a gorgeous spectacle that confuses schmaltz for sentimentality

James gunn’s third guardians movie is packed with stunning set pieces, but its saccharine attempts at sentimentality and a by-the-numbers plot keep it from ever reaching lift-off..

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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The appeal of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films has always been their ability to feel truly set apart and distinct from the rest of Marvel’s multigenre cinematic universe, all while sticking to the studio’s house style just enough for crossovers to make sense. The first Guardians humorously opened up the MCU on a cosmic scale , and the second solidified its ragtag team of space outcasts as both a family and an important part of Marvel’s plans for the end of Phase 3 . Though Phase 5 is just ramping up , almost everything about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is crafted to be a celebratory farewell to the movie’s characters and the recent era of Marvel’s films they helped define.

Narratively, that’s a fantastic place for the third film in a series to be working from, and Vol. 3 feels like Gunn is working hard to show you just how much these movies have meant to him as a director. But for all of its stunning set pieces, imaginative production design, and a fascinating villain, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gets bogged down by a morass of cringey jokes and a schmaltz so cloyingly “sweet,” it’s almost insulting.

Set some time after the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special , Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tells the action-packed, flashback-filled story of how Rocket Raccoon’s (Bradley Cooper) life being gravely endangered gives the rest of the Guardians a reason to come together and really start working on some of the emotional issues that’ve been haunting them since Endgame . With Thanos gone and the universe mostly restored, things have been going relatively well on Knowhere, the severed Celestial head out of which Rocket, Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) operate as the newest incarnation of the Guardians. 

Despite having become an angry drunk since we last saw him, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still very much a part of the team as Vol. 3 opens on him mourning the death of the Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) he knew and loved before Thanos murdered her in Infinity War — a loss that hit all the Guardians heavily. But unlike Quill, who spends quite a bit of Vol. 3 lashing out with an unpleasant surliness that makes him difficult to sympathize with, pretty much everyone else on the team has made their peace with the fact that while their Gamora might be gone, there’s a different Gamora from the past (see: Endgame ) running around the galaxy now for them to love from a healthy distance.

Figuring out how to pick up narrative threads post- Endgame without feeling excessively stuck in the past is a challenge many of Marvel’s recent movies have struggled with, and Vol. 3 is no exception. There was no way for Vol. 3 to avoid addressing the Gamora paradox problem, and it’s actually a concept that’s always felt intriguing enough to warrant deeper exploration. But rather than unpacking that bit of existential time weirdness and all the ideas about grief baked into it, Guardians of the Galaxy focuses the bulk of its energy on revealing the secret, tragic backstory that led to Rocket’s creation and also conveniently frames him as the latest example of Marvel framing (animal) people as MacGuffins.

The specific reason the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) — an alien geneticist obsessed with engineering perfection into living beings — wants Rocket is far more interesting than the Scarlet Witch’s rationale for hunting down America Chavez in Multiverse of Madness and more unhinged than Namor’s plan to kill Riri Williams in Wakanda Forever. But whereas those films both tried to give their living MacGuffins active roles to play in the present, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tries to tug on your heartstrings with a series of flashbacks to Rocket’s gruesome childhood of being experimented on alongside other sentient, talking animals like Lylla (Linda Cardellini), an otter with cybernetic arms, Floor the Rabbit (Mikaela Hoover), and Teefs the Walrus (Asim Chaudhry).

As it’s jumping between the past and the present, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 often feels like a film that’s overstuffed with ideas, both good and bad, and doing everything in its power to make them all work in too short a time, even though the movie clocks in at over two hours.

The Guardians’ battles with the High Evolutionary’s Sovereign underlings, High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), and her prematurely hatched failson Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) make for some of the movie’s most dazzling fight sequences and do a very solid job of presenting them as a team of cosmic superheroes. But the more time Vol. 3 spends in the past focused on young Rocket — an uncannily cute CGI procyonid Cooper voices like a man doing gruff, stilted baby talk — the more it feels like Gunn doesn’t exactly trust you to have emotional responses to things without being spoon-fed concentrated schmaltz beforehand.

What Gunn does seemingly (and rightfully) have faith in is his own ability to dream up brilliantly twisted, fanciful locations and production designer Beth Mickle’s ability to bring them to life in absolutely stunning detail. As tired as many of Vol. 3 ’s gags and emotional beats are, almost every single one of its transitions to a new locale is a delightful showcase of what all Marvel Studios is capable of, visually speaking, when it’s firing on all cylinders to realize the vision of a filmmaker whose ideas it trusts. It’s also clear that the film’s cast has faith in Gunn, and he in them, and the result is a set of performances that — Pratt aside — work surprisingly well when the movie’s script isn’t getting in the way by making them say unfunny things. Unfortunately, though, that tends to be the case more often than not.

The degree to which you’re going to enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will largely depend upon how personally invested you’ve become in these characters over the years. Because the movie really is meant to be a send-off rather than an adventure that will make you fall in love with the Guardians for the first time. To that end, Guardians of the Galaxy does manage to send its eponymous heroes off in a way that feels thematically “right” for a trilogy that’s always been about misfits finding themselves with the help of their found families and marching to the beat of their own weird drums.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also stars Sylvester Stallone, Daniela Melchior, Nathan Fillion, Nico Santos, and Dee Bradley Baker. The movie hits theaters on May 5th.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 review – James Gunn’s fun and energetic threequel

Chris Pratt has fully grown into a hunky action-lead, but Dave Bautista’s beefy Drax is the scene stealer as he flexes his comedy chops

M arvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has now been going for almost a decade, long enough for its star Chris Pratt to have fully grown into his hunky action-lead image and leave behind the puppyish comedy turn from TV’s Parks and Recreation that got him hired in the first place. With Pratt’s lovable hero Quill addicted to 70s/80s hits on his vintage Walkman, the franchise has also gone on long enough to reportedly trigger a massive global sales upturn in audio cassettes, although it’s an iPod we see in this film. And it’s been with us long enough for writer-director James Gunn to experience a complete cancelling-uncancelling cycle , fired and then forgiven for offensive tweets.

Now Guardians of the Galaxy has reached the threequel stage: overlong, yes, and finally reaching for an importance and emotional closure (perhaps inspired by Gunn’s own corporate redemption) that it doesn’t quite encompass, while leaving the GOTG brand open for a next-gen reboot. But it’s still spectacular, spirited and often funny. We find the Guardians in a state of emotional disarray, with Quill pining for Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who was killed in Avengers: Infinity War but now exists as a time-travelled alt-self split from Quill and the group; she has no memory of their previous relationship and is now working with the Ravagers, led by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone).

A mysterious golden figure, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) swoops in and unsuccessfully attempts to kidnap Rocket (Bradley Cooper), leaving him seriously injured and on life-support. Quill and the Guardians are astonished to discover that their raccoon pal actually has a vitally important data chip implanted into him, with a “kill switch” preventing remedial surgery. Rocket is actually a piece of IP, a bioform invented by the sinister High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who had once been using him as part of his plan to develop a new post-earthling master race on Counter-Earth, or maybe a new planet entirely. Rocket turns out to be a genius whose vision the HE needs, working with his high priestess, Ayesha, in which role Elizabeth Debicki is very funny but very underused.

Now the whole group, including Groot (Vin Diesel), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), must journey to confront the High Evolutionary, for no initial reason other than to save Rocket’s life – but it soon becomes clear, inevitably, that what is at stake is the future of that galaxy that they’re there to guard. The scene stealer turns out to be the good-natured, beefy Drax, with Bautista showing us his comedy chops; it’s his character, apparently so violent and unsentimental, who heartwarmingly turns out to be a favourite with little kids – an idea going back to Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai.

The narrative importance of this (apparently) final movie episode is signalled partly by its hefty length – 20 minutes longer than Vol 2 and 28 minutes longer than Vol 1 – but the sense of an ending is, perhaps inevitably, undermined by the suspicion that the movie’s constituent characters are each simply going to be reshuffled into the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some stage in the future. Well, Gunn always brought energy and fun to his Guardians, and it’ll be sad to see them go.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 First Reviews: A Satisfying Finale for Gunn and the Gang

Critics say the presumably final outing for the guardians packs an emotional punch, enhanced by dazzling visuals and wild set pieces, even if its villains don't quite hit the mark..

TAGGED AS: First Reviews , marvel cinematic universe , movies

Here’s what critics are saying about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 :

Does it live up to expectations?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has everything you would expect from James Gunn and Marvel Studios. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 achieves what it sets out to do, which is provide a stirring and audience-pleasing finale. –  Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 offers a rare thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a satisfying ending to a trilogy. –  Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

I didn’t expect to feel so sad while watching this movie. –  Mike Ryan, Uproxx

How does it compare to the first two Guardians movies?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the weirdest, grimmest, most emotional entry in Gunn’s MCU franchise, but it’s also the strongest. –  Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

This edition largely succeeds like the other ones, thanks to the chemistry of the main ensemble. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Like its two predecessors, the film is refreshing in the context of its own cinematic universe. –  Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine

Given how almost the entirety of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 feels like a superficial, snarky, and sarcastic deviation, Vol. 3 will evoke similar frustrations. –  Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

(Photo by ©Marvel/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Where does it fit in the MCU?

Leave it to James Gunn to rescue Marvel from its self-inflicted woes with the best MCU film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame . –  David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

It’s the best MCU film in years, and a reminder of how much fun and moving the Marvel Cinematic Universe can actually be. –  Ross Bonaime, Collider

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels ripped out of an older phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe… a return to form. –  Sheraz Farooqi, Cinema Debate

A blockbuster that is perfectly suited to its time, and offers a much-needed win for the MCU. – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

The impact of Rocket’s emotional arc is one of the most powerful we’ve seen in the entire MCU. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

James Gunn’s soulful style remain unlike anything else in the MCU. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

In a funny way, it makes sense that Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 is more grounded than the other Phase Four movies. – William Bibbiani, The Wrap

How are the visuals?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has some of the most stunning visuals of any Marvel Studios film. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

So bizarrely trippy at times it’s as if Gunn is aiming to create a midnight cult classic rather than a blockbuster superhero film. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Gunn ushers us into uncharted new realms of wackadoo production design and outlandish costumes, reminding us that he’s never been shy about letting his stylistic freak flag fly. –  Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

This insane adventure looks so good… Gunn and his team deliver a real sense of place to his various environments. –  Kate Erbland, IndieWire

A breath of fresh air following multiple MCU productions full of muted tones. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

One major aspect where Guardians 3 sets itself apart from Quantumania is the visual effects, which are vivid and spectacular. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

Gunn’s preferred aesthetic is stomach-churning. –  Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

What about the action?

The action sequences are also stunners, especially an epic climactic battle accompanied by the propulsive Beastie Boys classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

The action sequences feel experimental but never showy, as Gunn aimed to showcase these characters in new and compelling ways. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

Unlike many contemporary action films… [it] allows audiences to take in the fight choreography in all its glory. –  Caitlin Chappell, CBR.com

There is a hallway fight scene that will no doubt wow audiences. – Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Is it funny?

Often funny… The scene stealer turns out to be the good-natured, beefy Drax, with Bautista showing us his comedy chops. –  Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

I’m still chuckling at the ridiculous exchange among the Guardians over which buttons to press on their spacesuits to properly communicate with each other. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

The misfit team’s constant punchlines and I’m-just-busting-your-chops dynamic have grown exhausting. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

Is it also kind of dark?

Vol. 3 is perhaps also the darkest Marvel Studios has gone… There are some moments that are not for the faint of heart. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

The darkest contained MCU entry, Gunn’s examination of exploration, PTSD, and family bonds is fully engaging and tear-inducing. – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

At times, Vol. 3 can be unsettling… Abounds in intense depictions of animal torture. – Greg Nussen, Slant Magazine

This will be a difficult watch for some viewers. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

This is a movie that will probably traumatize some kids and maybe a few adults. – William Bibbiani, The Wrap

How is the soundtrack?

The soundtrack is once again top-notch. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

Gunn, who might be the master of the needle drop for his perfect soundtracks, is at the top of his game here… His use of songs from Radiohead, Earth Wind & Fire, Rainbow, and The Beastie Boys creates a beautiful goodbye anthem. –  Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

Songs like The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” and Faith No More’s “We Care a Lot” feel more like an opportunity for Gunn to showcase his own musical taste than elevating a sequence. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

What about the villain?

One of the MCU’s most memorable and twisted villains. – Caitlin Chappell, CBR.com

Chukwudi Iwuji is great as the High Evolutionary… His outbursts are terrifying, and Iwuji wonderfully captures the ferocity and anger of a man who is committed to his beliefs. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

It is refreshing to face off with a Marvel villain whose existence doesn’t threaten literally every other being in the MCU. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Iwuji is also perhaps the strongest of the Guardians movie villains, turning in a multifaceted performance as the High Evolutionary. – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

The High Evolutionary is an especially effective villain during the flashbacks… but he feels far less threatening in the present. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

The High Evolutionary’s machinations, despite an intense, shout-to-the-sky performance of the old school from Iwuji, are all extremely melodramatic and Iowa-flat. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

Iwuji bellows in a performance of Al Pacino-level over-the-top-itude. –  Peter Debruge, Variety

The High Evolutionary’s inclusion is as forgettable as a majority of other Marvel villains. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

How is the introduction of Adam Warlock?

Poulter is extremely funny as the character. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Poulter does a good job with the material he is given, but it isn’t much, unfortunately. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

He ultimately fails to make a lasting impression. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

He never quite meshes with the rest of the narrative in a practical way. – Ross Bonaime, Collider

His scenes regularly grind the narrative momentum to a halt, and we can’t help but wish his entire plot was excised. – Patrick Cavanagh, ComicBook.com

Unfortunately, he feels like he’s only in this film out of obligation, and it’s sad to say Volume 3 wouldn’t have been much different if he were cut out. – Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies

Is the movie too long?

It’s wildly self-indulgent. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

At a jam-packed, planet-hopping 150 minutes, it also feels less like a conventional moviegoing experience than the endorphin rush that comes from waiting years for the next season of your favorite TV series, then binge-watching all the new episodes in a single sitting. – Peter Debruge, Variety

This one is too damn long — but I’ll confess you likely won’t notice the bloated runtime simply because Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 almost never slows down. –  Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Is there too much going on?

Gunn has to juggle a lot with this finale, but once again, he shows he’s a master at knowing exactly how to work with a large ensemble. – Ross Bonaime, Collider

The story is a bit messy, though. Gunn has a lot of story he wants to tell and he tells every bit of it. – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

There are simply too many characters here, and while they all get their own mini-arcs, most of them feel hollow. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

How does it leave us feeling about the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The success of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 proves that it’s still possible for Marvel movies to hit and hit hard after more than 30 films. –  William Bibbiani, The Wrap

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a reminder that with the right cast, crew, and story, superheroes can still deliver. –  Matt Rodriguez, Shakefire

When I think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the MCU, I think of Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III , “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters everywhere on May 5, 2023.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Reviews

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 manages to be more than honest-to-god entertainment, one that has the liberated weirdness of material (like a stealth We3 adaptation) that was never expected to find a mass audiences.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2023

This is the last time we see the beloved guardians. The film is laced with emotional and entertaining bits that make the swan song a thrilling ride at the movies this week.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 27, 2023

For me, it was an unsatisfying conclusion as the wear and tear had begun to be exposed, caused mostly by a scrambled storyline and wayward storytelling.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 27, 2023

Now that nearly every other cinematic release reads like a holding pattern until they finally get around to mutants, Guardians Vol. 3 is the first sign in a while that Marvel might actually have some genuine enjoyment left in the tank.

Full Review | Oct 16, 2023

GotG3 has no real tie-in to the larger MCU. There are a few references to Thanos, the Snap, and the Infinity Stones, but that's about it. This tracks with the trilogy as a whole, which has always stood outside the larger Marvel narratives.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 8, 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a surprisingly risky blend of dark tones and sinister villainy with great visuals, tasty music, and the emotionality we expect.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 7, 2023

While the fun, laughter, and quips, set to jukebox favourites that made this ragtag MCU family a joy to hang with are all present and correct, there are some problems with the Guardians’ third outing

Full Review | Aug 27, 2023

The strongest material is perhaps the most unexpected: the backstory of Rocket Raccoon, which is involving and even touching in ways that the rest of the picture is not.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 27, 2023

It’s hopeful and poignant, filled with moments of empathy and integrity. Equal time is given to spectacle, with lots of stunning action sequences and psychedelic space weirdness.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2023

While not as engaging or fresh as the first two films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still had the usual James Gunn combination of dazzling CG environments, enjoyable action and great dialogue, so it was still a fun way to spend an evening.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2023

A gut punch of a film that had me in tears as much as it had me smiling.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

Gunn weaves a story with Rocket that is as horrifying as it is heartwarming.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Aug 8, 2023

…all just feels like indulgence of foppish creatives who don’t have much in the way of new or relatable ideas….

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 5, 2023

Rocket's origin story is great and the only highlight of the movie. Tonally it's all over the place and the runtime is about 25 minutes too long. After the brilliance of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 we're left wondering what happened to this series.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Aug 2, 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an emotionally powerful, tear-inducing "farewell" to James Gunn and his Guardians. Rocket's bittersweet storyline is the soul, heart, and engine running the best MCU film since Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2023

While the first two "Guardians" films might have been about Peter and the Guardians coming together, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is about the search for one's true identity and contribution to the greater good.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" shows [Marvel] still has fuel in the tank and is capable of making good movies. [The company] just needs to remember how to make character-driven stories that give its heroes something fun to accomplish.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is unique because Gunn not only bids farewell to our beloved rejects but helps them find self-acceptance.

While the script falters, the production design soars. The world of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is vivid, bold, and exciting.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

Though Vol.3 falls prey to the formulaic trappings of the Marvel vision, it does so with Gunn’s signature personality intact.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2023

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 review: James Gunn's trilogy ends with a big, brash blaze of glory

For his final outing with marvel's intergalactic misfits, gunn delivers a thrilling if sometimes overstuffed capper.

A lot has happened in the world of Guardians of the Galaxy since the last time they had their own movie. Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe , they’ve battled Thanos, lost one of their own, watched half of their number blip out of existence for five years, and ended up buying the headquarters of Knowhere in the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special . Back in the real world, Guardians writer, director, and mastermind James Gunn was fired by Marvel, then rehired, then busy with two separate DC projects for Warner Bros., all while his cast went off and did many other projects of their own. And that’s just the abbreviated version.

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Now, after all that and then some, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is finally here, and it carries with it the weight not just of the six years it took to get it made, but of a certain sense of finality in a fictional universe that’s seriously lacking in endings lately. Longtime MCU viewers know by now that nothing in that world ever really ends. Characters die sometimes, villains are defeated, and storylines wrap up, but they’re all cogs in a larger machine, threads in an ever-growing tapestry designed to link to the next thing. Yet here’s Gunn and his cast, doing their best to create some kind of satisfying conclusion to a story they started nearly a decade ago, back when a lot of people thought a movie co-starring a talking raccoon and a sentient tree had no chance at the box office.

The gravity of that intention, of Gunn’s effort to conclude his story with his original team of actors, is laced through even the most irreverent moments in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 , a film that, like its predecessors, has no shortage of irreverence. It’s a juxtaposition that gives the film a different tone than its predecessors, making it the darkest in the series so far, but there’s also something else you’ll notice right away, something arguably more important. In a franchise full of earnestness and unrestrained energy, this feels like a cast and a crew who are ready to throw everything they have at us one last time. It’s not just a film, it’s a blaze of glory, and that sense of daring is both the best thing about Vol. 3 and, occasionally, the worst.

Picking up in the wake of the Holiday Special that hit Disney+ last year, Vol. 3 finds the Guardians at a crossroads. They’re all trying their best to build a new community on Knowhere, but the team’s not holding together like it used to, in part because Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) can’t stop drinking himself into a stupor over the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). But the team members have to set their other concerns aside when two things happen almost simultaneously: A new superpowered being named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) quite literally blows up their enclave, and one of their own is mortally wounded. Racing against time to save their friend, the Guardians must journey to parts unknown, face a tyrannical mad scientist known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), and stare down their own potential ending in more ways than one.

In a bare bones narrative scaffolding way, the film is basically laid out like a series of quests to retrieve certain objects and information that can solve the team’s problems, but Gunn is too canny to let those old rhythms overshadow what he’s really after with this installment. The urgent, adrenaline pumping way that the film sets up its stakes in the opening minutes ensures that the Guardians faithful are hooked right away, and therefore the searching around for solutions isn’t just something for the team to do. It’s a backdrop upon which they can each explore certain emotional depths. Rocket (Bradley Cooper ) carries the brunt of this exploration with a number of flashbacks to his creation, and the darkness he left behind, but he’s not alone. Peter must contend with the emotional damage he’s been avoiding for years, Drax (Dave Bautista) must face the idea of losing his family for a second time, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) must explore the idea of independence for herself, Nebula (Karen Gillan) must learn to look past her own anger, and so on. It’s heavy stuff, which imbues this installment with a greater sense of potential emotional devastation than even the daddy issues-laden Vol. 2 , and that’s before Gunn digs even deeper into the life-or-death choices upon which his plot hangs.

But that heaviness is buoyed by the sense that, first and foremost, it’s just good to see everyone back in top form again. Gunn directs with the same sense of action-comedy bravado that made him a blockbuster filmmaker in the first place, sprinkling entertaining needle drops and fun camera angles through the film with impish delight. His cast, led this time by standout work from Bautista and Klementieff, feels like they’ve just been hanging out together for six years, waiting for the day the cameras will roll. It’s all comfortable and familiar and even joyful, which makes it easier to pull off the film’s delicate balance of many, many elements.

Which isn’t to say that balance is always just right. Even by Guardians movie standards, Vol. 3 feels overstuffed with setpieces and creatures and big new environments designed to show the scale of the cosmic world the characters inhabit. Even within individual scenes, as the Guardians are trying to juggle the High Evolutionary, Adam Warlock, a bunch of nameless monster creations and their own insecurities and hang-ups, the film feels like too much at times, like Gunn couldn’t help but keep throwing every idea into the mix as though it’s his last chance. At its best, this exuberant sense that the film is bursting at the seams works in its favor, giving it the explosive shine of something that just can’t help being this big, this bold. At its worst, it makes us gasp for intellectual breath, wishing the narrative would refocus.

But these moments are ultimately few and far between, and the overall impression of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of a refusal to leave anything unsaid, to abandon any opportunity to offer just one more narrative trick or clever visual. If the first film was about finding a purpose, and the second film about finding a family, then the third is about finding a legacy, and deciding what to leave behind. In true Guardians fashion, Gunn and his intrepid crew decide their legacy is to go down swinging to the very end, and that will always be both intensely entertaining and unforgettably endearing.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the best Marvel movie in years

The last of James Gunn’s Marvel movies doesn’t get caught up in the multiverse.

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Saying that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the best Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame feels like a loaded statement. Maybe one that should come with multiple asterisks.

Since Endgame , Marvel’s slate has included some uncharacteristically middling movies like Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . Spider-Man: No Way Home is fantastic but it’s considered a Sony and Marvel collaboration. The studio has also released some extreme stinkers into the wild, like Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania . It’s all led to the feeling that Marvel is in a relative rut .

When I say that Guardians Vol. 3 is the best Marvel film since Endgame , however, I mean it as a genuine compliment: The movie is great and not just the best house on a bad block.

Director James Gunn’s final Guardians chapter rips and roars with the confidence and emotions that nine years and multiple movies featuring this band of space underdogs bring. It achieves all this by, thankfully, ignoring Marvel’s grand design.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is about picking up the pieces and the evil of eugenics

The third Guardians movie, the first since 2017’s Vol 2. , begins with rebuilding. That’s the only option when half the universe’s living beings were zapped away in 2018’s Infinity War only to come back, five years having passed, in 2019’s Endgame . Marvel’s various movies and Disney+ shows have tackled “the snap” and “the snapback” in their own ways, showing us glimpses of how people in the MCU dealt with the blip. Clint Barton found an apprentice; Wanda Maximoff got way too deep into demonic paraphernalia; Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson became bros, and Wilson became Captain America.

The Guardians, who briefly appeared in the surprisingly dismal Thor: Love and Thunder , have started to build a headquarters on Knowhere — introduced in the first movie, Knowhere is the massive, cosmic skull of the celestial being that was mined for organic matter and then became a seedy intergalactic outpost. With Thanos defeated and trillions of beings snapped back and forth between existence, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Drax (Dave Bautista) have created a home for anyone that needs one.

It’s a full-circle moment for the Guardians, who began this trilogy as individuals, homeless and alone. In each other, this cybernetic assassin, talking tree, raccoon with genius intellect, insectoid empath, and extremely literal destroyer have found a family. And together, they’ve taken it upon themselves to give fellow space weirdos a place for comfort and relief, the way this makeshift family has done for themselves.

The two names noticeably absent in this rebuild project are Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Star-Lord is physically with the Guardians on Knowhere, but emotionally, he’s in a wasteland. He grieves over Gamora, the one who died in Infinity War and the currently alive time-displaced one who came back in Endgame. This new Gamora isn’t the one he loved, and she’s nowhere to be found. Quill drinks to numb the pain.

Star-Lord’s drinking and depression isn’t the main villain of the story though. The big bad is the entity known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a powerful mad scientist who dabbles in cosmic eugenics. The High E genetically tinkers with all kinds of beings — walruses, otters, orphan children — and possesses a grand vision of creating a perfect utopia. Each time these utopias fail, the High Evolutionary starts over, killing all his creations. He sees this as a kind of mercy for his imperfect creations.

It turns out that Rocket and the High Evolutionary have a connection, and for some nefarious reason, the High E now wants Rocket back. The bounty hunt on Rocket also introduces a superpowered himbo named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) into the fray.

And as these pieces begin to lock into place, the third movie unfurls as part Rocket origin story and part heist. The Guardians are off to save their furry friend.

How will the team save Rocket in this infinite universe? Well, without giving too much away, in a galaxy where everyone is so insignificant, nothing is more powerful than family. It isn’t always perfect, and sometimes it hurts, but whether it’s the one you’re born into or the one you find, family is the only thing saving us in this cold, enormous expanse.

Thank god this isn’t the multiverse

As saccharine and as corny as that all sounds, it’s worth noting that Guardians Vol. 3 is a Marvel movie. Marvel’s films and the comic books they’re based on aren’t actually all that abstract, at least at their best. Marvel’s characters were created to tell stories about friendship and goodness, and teach children how to be better to one another. Gunn hasn’t shied away from that since the first Guardians movie in 2014, and now, the new movie is still tracing out these characters and the bonds they share some nine years later.

This is not only Gunn’s last Guardians movie, it’s his last for Marvel. He’s been named co-chairman and CEO of Warner Bros, which will see him become the DCU version of Marvel’s Kevin Feige. It’s not too hard to see why DC wanted to give him the reins; his Guardians franchise has been incredibly popular.

That popularity has given Gunn more freedom than other directors in the Marvel system. You can see that leeway in the way he plays with visuals.

In this film, we get genetically modified, freakishly adorable otters and walruses, a villain whose grafted skin is stretched sheerly thin over his robotic modifications, aliens chomping on skewered rodent street food, and a fleshy pink planet that’s purposely sphincter-like. The movie’s aesthetics often veer into incredibly gross and gooey, a deliberate choice each time. There’s a thoughtfulness to the physics, weight, and scale of every scene. The fight sequences, bright and bold, are choreographed with that same philosophy.

There’s no mistaking Guardians for any other Marvel franchise.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , which came out earlier this year, and Guardians Vol. 3 essentially take place in the same setting: a weird alien world that doesn’t look like Earth. Still, they look drastically different (derogatory). Quantumania ’s visuals had no defining qualities; they were aggressively generic. And based on the way it was shot, I’m not even sure if any of the film’s actors were ever in the same room at the same time. If Quantumania looked half as good as Guardians , it wouldn’t have been as awful as it was.

More importantly, though, Gunn’s freedom also affords Guardians Vol. 3 the benefit of not being bound to the MCU multiverse.

The multiverse , as established in MCU projects like Spider-Man: No Way Home , Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , Quantumania , and the Loki Disney+ series, is a concept derived from quantum physics in which there are infinite parallel worlds that contain parallel versions of ourselves. For the MCU, that means infinite versions of our superheroes and supervillains.

Now, imagine the burden of spelling that idea out every time.

Marvel itself isn’t even consistent with the multiverse rules. They seem to change from project to project — for instance, in No Way Home , Spider-Man is played by multiple actors; in Multiverse of Madness , all of the Doctors Strange are played by Benedict Cumberbatch. The studio has to deal with an off-screen controversy too: Jonathan Majors , who was arrested for domestic abuse in March, is playing multiple versions of the villain Kang.

The MCU’s timeline itself is also extremely confusing.

Loki establishes that there’s an entire agency that culls parallel timelines, and at the end of the series, Loki himself plays a part in its demise, which results in all these alternate universes sprouting up from nowhere. What’s unclear is how those events happened within the context of Multiverse of Madness , which establishes this multiple universe theory as something that Wanda Maximoff and Doctor Strange seem to have some knowledge about (despite no interactions with Loki). Nor do we know when the events of both those projects figure into Quantumania ’s timeline. The multiverse is supposed to connect this next batch of Marvel movies as a throughline, but Marvel hasn’t done a good job spelling out how.

Aside from the time-displaced Gamora, which the entire movie waves off as fluke time-travel, Guardians Vol. 3 has no interest in the multiverse. It’s much better off for it.

Instead of getting deep into the (variable) scientific weeds, the Guardians are allowed to live in this world with one another. That often results in these sardonic, literal, naive, and brash characters bouncing off each other to comedic effect. But in this installment, Gunn pushes his cast into more somber territory, toying with the idea that if found families help us all to grow and heal, what happens when you grow enough to be on your own? What if you’re brave enough to find your own adventure? And what does that goodbye feel like?

It turns out that answering those questions makes for a pretty fantastic Marvel movie.

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Review: These Intergalactic Weirdos Are the Real Heart of the MCU

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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While every Marvel film that has followed “Avengers: Endgame” — in which that missing half of the population was restored, care of the Avengers, who had suffered their own grievous losses — has briefly touched on how emotionally devastating such an event would truly be, none have fully reckoned with it. Even “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” the first film to arrive after “Endgame” and itself the actual conclusion of “The Infinity Saga,” glossed over the feeling of the post-Blip world with a handful of jokes and a class trip to Europe (maybe get these kids some  therapy ?).

But eight films on from the end of that saga, only one film has even attempted to truly tap into the big, messy heartbreak that should have been guiding this franchise for at least the past four years: James Gunn ‘s “ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 .” Even Gunn’s film, his final Marvel entry and a closer on the trilogy he’s helmed for almost a decade, doesn’t directly tackle “the Blip” (does anyone remember that the Guardians lost more than half of their members for five years? no? OK…), it does aim straight for the kind of emotional honesty the MCU so desperately needs.

It doesn’t always quite land, but it says something about Marvel, about these characters, and about this filmmaker that this third film in a series that fits into a franchise of 32 total features is one of the most audacious, emotional, and original entries the MCU has ever seen. There’s life in this cinematic universe yet, if only other films within it are allowed to take the kind of swings that Gunn and co. opt for when it comes to proving something we’ve maybe all known: this intergalactic band of weirdos really is the heart of the MCU, and man, does it need some serious heart these days.

Set in whatever passes for the present day in the MCU, we find our wacky band of unlikely heroes hanging out at their current base of intergalactic operations: scrappy ol’ Knowhere, AKA the severed head of a Celestial (for anyone in need of an MCU catchup, just picture a super-race of massive gods, now picture one of their giant heads as a makeshift space station filled with a variety of colorful denizens). While Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista, hilarious as ever), Mantis (Pom Klementieff, in her best MCU turn yet), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) are trying to keep things as normal as they can possibly be in Knowhere, other members of the Guardians aren’t doing quite as well.

Gunn, who also wrote the film’s script, wastes zero time in getting to the meat of the matter: while Adam Warlock — long-teased in these films , Poulter is extremely funny as the character; while there could be more of him in this first entry, it does set up a continued tenure for him — wreaks havoc on the Guardians as a whole, he’s really looking for Rocket. And when he delivers a terrible injury to the pint-sized, genetically engineered super-raccoon, it sets into motion a fitting franchise-capper for the crew.

Like all Marvel baddies, he’s a man with a plan: a seemingly ageless scientist, the High Evolutionary wants nothing less than to create a “perfect species” who can then lead his “perfect society.” What that means in practice? He’s spent decades experimenting on a full range of “lesser” beings in an attempt to build an enlightened being (Rocket, plus a trio of new pals, including an otter, a bunny, and a walrus, are part of his 89th batch). And while the High Evolutionary’s ideas and ideals have an impact on the wider universe, it is refreshing to face off with a Marvel villain whose existence doesn’t threaten literally every other being in the MCU. He’s basically small scale!

But his impact on Rocket? That’s big enough. And while we know Rocket did eventually escape from his clutches, the path there is much darker and much more painful than most audiences could possibly imagine. The trick: Gunn doesn’t abuse that emotion, he uses it to fuel his other characters into action. The Guardians appeal because their hard-won bonds feel real, even within the confines of the outsized MCU and the particular environs the space jerks find themselves in.

As Peter and the gang (including Gamora, who is along for the ride as part of a job, no matter how much that hurts Peter) head for the High Evolutionary, they know it’s something of a trap (“a face-off!,” Peter tries to redirect), the kind that will inevitably lead to all sorts of big battles. Throw in Adam Warlock (and, in sadly limited amounts, his mother, played by the divine Elizabeth Debicki), add a serious dash of daddy issues, and plenty of winking humor, and you’ve got a classic “GOTG” adventure, one made of many disparate parts that mostly coalesce.

Gunn has always managed to bring his own flavor to the MCU — an outlier in a franchise that continues to flatten its stories and characters in hopes of fitting them all in one big box, over and over again — and his final entry in this space offers the kind of send-off only he could craft. And while it, inevitably, opens the door for more adventures for this wild band of unlikely heroes (the appetite of the franchise world is, of course, never fully satiated), it does so on its own terms. And, really, it does something wild, something increasingly rare along the way: it makes you feel , as messy and strange and unexpected as that might be. Now that’s a super story.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” in theaters on Friday, May 5.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 review: The best Marvel movie in years

Writer-director james gunn has since jumped ship to dc, and the mcu will miss him dearly, article bookmarked.

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When the Guardians of the Galaxy first debuted in 2014, they were a band of relatively obscure heroes served up as an amuse-bouche between the snappy spectacles of Iron Man and pals. Writer-director James Gunn had done a few splattery horror movies, an ultra-violent, indie comic book adaptation, and two Scooby Doo s. And leading man Chris Pratt was known primarily as the goofball from Parks and Recreation . But here’s the thing about being an outlier: you have nothing and everything to prove, and Guardians of the Galaxy taught every future comic book movie that there was no limit to how funny and dorky but still deeply sincere you could be with your heroes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is a farewell to the franchise (at least from Gunn’s perspective, as he’s since hopped over to DC), that’s really a reminder that they always represented some of the very best Marvel has to offer. What Gunn’s done here isn’t even rocket (raccoon) science – he’s just crafted well-drawn, textured characters in a story told with care and commitment. And it’s a story told in a world that continues to feel distinct and almost entirely self-contained, something safely quarantined away from the wider narrative of the MCU. Vol 3 contains both Marvel’s very first f-bomb (landed with perfect timing) and a heist on a fleshy satellite in which the Guardians bounce around in primary-coloured, 2001: A Space Odyssey -style space suits.

Gunn, who also wrote the film’s script, had repeatedly said that his trilogy finale would focus on one member of this intergalactic crew – the Bradley Cooper-voiced, eternally cranky Rocket Raccoon. That’s certainly true in one sense. Here, the majority of the action revolves around the Guardians’ quest to uncover Rocket’s true origins, which are linked to experiments conducted by galactic eugenicist the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, who makes for an exquisitely grandiose but sinister villain). We get flashbacks a-plenty to baby Rocket – watch out Grogu, your merchandise empire is about to fall – and the de facto family he finds amongst his naive, severely traumatised fellow experiments, voiced by Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, and Mikaela Hoover. It is, as you might be able to guess, sob-inducingly moving.

However – and this is frustratingly rare in comic book films – Vol 3 is fully invested not only in how its core characters have evolved so far, but how they can continue to evolve. No one is sidelined. No one is wasted. It is, on top of its main plot, a break-up movie about the hollow feeling of bumping into an ex and realising they’ve moved on. Although in this case Star-Lord (Pratt, reminding us that he can be extremely charming when the role calls for it) is having to deal with the fact that his ex, Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora, is actually an alternate-universe version with no memory of him.

Vol 3 is also about realising the friend that’s the butt of every joke is a complex person whose life still has worth and meaning (true in both cases when it comes to Pom Klementieff’s gremlin-souled Mantis and Dave Bautista’s overly literal Drax – their friendship is the funniest and sweetest element of the film). It’s also, finally, about the pressures of being covered in gold and absolutely shredded – Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, created to be the perfect man, actually turns out to be the pouty toddler to Elizabeth Debicki’s flustered mum Ayesha.

• Chris Pratt’s mother-in-law Maria Shriver responds to actor’s ‘hideous’ Instagram post
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It doesn’t matter who these characters are, whether they’re aliens, psionic dogs (the Maria Bakalova-voiced Cosmo) or adult men who haven’t emotionally moved on from the Eighties. The Guardians films have always been about the fact that many of us are like putty – shaped not by where we’ve come from but where we are and could end up. Vol 3 should make audiences thrilled about what comes next for Gunn in his new position as co-head of DC Studios. As for Marvel – well, it’ll be their loss.

Dir: James Gunn. Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter. 12A, 150 minutes.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’ is out in theatres

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‘guardians of the galaxy vol. 3’ review: james gunn’s overstuffed but satisfying trilogy capper.

The interstellar gang is back in the third installment of the hugely popular Marvel franchise starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldaña.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Cinematic superheroes have been going through a rough patch lately. Already this year, both Shazam and Ant-Man proved a bit at sea in their latest adventures. So it comes as a relief to report the trilogy-capping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. achieves what it sets out to do, which is provide a stirring and audience-pleasing finale for a franchise that has proven to be one of Marvel ’s biggest and most unlikely success stories. Well, at least until the next iteration of the Guardians comes along.

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Not long afterward, Quill is reunited with Gamora. Of course, she’s an alternate version, since the Gamora he loved was killed by that pesky Thanos in one of those Avengers movies. The new, younger Gamora has little use for Quill, which doesn’t exactly improve his mood as he vainly struggles, like a depressed high school student, to remind her of what they once had.

He doesn’t have much time for moping, however, as the Guardians must rally themselves to save their beloved Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ), who’s at death’s door. This leads to flashbacks involving the fan-beloved raccoon’s backstory and his relationship with the film’s villain, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, using his Shakespearean acting background to excellent imposing effect), who wants to create a new, higher evolved master race. As with most Marvel villains, he doesn’t really think he’s bad, merely misunderstood.

Nonetheless, this edition largely succeeds like the other ones, thanks to the chemistry of the main ensemble, who have grown into their characters with relaxed ease. The interplay among them is frequently delightful, especially between the mind-controlling Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and the big doofus Drax ( Dave Bautista ), who come across like alien versions of Laurel and Hardy. Karen Gillan ’s Nebula is more acerbic than ever, and Vin Diesel ’s Groot has grown up to be a much bigger tree, although his vocabulary hasn’t improved very much. And Kraglin, played by Sean Gunn (the director’s brother), well, he’s still there.

Among the many antagonists on hand is Adam Warlock, the artificial being created to destroy the Guardians, who clearly has mommy issues with the villainess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki, who looks even more striking in gold face paint). Will Poulter plays the role with an enjoyable mixture of physical menace and baby-like befuddlement, but he ultimately fails to make a lasting impression.

It’s but one of many comic moments that have become a particular trademark of the Guardians series, some of which are so stupidly silly that you feel like a kid laughing at them. I’m still chuckling at the ridiculous exchange among the Guardians over which buttons to press on their spacesuits to properly communicate with each other, with Quill’s confusion resulting in everyone overhearing his pathetic attempt to win back Gamora. (Don’t you hate when that happens?)

The film’s wildly imaginative visuals are another plus, with the proceedings feeling so bizarrely trippy at times it’s as if Gunn is aiming to create a midnight cult classic rather than a blockbuster superhero film. His distinctively anarchic style is on full display here, which makes you wonder how he’s going to tone it down when he tackles such iconic characters less suitable for irreverent humor as Superman.

The action sequences are also stunners, especially an epic climactic battle accompanied by the propulsive Beastie Boys classic “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” a typical example of the filmmaker’s uncanny knack for providing fantastic playlists. This one is no exception, straying from the first two installments’ nostalgic ‘70s-era soundtracks to encompass several decades worth of terrific cuts and featuring artists including Alice Cooper, Spacehog, The Flaming Lips, The The and The Replacements. It’s no wonder the Guardians love to dance.

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'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' review: Chris Pratt's space misfits bow out gloriously

Watching Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is like listening to your favorite band on their final tour: all killer, no filler (OK, maybe a little), the greatest hits mixed with new stuff that reminds you why they’re awesome in the first place, and a desire for the last song to never end.

Writer/director James Gunn's last mission in the superhero galaxy that made him famous – before he flies off to make the next Superman movie and honchos the DC universe – is a hilarious, heartbreaking, touching and rather wonderful close to an enjoyable trilogy. Gunn’s first “Guardians” in 2014 is one of the best Marvel projects ever , and “Vol. 3” (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters now) soars pretty close to its own high mark with a final outing with this lovably scrappy bunch of space misfits.

The Guardians are still led by rogue-ish Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord ( Chris Pratt ), though he’s spending most of his days drunk and depressed at their home base on Knowhere (which happens to be the severed head of a giant alien). He misses his love, Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña ), who died during “Avengers: Infinity War,” but also pines for the very alive Gamora from another timeline who never fell in love with him and actually finds Peter off-putting.

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If only a broken heart were the worst thing the Guardians had to deal with this time around. Rather than focusing on Star-Lord, “Vol. 3” is actually centered on the feisty raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a formidable baddie who thinks he's a god, has long experimented on organic beings and matter to create the perfect species, and Rocket is one of his subjects he obsessively wants back. He sends gold-skinned, superpowered man-child Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) to retrieve Rocket, the furry warrior is wounded in the attack, and the Guardians go on a quest to save him.

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Alongside Star-Lord, original Guardians Drax (Dave Bautista) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), former villainess Nebula (Karen Gillan), “Vol. 2” newcomer Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and (reluctantly) Gamora 2.0 all chip in, as does supporting player Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and new space dog Cosmo (voiced by Maria Bakalova), and each actor gets some great character moments. “Vol. 3” has two stories that run on parallel tracks: the main story in the present but also Rocket’s origins from when he was just a little guy and the strong friendship he formed with an otter named Lylla (voiced by Linda Cardellini) and other fellow animal experiments. 

Meet Adam Warlock: Why 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' star Will Poulter is Marvel's new golden boy

Gunn’s penchant for the enjoyably bizarre is on full display, especially as he plays off the relationship and workplace dynamics in just the weirdest alien environments imaginable, including a planet that's seemingly one large body organ. He’s also able to dip back into successful aspects from past “Guardians” movies, like Peter and Gamora awkwardly getting to know each other in the first film, and replay them in new and different ways without feeling stale.

Of course the soundtrack’s rockin’, featuring everyone from Rainbow to Florence + the Machine, as Gunn has a knack for letting tunes help tell his story. And all sorts of bit characters and payoffs from previous films are interspersed throughout “Vol. 3.” Gunn has crammed a lot into his franchise finisher, though when the ending arrives, you’ll want to spend just a little bit longer with these oddballs. It's the beauty of the strong and relatable personalities that Gunn has fostered over the course of a decade – that being said, it’s also why certain lines and moments will emotionally wreck you in the best of ways.

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Looking at the massive popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe , it doesn’t happen without that first “Guardians.” It was a huge swing but worked, making a space raccoon and a tree who speaks only three words into the biggest things in pop culture, turning Pratt into an A-lister and showing pro wrestler Bautista as a gifted thespian. Without it, there would probably be no "Doctor Strange" movies or "Moon Knight" TV show – Marvel likely would have gone a safer route, like rolling out a bunch of “Iron Man” movies with Robert Downey Jr. until the armor fell off.

“Vol. 3” is a reminder of everything groovy that the original did so well, with the sort of goodbye that’ll leave you satisfied, giddy and glad you took the trip.

Spoilers! What those 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' end-credit scenes mean for Marvel future

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful. Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful. Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own - a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.

• Jim Starlin
• Chris Pratt
• Chukwudi Iwuji
• Bradley Cooper
• 1.5K User reviews
• 350 Critic reviews
• 64 Metascore
• 11 wins & 83 nominations total

• Peter Quill …

• The High Evolutionary

• On-Set Groot …

• Steemie Blueliver

• Xlomo Smeth

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Did you know

• Trivia (at around 23 mins) In this film, Drax refuses to share his zarg nuts with Mantis. This is because in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) , she ate all of his without permission.
• Goofs In the closing credits for Special Thanks, Bobcat Goldthwait 's last name is misspelled as "Goldthwaite."

Rocket : Someday I'm gonna make great machines that fly. And me and my friends are gonna go flying together, into the forever and beautiful sky.

• Crazy credits SPOILER: There is a scene in the closing credits: a new roster of the Guardians of the Galaxy goes to work.
• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: One Giant Iago Ahead (2019)
• Soundtracks Creep (Acoustic Version) Written by Jonny Greenwood (as Jonathan Greenwood), Ed O'Brien (as Edward John O'Brien), Colin Greenwood (as Colin Charles Greenwood), Thom Yorke (as Thomas Edward Yorke), Phil Selway (as Philip James Selway), Albert Hammond , and Mike Hazlewood Performed by Radiohead Courtesy of XL Recordings

User reviews 1.5K

• May 7, 2023
• How long is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Powered by Alexa
• Why is Gamora still alive in this film when her 'alternate self' should no longer exist with the death of Thanos and her present self sacrificed herself to ensure that. According to Bruce Banner and The Ancient one, these alternate selves should no longer exist. Other characters who died the same way have stayed dead.
• The past version (2014) of Gamora should have turned to dust after the Endgame snap to reverse what Thanos had done in Infinity War - is (past) Gamora alive or dead? How?
• May 5, 2023 (United States)
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• $250,000,000 (estimated)
• $358,995,815
• $118,414,021
• $845,555,777

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 30 minutes
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Digital
• IMAX 6-Track

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Guardians of the galaxy vol. 3, common sense media reviewers.

Trauma, teamwork at heart of darker MCU threequel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Like previous installments, focuses on teamwork, p

Guardians are brave (if at times impulsive), smart

Centered around a White male lead. Though people o

Several upsetting scenes involving Rocket's past,

Flirting, intense eye contact, and a couple of com

Includes the first use of "f--k" in the Marvel Cin

Brands visible include Sony, Ford. Part of the bro

In an early scene, Peter gets so drunk that he mus

Parents need to know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the third (and theoretically final) feature film in the massively popular MCU sub-franchise about the ragtag found-family group. This time around, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Mantis …

Positive Messages

Like previous installments, focuses on teamwork, perseverance, and empathy. Demonstrates power of friendship and found family, the reality of coming to terms with your past while also moving forward, the necessity of offering -- and accepting -- forgiveness and second chances. Lessons about believing in yourself, warnings about the evils of bigotry, eugenics, supremacy.

Positive Role Models

Guardians are brave (if at times impulsive), smart, thoughtful, strategic. They might have had shady pasts, but they stick by a code and are loyal to one another, acting heroically to save their families and friends. They are examples of how individuals form kinship bonds. Peter learns to accept that things won't always work out the way he wants them to. Some villains are outright evil, but at least one finds redemption, illustrating the franchise's belief in second chances.

Diverse Representations

Centered around a White male lead. Though people of color play several key roles, nearly all are hidden under makeup and VFX, including Zoe Saldana (Black Latina) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (Greek-Filipino American) as Drax, Pom Klementieff (Korean) as Mantis, Vin Diesel (multiracial) as Groot, dulling any sense of ethnic diversity. The main visibly non-White character is The High Evolutionary, the central villain, who's played by Nigerian actor Chukwudi Iwuji. Women are more than sidekicks here and don't just exist to prop up the male characters. They have agency and contribute to the group, whether it's physical strength or super empathy/persuasion.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Several upsetting scenes involving Rocket's past, which is revealed to be a traumatic story of grief and animal torture/death (hybrid creatures made through experiments may be alarming to young kids). Massive destruction. Many weapons (guns, bombs, blades, more) used to blast, threaten, harm, and kill. Characters are shot, incinerated, and decapitated, with gore and skeletal remains visible. One main character is near death for much of the movie. Other sympathetic characters are killed or appear to die. Children are held captive. Intense one-on-one fights and one choreographed battle sequence that's Kingsman -like in its violence. When Nebula is badly hurt, she can snap her body parts back into place, which can be jarring. Medical procedures shown. Alien creatures bleed in many colors. Large, intimidating monsters/hybrid creatures. A character pries something out of someone else's bloody head after that person dies a violent, revenge-fueled death. A character is attacked, and his face is left a bloody mess. A character's skin-covered mask is taken off, revealing a bloody face below. Many people die when a person made for killing terrorizes and kills others. A leader destroys an entire planet of inhabitants whom he views as expendable experiments; this same attitude affects his opinion of most other living creatures. A living space station has a lot of squishy, goopy features that may be unpleasant for some. Mantis sometimes makes creatures do things against their will. Arguments/yelling.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Flirting, intense eye contact, and a couple of compliments. Mantis makes a security guard fall in love with Drax.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Includes the first use of "f--k" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: "Get in the f---ing car." Other strong language: "s--t," "d--k," "ass," "a--hole," "d--khead," "stupid," "douche bag," "bitch," "damn," "dammit," "screw you," "dang," "shut up," "idiot," "twit," "piss," "suck my --" (incomplete), "moron," "butt," "dumb," "freakin'," "friggin'," "oh my God," "hell." Groot's comments can sometimes be interpreted as cursing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands visible include Sony, Ford. Part of the broad MCU franchise with countless tie-in products available.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

In an early scene, Peter gets so drunk that he must be carried out of a tavern -- and it's clear that it's not the first time. A character witnesses a drug deal involving underage beings. The drug is later referenced as meth.

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the third (and theoretically final) feature film in the massively popular MCU sub-franchise about the ragtag found-family group. This time around, Peter Quill ( Chris Pratt ), Drax ( Dave Bautista ), Groot ( Vin Diesel ), Nebula ( Karen Gillan ), and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) must enlist the help of "other timeline" Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ) to save Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) from a villain who believes he's working for the betterment of the galaxy by trying to create the perfect species. This is the darkest and goriest of the three Guardians films: It explores the deep-seated trauma that one of the characters experienced early in life and has upsetting scenes of animal torture and experimentation. There's also explosive sci-fi action violence, mass destruction, decapitations, weapons use, blood, skeletal remains, and a huge body count (some of them sympathetic characters). Expect a fair bit of strong language, including the MCU's first F-word (dropped by Quill in a moment of frustration), plus "a--hole," "s--t," "d--k," "bitch," and more. Characters flirt, and Quill gets extremely drunk. But he's also fiercely loyal to his crew, and the Guardians continue to demonstrate teamwork, perseverance, and courage. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (70)
• Kids say (82)

Based on 70 parent reviews

Lots of Animal Abuse - Know before you go

Too sad and violent and not very good or funny., what's the story.

In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, the Guardians, having (mostly) survived the events of the previous MCU films , are living in Knowhere in a state of low-key PTSD. That's particularly true for Peter Quill ( Chris Pratt ), who's still mourning the death of his Gamora ( Zoe Saldana ). Then Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) -- a killing machine genetically engineered and raised by Sovereign leader Ayesha ( Elizabeth Debicki ) to destroy the Guardians -- ends up surprising the gang and leaving Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper ) near death. Nebula ( Karen Gillan ) and Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) discover that Rocket has a "kill switch" inside him that needs to be overridden if they want to save his life, so the whole gang -- including Groot ( Vin Diesel ) and Drax ( Dave Bautista ) -- head off to track down the code. Their search ultimately leads to the ultrapowerful High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who's trying to create utopian societies throughout the universe. Rocket's past -- and his connection to The High Evolutionary -- reveal how he came to be, what kind of creature he really is, and even how he got his name. Meanwhile, Peter must come to terms with the reality that the Gamora who's from the other timeline introduced in Endgame never lived through the love story he shared with the Gamora who died in Infinity War .

Is It Any Good?

Surprisingly heartfelt, this movie is the darkest and most personal of the three Guardians films -- but also the most uneven. Writer-director James Gunn knows how to make this ragtag bunch work, but there's a layer of sadness that envelops the proceedings, despite the many laugh-out-loud moments. On the one hand, this mission has the established camaraderie of the second movie, one of the most ruthless villains in the entire MCU (The High Evolutionary is memorably terrifying with his perfection obsession), and a decades-spanning soundtrack that includes everything from Radiohead's "Creep" and the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" to Bruce Springsteen's "Badlands" and Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over." On the other hand, the extensive flashbacks to Rocket's past, while illuminating, have such a different pace and character development that Vol. 3 sometimes feels like two stories smooshed together. The introduction of Adam Warlock is also uneven, and Poulter, who's a talented and funny actor, isn't given much to do except preen, kill, and whine for most of the movie.

Then there's the Gamora factor, which is necessarily complicated because she's not the same Gamora audiences have grown to love. It's difficult to feel invested in this Gamora, and her presence is sometimes more unpleasant than humorous. Like Peter, many viewers are likely to miss the old Gamora too much to enjoy Saldana's performance here. Pratt knows how to continue to make Star Lord lovable and messy and a bit of a wreck, and Cooper does a lovely job of conveying the trauma that Rocket experienced, as well as his core desire to belong to a found family. Bautista gets a great moment to shine when he forms a bond with a group of genetically engineered children, and Gillan's Nebula has her biggest role in the group to date, stepping up as a real leader. The visual effects focus on hybrid creatures created for potential utopias and sequences of violent whole-world destruction. The hybrids are purposefully uncanny and unsettling. It's unclear whether there will be more Guardians films in the future now that Gunn has left the MCU, so this is a good time to enjoy his final contribution to the franchise -- and be thankful for the questions he finally answered here.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 . How does it compare to the two previous movies? To other MCU movies? What's the impact of violence on kids?

Which characters do you consider role models? How do they demonstrate teamwork , perseverance , and courage ? Why are those important character strengths ?

Talk about The High Evolutionary's vision: What's wrong with his way of thinking? What does he lose by viewing Rocket and his friends as failed experiments? Can you think of parallels to real life?

What did you think of the soundtrack to Vol. 3 ? Kids/teens: Does the movie make you interested in music from the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s?

What do you think happens next? Is the franchise done, will it continue as-is, or will it follow only a couple of the main characters?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 5, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : August 2, 2023
• Cast : Chris Pratt , Zoe Saldana , Karen Gillan , Dave Bautista , Bradley Cooper , Pom Klementieff
• Director : James Gunn
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors, Asian actors
• Studio : Disney/Marvel
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Adventures , Friendship , Space and Aliens
• Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 150 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements
• Last updated : July 18, 2023

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Review: In ‘Guardians 3,’ ultra-weird superhero fun doesn’t have to be Rocket science

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Let’s run the numbers: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is the third movie in a trilogy (duh), the second Marvel movie to be released this year (yawn), the 32nd movie in the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe (sigh) and, as hyper-aware fans doubtless already know, the first of those 32 MCU movies to feature an uncensored F-bomb (about time). I’m not sure the last was worth the wait, though by this point in the series — after some 64-plus hours’ worth of bombastic explosions, murky action, crisscrossing timelines, intergalactic skirmishes, butt-hurt baddies, tiresome daddy issues, genocidal cataclysms, box office conquests, military propaganda and strenuously breezy wisecracks — a single PG-13-compliant four-letter expletive is certainly well-earned.

And hilariously well deployed, I must say. I won’t spoil the context — I couldn’t anyway, since the scene is already online — except to note that it feels like a nicely profane parting shot for the writer-director James Gunn, resident mischief maker among superhero auteurs, as he makes his way out of Disney/MCU headquarters. (Gunn, who also wrote and directed the first two “Guardians” movies, is now creative mastermind over at the rival DC Studios.) More to the point, the F-bomb lands in the middle of an enjoyably eccentric, insouciantly funny and often beautiful-looking jumble of an entertainment that plays — at least when it isn’t let down by a wobbly seriocomic tone and some excessive narrative multitasking — like a sincerely moving farewell to some of the more likable rogues and motley misfits in the Marvel cosmos.

They’re pretty much all back, if not quite better than ever. There’s Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), the Guardians’ goofily intrepid, ’70s rock-loving captain, who’s been drinking himself into a stupor ever since losing his bad-ass beloved, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). Gamora isn’t dead; she’s just testy and amnesia-stricken, with no memory of her past adventures with Peter or his antennae-sporting empath sister, Mantis (Pom Klementieff), or the lovably dimwitted Drax (Dave Bautista), or the sharp-clawed, sharper-tongued Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). Gamora can no longer even understand Groot, the gnarly tree-man with the expressive three-word language and the voice of Vin Diesel; even her heated longtime rivalry with her perpetually snarling sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), seems to have gone cold.

I confess to experiencing my own Gamora-esque bouts of memory loss when it comes to recalling ancient or recent Marvel lore, and so struggled to place Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn, the director’s brother), a telekinetic dude with a highly communicative space pooch (voiced by Maria Bakalova). I did remember the imperiously gold-plated Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), since it’s hard to forget a character who swans into every scene looking like an Oscar statuette fresh out of the tanning bed. One important and annoying newcomer is Ayesha’s son, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a callow fighter who enters the movie with a violent whoosh, launching an ambush on the Guardians that ends with Rocket unconscious and gravely wounded.

Rocket proves troublingly resistant to medical treatment, sending his friends on a valiant, sometimes bumbling journey for answers and antidotes. And so they journey far and wide, visiting distant planets and breaking into top-secret filing cabinets, bragging and bickering at every turn. The comic patter is familiar but effective, much of it swirling around Peter’s efforts to charm his way past Gamora’s hostile eye rolls. Along the way, Gunn ushers us into uncharted new realms of wackadoo production design (by Beth Mickle) and outlandish costumes (by Judianna Makovsky), reminding us that he’s never been shy about letting his stylistic freak flag fly. Why are those security guards wearing giant pan dulce? Why not?

Meanwhile, Rocket spends his coma reliving his own harrowing origin story in flashback — a development that gutsily repositions this reliable second banana as the hero of the story and perhaps of this mini-franchise as a whole. (He’s tellingly introduced first in a catch-up sequence set to Radiohead’s “Creep,” the first, longest and most effective of the movie’s signature needle drops.)

Rocket’s story also ushers in some unusually grave and, depending on your tolerance for CGI animal cruelty, potentially objectionable scenes of a grievously abused young raccoon, stuck in a cage with three other friendly, furry captives who have been and will be subjected to all manner of mistreatment. Their tormenter is a uniquely sadistic villain (played by Chukwudi Iwuji) who calls himself the High Evolutionary but is basically a veterinarian Dr. Mengele. He plans to populate a new planet with a master race of genetically engineered human-critter combos, purging as many innocent, imperfect prototypes along the way as he needs to.

At one point, Peter snarlingly dismisses the High Evolutionary as just another “impotent wack job whose mother didn’t love him trying to rationalize why he’s conquering the universe.” It’s a pretty good line, and if it exemplifies an unfortunate MCU tendency of late (let’s recycle clichés by cloaking them in self-awareness), it also firmly ensconces Raccoon alongside Peter, Gamora and Nebula, all mutts and castoffs who’ve suffered at the hands of malevolent dads and dad figures and their damnable Old Testament God complexes. The idea is driven home by a late-breaking sequence that plays like a sci-fi Noah’s Ark and, with a sense of ethical purpose that smacks of self-critique, suggests that the “Guardians” franchise, for all its intergalactic diversity, has too often focused on what one character calls “the higher life forms,” to the detriment of its animal constituents.

That’s all well and good, even if Gunn’s attempts at sincerity don’t always hit the mark. The well-meaning yet punitive heavy-handedness of the animal-abuse sequences seldom sits easily with the glibly violent punchlines that the director indulges elsewhere, including a bizarrely sour scene in which a side character is fried to a crisp while his poor four-legged (I think) companion looks on, whimpering in horror. That flair for impish, pranksterish humor has of course been a Gunn career specialty since he began writing Troma Entertainment cheapies in the ’90s, and it certainly played a role in his landing the “Guardians of the Galaxy” gig to begin with.

Gunn managed the flow of action, comedy, music, character setup and forward momentum more or less seamlessly in the first “Guardians,” and to serviceable if diminished effect in “Vol. 2.” He was famously fired from “Vol. 3” for a spell , and I can’t help but wonder if that short-lived brush with career death spurred him to pull out most of the stops here and emerge with by far the messiest, unruliest and most interesting “Guardians” movie of the three. It’s the one that feels most weirdly and defiantly its own thing, the one least straitjacketed by Marvel conventions. Which is not to say it’s as fully unhinged or unbound as it should be; entertaining as it is, the movie isn’t as fully realized as Gunn’s recent “The Suicide Squad,” a proudly R-rated, heavily Troma-influenced entertainment that wore its comic-book nihilism on its sleeve.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has its own appreciable mean streak, to be sure, but that streak is still largely subordinated to sentimental franchise-finale demands. That may be a compromise, but it’s not a failure. For all the visual weirdness and misfit irreverence he pumped into these stories, Gunn’s obvious love for these characters has been the trilogy’s consistent and undeniable saving grace. And he notably doesn’t sell out that love as he brings those characters all to a conclusion, or at least a mid-franchise inflection point, that carries an ache of bittersweet feeling.

End-credits teasers aside, the story here feels appreciably and even radically self-enclosed, and if its sense of finality turns out to be an illusion, it feels real and moving enough in the moment. There’s also the not-unignorable fact that after a couple of Marvel duds ( “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ), it’s a pleasure to see a superhero movie that actually puts a priority on aesthetics, that floods the screen with inventive, well-lighted images and, in one gleefully orchestrated single-take sequence, reminds us how more of the action in these movies should be: nasty, Grootish and short.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Rating: PG-13, for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes Playing: Starts May 5 in general release

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• DVD & Streaming

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• May 5, 2023
• Chris Pratt as Peter Quill; Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Dave Bautista as Drax; Vin Diesel as Groot (voice); Bradley Cooper as Rocket (voice); Karen Gillan as Nebula; Pom Klementieff as Mantis; Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha; Sean Gunn as Kraglin; Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord; Will Poulter as Adam Warlock; Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary

Home Release Date

• July 7, 2023

Distributor

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Movie Review

Everyone seems so mystified that Gamora is alive.

After all, Thanos did chuck her off that cliff (as chronicled in Avengers: Infinity War ). The fact that she showed back up (in Avengers: Endgame ) would be enough to confuse even the most seasoned of scenario-hopping time-travelers.

But for Gamora, the real mystery is how a previous version of herself wound up with such … losers.

This Gamora never fell in with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and she certainly never fell in love with Peter Quill, aka Star Lord. She wonders what sort of madness would’ve ever compelled her to do either. I mean, look at these guys! Quill’s so goofy , so sincere —not the tall, green and lethal fellow perhaps Gamora would’ve envisioned herself with. (If she was romantically inclined, that is. Which she’s not. Too much of the galaxy to plunder.)

And the rest of the Guardians? Well, they’re an equally strange bunch. Drax calls himself The Destroyer, but he seems to do precious little destroying. Mantis seems about as dangerous as a Pomeranian puppy. The tree guy is certainly big , but his vocabulary could stand some improvement. What Nebula—Gamora’s adopted sister—sees in these lunks is beyond her. Clearly, Nebula’s gone soft. In the head.

And we’ve not even mentioned the raccoon.

Why, that little critter is the whole reason that the Guardians got in touch with Gamora and her band of Ravagers in the first place.

Apparently, the thing is dying or something. Some big gold guy shot the raccoon full in the chest with his energy hands, and now the beast needs medical attention. But here’s the thing: The raccoon has a mysterious killswitch lodged in its innards. Any tampering with the animal (as in, giving it medical attention) will kill it, too.

The Guardians need the code to turn off that kill switch and save the raccoon. To do that , they need to fly to a weird organic-planet-thing. And to access that planet, they needed Gamora’s help.

Gamora thinks that’s a whole lotta work (and given her staggering fee, a lotta money) for just a pet . In fact, it’s a lot of work for a person . Gamora wouldn’t put in a tenth of that effort to save anyone in her life. All this talk about friendship and love … those are just other words for weakness.

But they paid well, so she helped.

Unfortunately, the plan didn’t go quite as expected. And now Gamora’s stuck with these losers for at least a while. She’ll have to hear Drax laugh and Quill cry and Groot say the only three words he knows over and over and over . She’ll have to hear about love and friendship and family . Ugh.

Hope none of it rubs off on her.

Positive Elements

Much to Gamora’s initial dismay, the Guardians of the Galaxy are all about love and friendship and family. And our discussion of all three begins with the character that this new/old version of Gamora cares the least about: Rocket Raccoon.

We learn quite a bit about Rocket’s backstory here—how he got to be the tech-gifted mammalian he is. But we also learn that in his old life, he had another quasi-family. Even in the horrific conditions they lived in and the terrors they were all subjected to, we discover that their bonds of affection were enough to make the place bearable. Love endures anything, as the Apostle Paul tells us—but love also helps us to endure.

Rocket’s new family is no less loving, and we see the tremendous lengths to which they’ll go to save their friend, risking their own lives for any chance to bring him back. It’s mystifying to Gamora, especially at first. But love is a powerful thing—more powerful than Gamora would’ve ever expected. Indeed, throughout the film we witness “weaknesses” that prove to be strengths. Drax’s goofy levity turns out to be much more impactful than his ability to destroy. Mantis’ empathy turns dangerous adversaries into assets. A character offers unexpected mercy to someone who doesn’t deserve it, and so on.

Quill is also forced to think about family—specifically the family he left behind when he was abducted from Earth ever so many years ago. While Quill at first shows little interest in reuniting with his grandfather (remembering him, essentially, as a mean old man), Mantis reminds Quill that when Quill last saw his grandpa, they were all in the midst of deep grief.

We see lots of heroism and sacrifice, as you’d expect. Innocent lives are saved. A telekinetic dog proves her worth. Characters gain new confidence and understanding. And the galaxy is, mostly, guarded.

Spiritual Elements

We’ve noted in past reviews that movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe are getting more spiritual—and often not in a good way. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 puts a lot on the spiritual menu—and much of it is surprisingly positive.

The main antagonist here, the High Evolutionary, believes that creation is woefully imperfect, and he aims to “correct” that perceived fault. His track record is dismal, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He’s created several galactic races in his quest to design a more “perfect” universe. We should note that he also reserves the right to destroy his creations—be they people or planets—and he’s beholden to no one else but himself. “There is no God!” He tells someone. “That’s why I stepped in!”

But the High Evolutionary, the movie suggests, is wrong.

[ Spoiler Warning ] We see a sort of afterlife here—one in which old friends are reunited and where the sky never ends. Rocket is himself is the product/victim of experimentation. But he’s reminded that “there are hands that guide the hands.” Clearly, the implication is that there’s an intelligence far beyond that of those who experimented on him.

As you might expect, we encounter a lot of talk about evolution here: Some creatures go through millions of years of that process (as the film imagines it here) in a matter of seconds. Guardians of the Galaxy does not attempt to debunk evolution as secular biologists would teach it. But it does suggest that however the universe was created, a great and loving consciousness was behind it—and that it is hubris to think that we could do any better.

A new character is named Warlock (though his powers are not particularly occult). We briefly see the spirit of someone who died.

Sexual Content

Quill tries to remind Gamora of their past relationship (or rather his relationship with a past/future Gamora): He’s clearly still smitten with her. When she tells Quill that the woman he used to love sounds more like her sister, Nebula, Quill briefly looks at her in a whole new way. (He compliments Nebula on her eyes—telling her that after Thanos ripped out her original pair, he chose a good set of replacements.)

Mantis, who has the ability to plant thoughts in people’s minds, makes a male planetary gatekeeper fall madly in love with Drax. The gatekeeper playfully but chastely flirts with Drax, much to his annoyance and Mantis’ amusement, and we learn it’s far from the first time that Mantis has pulled the same trick.

Female characters wear formfitting outfits on occasion.

Violent Content

As one would expect from an MCU movie, violence is absolutely an inescapable part of the action here. It’s likely not necessary to tell you that people are shot and blasted and hit and kicked and thrown around and occasionally blown up. But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels like it takes the mayhem and, yes, carnage up a notch. So a few special warnings.

First, the blood. While there’s very little of it technically, many of the alien creatures instead bleed a sort of yellowish-clear ooze—and it goes everywhere . If that ooze had been crimson, this likely would’ve earned an R-rating.

Some characters, good and bad, suffer some really terrible injuries. One suffers a grotesquely broken neck, but continues to fight as it snaps back into place. Arms and legs are broken and bend in unnatural positions. A face is ripped off (largely out of view of the camera), and we later see the bloody, semi-skeletal structure that was left.

We see the handiwork of the High Evolutionary: grotesque and torturous half-animal, half-metal constructs that look as if they were pulled right from a horror movie. (Think Sid’s creations in Toy Story and multiply those by a factor of three or four.) Other creations are painfully forced to “evolve,” and many are immediately destroyed. When Nebula learns about what Rocket went through, she says that it’s worse than anything Thanos did to her.

An entire planet is destroyed, presumably killing its millions or billions of inhabitants.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word ( the first we’ve heard in the MCU ) and plenty of other euphemisms for it (“friggin’” and “freakin’” are the most common). We also hear an s-word and other profanities, including “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—,” “d–k” and “p-ss.” God’s name is misused thrice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

When the movie begins, Quill is still deeply despondent over his lost love (even though she’s technically alive), and we’re introduced to him when he’s very drunk and quite bellicose. When Drax learns that his friend has passed out, he says, “Again?”, suggesting this has become a very common occurrence.

Other Negative Elements

Drax tells several people how skilled he is at metaphor and allegory, including one such verbal description that involves a description of his excrement. A dog-like creature urinates and, later, licks its privates.

The orgo-planet visited by the Guardians can be goopy and slimy.

We should note that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can also be extremely dark. Creatures are clearly terrified of their captors, and torturous experiments seem to be commonplace. While those experiments mainly take place off camera, younger and sensitive kids may well be pretty bothered by what they see here.

Marvel movies have always been a mixed bag, and this one may be the most mixed of all.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is fast paced and frenetic. It’s a little more violent than your average, baseline superhero film, and some of the resulting grotesqueries might draw a wince … or several. Deaths are commonplace. And the wholesale annihilation (albeit mostly offscreen) is in some quarters is truly catastrophic. And literal bombs aren’t the only things that are exploding: One f-bomb does, too.

And it’d be difficult to underestimate how dark the movie can feel in places. Guardians of the Galaxy films have always managed to blend rollicking comedy with a lot of heart. But this movie’s heart sometimes feels as though it’s breaking.

But what a heart it has.

Gamora plays a critical role in Vol. 3 , because it’s through her eyes that we’re able to see so freshly the squabbling, deeply loving dynamics of the Guardians. Through her, we can better appreciate their sacrifice, their character, their foibles, their love. When Gamora essentially demands that Nebula should help her leave this pack of misfit superheroes, Gamora pulls the ultimate card. “We’re family!” she says.

“So are they,” Nebula tells her. And she means it.

Vol. 3 is as much a story of belonging as it is superheroing, and what it means to love and care for difficult people in difficult times. As such, we find that we can relate to these people—even if the “people” are cynical raccoons and walking trees. Our own struggles do not involve space travel or fighting aliens on literally living planets, but the Guardians feel, paradoxically, down to earth. They feel like us. They feel like home.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has plenty of problems, and I’d urge parents interested in taking their kids to this to use plenty of caution. This is will be a difficult movie for many. But it’s also the best MCU film since Endgame and perhaps the best Guardians movie yet made.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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How 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' uses disturbing animal cruelty to make a larger point

Spoiler alert! The following discusses important plot elements of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.

Because a talking raccoon and an alien tree are core characters, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies have been popular with children, though for sensitive little ones – and animal-loving big kids – the new film might be tough to watch at times. But if you hide your eyes, you might miss the point.

In the first 2014 “Guardians,” writer/director James Gunn showed a glimpse of sores and mechanization on the back of Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and hinted at the raccoon's tragic backstory. And Gunn brings that origin to unnerving but empowering life in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (in theaters now).

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'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' review: Chris Pratt's space misfits bow out gloriously

Cover your eyes: Baby Rocket is subjected to cruel experiments in flashbacks

When Rocket is wounded in a sneak attack, his Guardians teammates – including Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Drax (Dave Bautista) – go on a desperate high-stakes mission to save him, which includes tussling with the cruel and ruthless villain, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), who “created” Rocket. While Rocket is comatose, the audience sees his memories of how he was experimented on and the close friendships he made with fellow animal prisoners.

Rocket is first seen as a baby raccoon cowering in a cage. The High Evolutionary is trying to create the perfect species and is testing on animals, evolving them and – if things don’t go the way he wants – burning them alive. Rocket gets emotional help weathering these sadistic experiments through the friends he meets who’ve also been cybernetically engineered: His best pal Lylla is an otter with mechanical arms; Teefs is a walrus with wheels; and Floor is a rabbit with a metal trap for a mouth. They teach Rocket at a young age how to talk and Lylla nurses Rocket after his surgeries, including having his brain exposed.

Spoilers! What those 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' end-credit scenes mean for Marvel future

The abused animals are CGI, but it's still hard to watch

No actual animals were harmed in the making of the movie – all the critters are created through digital effects. But harrowing scenes of animal cruelty that on one hand bond a viewer more strongly to Rocket and his plight are also at times graphic and disturbing. Not to a problematic level, but moms and dads will definitely want to hold kids’ hands through those parts and be there for questions afterward. It might be too much for some adults to take and that’s OK, too. 

In so many movies, a cat is run over for laughs or something bad happens to a dog for shock value. But the new "Guardians" is different: What Gunn has slyly and impressively crafted is a blockbuster superhero movie that tackles, in a substantial and visceral way, real-life animal cruelty and testing. Rocket was “created by somebody who didn't care for him at all, didn't have any of his own interests in mind,” the director told USA TODAY. “Compassion is the answer to all your problems on this planet. And if you can have compassion for all living things, it really helps you to live a much more fulfilling life.”

The more graphic scenes have caused an outcry on social media: Some call for "trigger warnings" while others say they " made a good movie unwatchable. " However, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has come out in strong support of "Vol. 3." On Monday, the organization celebrated the latest "Guardians" as "the best animal rights film of the year" for "helping audiences see animals as individuals and suggesting that just because we  can  experiment on them doesn’t mean that we  should ," PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange said in a statement. “Through Rocket, James Gunn has put a face, a name and a personality on the millions of vulnerable animals being cycled through laboratories as we speak."

Ranked: Every Marvel superhero movie (including 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3')

'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' makes a larger point about animal rights

Rocket's early trauma has haunted him long after he escaped the High Evolutionary’s clutches. But in the end, he wants everyone to have the same freedom he found. In the climax of "Vol. 3," as his teammates free a host of young kids who’ve also been subjects of the High Evolutionary’s handiwork, Rocket sees a bunch of cages, including one full of baby raccoons just like he was. He sets them all free and later the Guardians take in all the humans and animals as part of their community. The High Evolutionary's whole deal is to create an ideal utopia – instead it's Rocket and Co. who pull that off.

Rocket’s story isn’t at all easy to take in, for sure. It’s heartbreaking and poignant, and chances are you’ll shed some tears. Yet it’s a tough and important step toward understanding the film’s overall goal: for everyone to have a little more empathy toward all creatures, furry or otherwise.

Will Poulter: Why the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' star is Marvel's new golden boy

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' uses disturbing animal cruelty to make a larger point

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 now streaming on Disney+: All the spoilers, Easter eggs, and more

"Into the forever and beautiful sky."

Get ready for one last ride, because James Gunn 's third installment of Marvel's rag tag team of unlikely heroes is heading to a TV near you.

After an explosive theatrical debut in May 2023, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is touching down on Disney+ beginning Wednesday, Aug. 2 to make its streaming debut. Gunn's emotional third film in the saga of Star-Lord ( Chris Pratt ) and his crew of misfits, officially brings the Guardians' story to a collective close, nearly a decade since the first movie debuted.

Guardians of the Galaxy rapidly became an integral part of the superhero film landscape when it released in 2014. It introduced audiences to a different type of superhero narrative, one that wasn't fully based on Earth and the problems of its inhabitants, expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) beyond Earth and exploring the cosmos. It also helped to shine a light on heroes beyond the typical Avengers lineup, like Iron Man or Thor. The movie wasn't afraid to poke fun at the genre and itself, with an irreverent tone and memorable characters, including the now-memorable diminutive talking tree we all love to quote: Groot ( Vin Diesel ).

The comic book adventure was also a critical and commercial success, coming in as the third-highest-grossing film of the year after raking in a whopping $773.3 million worldwide.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is available on digital, and physical 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD as well. If you're ready to see the Guardians' story come to a close for the first time or want to revisit the crew's final encore, EW has the answers to your burning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 questions about streaming, post-credits scenes, Easter eggs, and more.

Where can I stream Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is available exclusively on Disney+ to stream right now. You'll need a paid subscription to the service to watch it, unless you purchase or rent a copy from Amazon, Apple, or other digital storefronts. Otherwise, it's available to purchase physically . It's unclear if the film will eventually be released to other streaming services, though that's highly unlikely, especially this close to the movie's initial theatrical debut.

Does Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have a post-credits scene?

Yes, there are two post-credits scenes, to be exact. One depicts several members of the Guardians team heading off on a new adventure: retirement. Star-Lord makes the decision to return to Earth and reconnect with his grandfather (Gregg Henry) in a touching moment that seemed as though it may never come after we learned of the character's disdain for his home world.

We see Mantis ( Pom Klementieff ) setting off to explore the galaxy on her own, while Nebula ( Karen Gillan ) and Drax ( Dave Bautista ) make a home for themselves on Knowhere as they work to rebuild it back to its former glory. Drax gets to be the father he was born to be to the children the Guardians rescued from the High Evolutionary's ( Chukwudi Iwuji ) clutches. Meanwhile, Gamora ( Zoe Saldaña ) finds a home for herself as part of the Ravagers. The remaining team members are just the new leader Rocket ( Bradley Cooper ) and Groot ( Vin Diesel ).

After that, it's time to meet the new team of Guardians, which the movie sets up nicely, almost as if there could be an entirely new flick around the corner. We head off to a new planet in the second post-credits scene with Rocket leading his band of Guardians clad in new outfits, followed by Groot and Kraglin ( Sean Gunn ) and "good girl" canine Cosmo ( Maria Bakalova ). Adam Warlock ( Will Poulter ) even gets a chance to shine, as he's made the decision to fight for the good guys.

But one of the most intriguing parts of this post-credits scene is the newest Guardians recruit: Phyla (Kai Zen), who the team previously rescued earlier in the movie. She's already shown off her potential for some particularly amazing powers. We don't get to see everyone's expertise at the end of the movie, however, because when a pack of alien creatures begin stampeding toward the new team, that's where things cut off. Rocket chooses Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" on the Zune gifted to him by his pal Peter, and that's all she wrote…for now.

Are there Easter eggs in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ?

Yes, there are a number of fun callbacks and Easter eggs to be found within this final installment of the Guardians series. Here are just a few to pick up on during your rewatch or your first time through:

• The new Guardians' ship is called the Bowie, and it probably isn't a mystery as to who it was named after. Quill named his first ship the Milano, after his crush on actress Alyssa Milano . He named his second ship the Benatar, after the legendary rocker Pat Benatar . The Bowie gets its name from one of Peter's favorite musicians, David Bowie .
• The colorful space suits the Guardians don later in the movie are a reference to Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey , both in design and in hue.
• During a card game later in the film on Knowhere, there are several Marvel characters who make quick cameos: Cosmo the dog, Howard the Duck ( Seth Green ), and the Broker (Christopher Fairbank), who we first met in the original Guardians of the Galaxy .
• When Adam Warlock rushes to save Peter later in the film and Peter reaches out to the superhero, they're posed as Michelangelo first painted God and Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a reference that no doubt isn't lost on art-savvy audiences.
• The newest Guardians recruit, Phyla, is actually Phyla-Vell, the daughter of the original Mar-Vell, the first Captain Marvel ahead of Carol Danvers. It's unclear if she'll play a role in any future films similar to the one she did in the comic continuity.
• There is a message indicating that Star-Lord "will return" in one of the post-credits scenes, which means we could be seeing a solo film for the character in the future.

For more on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, read all of EW's coverage below — from exclusive interviews with the cast and filmmakers to secret alien roles and post-credit scenes .

• Book Club: The Next Chapter fails to turn the page on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at the box office
• Pete Davidson has a secret alien role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 post-credits scenes explained
• Guardians star Will Poulter on playing golden himbo Adam Warlock
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review: James Gunn bids an emotional goodbye to the MCU
• Dave Bautista is relieved to end his MCU run as Drax: 'I want to do more dramatic stuff'
• James Gunn wants to break the threequel curse with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer teases one final adventure

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