Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 Review: One Well Deserved Send Off!

Grab your headphones and prepare to get hooked on a feeling one last time! Marvel’s latest blockbuster is here and like most fans we’re excited to see what our fellow Guardians have been up to since the events of Avengers: Endgame. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 is the third installment from James Gunn packed with a stellar cast as this story gives us insight into Rocket’s backstory, which is by far heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, as his friends race to save his life from a villain linked to his past, and the Guardians present.

The third installment is by far very different from the first two, although this movie is still packed with plenty of laughs and eclectic sounds of music, which I personally enjoy. The film starts off with a teaser into Rocket’s past, as we later learn he was experimented on as a baby raccoon by The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a scientist, driven mad to enhance animal lifeforms for his planet Counter-Earth. Later we transition to the new Knowhere headquarters where a depressed Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), still not over the loss of Gamora, is a total wreck. Although the alternate version of her is alive, it’s not the same person he fell in love with and remembers him. Luckily, he has his surrogate family: Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo (voiced by Maria Bakalova) by his side to piece him back together when he falls apart.

Once the arrival of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a Sovereign warrior created by golden High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) to destroy the Guardians, arrives to Knowhere, the Guardians must protect themselves and the civilians. Once Rocket is wounded and Adam flees, the team learns of Rocket’s embedded kill switch, made by the company Orgocorp. The Guardians set out on a mission to Orgocorp’s headquarters to override the code’s kill switch and retrieve his file.

As Rocket continues fighting for his life, he resumes to recall his past as we meet other test subjects who befriend him: the otter Lylla (Linda Cardellini), the walrus Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and the rabbit Floor (Mikaela Hoover). As they manifest escaping from the lab and living freely, Rocket shares he wants to fly as they all want to see the sky and not live in their dark prison anymore.

Meanwhile in the present day, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) is now a Ravager and assists the Guardians with helping save Rocket’s life and retrieve Rocket’s file from Orgocrop. James Gunn concluded this final installment perfectly examining different topics including grief, animal rights, trauma, and closure. My favorite character arc is absolutely Nebula’s. To see where she started from her introduction in the MCU to where she is now is growth and amazing character development.

I also thought the topic of animal rights in regards to Rocket’s backstory was imperative. It was grim and emotional to watch due to the erratic villain wanting to create a perfect society at the expense of using animals to do it. Some of the characters have also experienced some sort of grief or trauma that we have learned about including: Peter losing his mom to cancer, then killing his own father after learning he gave his mom cancer, and then losing Gamora. Gamora’s family and civilization murdered via genocide by Thanos. Drax’s family, killed by Thanos. Nebula, tortured by Thanos and losing her sister and friends in the Blip. And Rocket, losing the closest friends he had while locked away and experimented on, and also losing his friends in the Blip.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 delivers with a combination of laughs and sadness evoking different emotions while watching. One minute I’m laughing. Next I want to cry. Next I’m like WTF! Gunn wraps up the third film perfectly with each character receiving closure, which I feel was incredibly necessary and a great transition for them all moving forward whether it’s together or apart. And a reminder, stay until the very end because you don’t want to miss the post-credits! I also don't want to forget honorary mentions to those fun, colorful space suits - which by the way were not an 'Among Us' reference, a F-bomb, and ‘Dog Days are Over’ by Florence and the Machine, which has been playing in my head non-stop! The perfect song for one last dance! Not to forget 'Come and Get Your Love' by Redbone, bringing this trilogy full circle!

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 is now playing in theaters. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action, strong language, suggestive/drug references, and thematic elements with a runtime of 150 minutes.