Still shot from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 - source: Philippine Star

(Warning this Review Contains Spoilers)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is a fitting end to the much-beloved trilogy in the MCU. Coming into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, I had lost track of the MCU film franchise, ever since Endgame. I had only watched one other MCU film. The reason for this is that MCU films have been quite bad over the last couple of years, and I just got bored of MCU films in general. So I was cautious coming into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3. Still, I had heard excellent things about the film, so I was very hopeful that this film would be good. And Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 was a great film and a perfect sendoff for the trilogy.

Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is by far the most personal film out of the trilogy, with strong themes of friendship and companionship being core aspects of the film. It was a great idea to have the movie focus on Rocket; he is naturally a fascinating character, plus the films have eluded many times toward his past being something mysterious. It is also a fitting contrast to the character who was always the comic relief character in the past two films, and to see Rocket have a deeper past and more complex personality is exciting to watch.

The visuals in the film were excellent, and the CGI was surprisingly good. It still keeps that 80s vibrant color vibe, making it standoff and fun to watch. 

Star-Lord and Gamora continue to spar in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Super Bowl trailer | CNN
Still shot from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 – Source: CNN

Compared to the last two films, the stakes in this one were lower by a lot. There was no threat to the galaxy, nor was the High Evolutionary (villain) ever seem that much of a threat. The antagonist in this film felt very lame and rather boring. There was never a time when the characters seemed to be at any hopeless odds. Sure, The High Evolutionary had powers and strength. However, there was never a time when it seemed to pose an extreme threat to our protagonist. He gets destroyed at the end. No grand battle, just him getting kicked to the floor. 

My following criticism of this film comes from the soundtrack, which was good, but compared to the last two films, it did not hit the same. There was no actual catchy song in there that I will be repeating, like Rupert Holmes’s Piña Colada in the first film. My last criticism of the film comes from the fact that if you have not seen the holiday special or non-Guardian of the Galaxy films. There will be information that you will be unaware of in the film. This can be a very frustrating aspect when watching the film.

Still image from Guardian of the Galaxy Vol.3 – credit: Reason Magazine.

Conclusion

Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is a great film and a fitting end to the trilogy. I recommend watching this film, which is still at your local theater.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Austin Keith '24
Favorite Director: Werner Herzog | Favorite Song: Peg by Steely Dan | Favorite Sport Team: The Cowboy's sadly | Favorite cat: KC | Favorite Band: Steely Dan | _ " I will only speak french if you have a gun to my head" - Werner Herzog