First Take: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - James Gunn finishes the story on his terms

Spoiler free as usual. Because ‘swole Groot’ would tear me apart if it wasn’t.

SYNOPSIS: 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.

For the last 8 years a group of outlaws known as the Guardians of the freakin’ Galaxy (only he didn’t say freakin’) have captivated cinemagoers since their unlikely debut and surprise success- but like all good comics, the story has to end at some point. What James Gunn has done with this entire trilogy is nothing short of extraordinary, and with this final chapter, emotions are turned up to 11 in his final project for Marvel Studios before taking up his new role as DC’s Kevin Feige figure.

Gunn is once again writer/director (mostly thanks to fan and cast demand after he was initially fired) in this concluding part of the Guardians saga, picking up roughly where the Holiday Special on Disney+ left off to create a 2 and a half hour culmination of every possible storyline you could think of across the franchise - every character gets their rightful emotional payoff, with some interesting seeds planted for the rest of Phase 5 and beyond. While this runtime might be a little excessive, considering what this film has to do it is understandable why it has to be this long- and it flies by. Henry Braham does a brilliant job as DOP, and replacing Tyler Bates on the score is long-term Gunn collaborator John Murphy, who takes a while to adapt his signature sound to fit the already established style that Bates set on 1 and 2. I also have to mention Marvel’s long time music supervisor Dave Jordan, as he ultimately has a major role securing one of the most important bits of these films: Awesome Mixtape Vol. 3. And there are some stunning choices on there, that are more than suitable for the highs and lows of this plot.

At its core, this cast knew this would be a powerful film. Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Karen Gillan and Zoe Saldana once again deliver the goods, with Pratt truly getting into the groove as Star-Lord as this film plays out, but this is supplemented by Sean Gunn, Maria Bakalova, Elizabeth Debicki, and of course Vin Diesel as Groot and Bradley Cooper’s voice work as Rocket, which is some of his best in the franchise. This film *is* Rocket’s film, simple as that. Joining the MCU is Will Poulter and Chukwudi Iwuji, who are great additions if a little shoehorned in to certain sequences. One thing to mention before the verdict - cinemas have been sent both conventional and variable aspect ratio versions of the film regardless of whether they have an IMAX screen or not (IMAX will get the film in the usual manner by the way). So if you get the variable aspect ratio version, you’re gonna get 45 minutes of the film shown in flat widescreen, and the rest letterboxed. Bare this in mind when booking the bigger screens.

THE VERDICT

The third film always ends up being the darkest film for a lot of these franchises - and a very creatively free James Gunn gave these characters (and his career working with Marvel) the ending they deserved. By no means is it perfect, especially with some brutal scenes that warrant me saying leave the kids at home for this one, but that’s what we needed from Marvel.

RATING: 4.5/5