Jonah Naplan   May 4, 2023

Marvel, consider me won back. I am incredibly proud to report that “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is the best the superhero studio has been in years and reminds me of why we all fell in love with these characters, storylines, and movies in the first place. “Vol. 3”—though still very much a piece of Marvel’s puzzle—succeeds as both an epic finale for the Guardians’ story, and also as a standalone movie. Much of this is the doing of returning writer and director James Gunn, who provides his sharp script with a signature witty stamp. But the film also relies on the trust of the viewer, and their devotion to these quirky characters. Even when the film has its issues—and it does, regardless of how much I enjoyed it—it is Gunn’s knowledge of our passion to see these characters one last time that motivates his encore.

Unlike the more recent cookie cutter Marvel entries, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” feels refreshingly focused again, and more creatively realized than most superhero films—Marvel and DC—of the last decade. And it is actually funny. Like actually funny. Like not fake “Quantumania” funny. Like actually funny. With real jokes. That make you laugh. Not awkwardly. But actually laugh. It is actually funny.

“Vol. 3” follows a two-part narrative. On one end of the stick, it’s about the Guardians on their quest to save Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) from a death that seems to nearly have him in its grasp. On the other, it’s a near Shakespearean recounting of Rocket’s upbringing, as a normal raccoon turns into a manufactured, half-mechanical machine. The film opens in Knowhere with a version of the Guardians that feel ultimately fatigued and tired of saving the universe. Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) has taken up drinking, dismayed by the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). He acknowledges the fact that his former green-skinned girlfriend is alive and well—but considering the fact that she doesn’t actually remember any of her adventures with the team—to him, she’s dead. The plot spirals into motion when a golden-hued Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) comes violently crashing down from the stars to where the Guardians currently reside.

Rocket takes the absolute worst beating, and in turn lies in an ailing state for most of the movie. But the rest of the Guardians all get horribly ripped up too. As the movie simultaneously flashes back to Rocket’s origin story, we follow Peter, Gamora—now in conjunction with the Ravagers led by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone)—Drax (Dave Bautista), a newly formed Groot (Vin Diesel), Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) on their quest that takes them across the galaxy to give Rocket sustenance. Left on Knowhere to keep watch is Kraglin (Sean Gunn), still trying to master Yondu’s needle, and a talking dog named Cosmo (Maria Bakalova). These are charming characters, but both are unfortunately left with little to do until the third act.

But no matter. The focus is on the OG-Guardians. Unfortunately for them though, in addition to Warlock, a new villain known as the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) is right on their heels. This man is incredibly powerful, and has had a reputation for being a vicious warlord for a few couple decades. Through the flashbacks, we learn that the High Evolutionary created and did tests on Rocket, making him the weapon he’s known for being. He was tortured, teased, and thrown around like a rag doll. And when shown new evolution chambers intended for a new utopia called Counter-Earth manufactured by the Evolutionary, the highly intelligent young Rocket, christened 89P13 back then, almost immediately found a faulty process and sent his creator into a spiral of self-reflection and insecurity.

It’s the classic tale of a creation turning on his creator, put through the Marvel movie filter. The High Evolutionary is not much of a special villain, but he is an interesting one. Reminiscent of Thanos in that he feels he is improving the universe rather than conquering it, the High Evolutionary reminds me of Kang in terms of his power, but not his screen presence. In fact, the one thing I’d say “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has over “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is its villain. But looking at that case, “Quantumania” had more time to develop its villain considering it had barely any other substance to focus on.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” on the other hand, is a stuffed behemoth of a movie, bursting with inspired ideas. Remarkably though, it’s not unfocused. The first hour and a half is an absolutely delightful joy, where James Gunn utilizes his finest writing skills. But the last hour is an epic thrillfest of a final battle that does fall subject to a few of the clockwork Marvel cliques—team-ups, explosions, false hope, etc—but it’s all done with fascinating camera choices, and an inspired director’s eye.

There’s a segment in a vast hallway that is one of the most thrilling action setpieces Marvel has ever composed. I realized halfway through that it was actually one continuous shot. It’s all heavily green-screened and permeated with CGI, but we get so swept up in the film’s imagination that we forget to care. It’s here that we’re reminded of how seemingly unfazed James Gunn is when it comes to meeting franchise expectations. His comic book movies—"The Suicide Squad," the other two “Guardians” films—are at best when they defy normalcy and devolve into narratives that are equal parts creative and entertaining. And in the case of this film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” requires Gunn to be serious sometimes too. So “Vol. 3” resides in that perfect space in between. It has clever jokes every three minutes but does not deviate from the sincerity that is crucial to a finale like this.

My favorite scene is one filled with endless Gunn-isms. It takes place in a vast white and orange colored headquarters and has some of the funniest Marvel dialogue I’ve heard since “Avengers: Endgame.” It’s the dopamine hit affixed with these sequences that make “Guardians” movies so much fun, and so rewatchable. It’s also slightly bittersweet watching these characters play off of each other for what we can assume is the last time. Gunn’s script doesn’t take this lightly. Especially in the film’s final moments, it leans heavily into dramatic pathos that draws the tingles to your spine and the tears to your eyes.

But some characters, even some of the Guardians, are not entirely given the complete levity they deserve. Drax, while still funny as ever, isn’t given a whole lot to do, and neither is Nebula to an extent. Adam Warlock, who was hyped up in the trailers, only has relevance to drive the plot in the beginning and makes an appearance kicking butt in the third act. His also golden-hued mother, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), has even less to do as the Sovereign is needlessly squeezed into this already over-crowded story.

But all this chaos—the over-abundant characters, the cramped storylines, the exuberant editing—is beauty. Yes, it’s often messy. But Marvel iconics like “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” had a lot on their plates too. Those finales are both better than “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” but all three feel equally inspired. It helps that in the world of this film, it’s not the end. The Guardians will probably not jump at the chance to save the galaxy again anytime soon, but as long as they have their looping mixtape, they’ll live on.

Now playing in theaters.