The first Guardians of the Galaxy came out after the successful experiment that was the Avengers, when the MCU had earned itself a lot of good will and I was watching to see how they continued this shared universe they were creating. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had no reason to doubt that it would be a good movie.The second Guardians film came out while the MCU was in it's prime. Marvel movies were a known quanity, with even the worst still providing solid entertainment. And of course it was following up a successful first installment, so expectations were high.
Volume 3 came out when the MCU was in rapid decline, not just in general but for me specifically. The last couple of movies I had seen were not working for me. Important in-universe events were happening in TV shows on channels that I didn't have, leaving me feeling out-of-the-loop. The movies and shows were heavily abusing the "multiverse"; a concept I have long thought needs to be used sparingly, and have grown quite weary of.
Of course I wasn't alone. Film after film was getting raked over the coals by reviewers, box office numbers were down. What's more, James Gunn had been quite publicly fired by Disney. But even though they eventually hired him back to finish off the trilogy, he had already been given the reins to the the rival DCU, being entrusted with rebooting their entire cinematic universe.
Would James Gunn be able to create a fitting final instalment to the beloved series, or would behind-the-scenes forces sink this sequel? I must admit I had a lot of doubts walking into this one. But almost in spite of myself, I still wanted this one to be good.
And it was. Volume 3 continued the trend set by Volume 2 of ratcheting up the emotional impact; seriously, I found this one to be a real tear-jerker. Not just at the end like the second film, but almost right from the start. In lesser hands the story might have come off as emotionally-manipulative, but I just couldn't see it that way. Even when I could see what the movie was doing from a mile away, I still felt every damned gut-punch it threw at me. If you like movies that evoke an emotional reaction, I think you will want to see this one.
The film brings the same kind of irreverant humor as the previous entries, though I didn't think it was as funny overall. That's not a criticism, just an observation: I felt there was less focus on jokes this time around, and they don't really intrude on the more emotional scenes. Considering that a lot of people complain about the jokes taking away from the drama in Marvel movies (at least in the later films), some people might be happy to hear that Volume 3 is far less prone to trying to squeeze humor into every scene. It's still funny, just in a more compartmentalised way.
Endgame left the Guardians in a bit of a strange position, especially when it came to Peter and Gamorra. So it was interesting seeing how this movie handled that, how the characters interacted and moved forwards. And it wasn't just the core cast: once again the movie introduces and fleshes out new characters without neglecting the old, expanding and enriching the world as a whole while telling a story that is deeply personal to the main cast.
As expected there were stylish action scenes, great performances, good music, and fun cameos. The VFX were great, and I personally enjoyed the sci-fi environments a bit more than I did in Volume 2, coming closer to the vibe I enjoyed in the first film.
It's worth mentioning that Volume 3 did a good job of capping off the trilogy, without closing the door on the possibility of more stories in the future. Endings can be hard to do right, this one gave me a satisfying sense of closure that I think is becoming rare in these days of never-ending franchises.
I think I'm going to have to give this one a 9/10. I think I still prefer Volume 2, which is much easier watching, but this one just hits harder.
In Volume 3, there is a sense of... moving on. Of accepting that things aren't going to be the same forwever, that sometimes you just can't go back to the way things were and you need to find a new way to move forwards. But also of new beginnings, of passing on the torch, leaving behind a legacy. I think that's a very fitting way to end the series.
In the first movie it was just Rocket who understood Groot, then at the start of the second everyone seemed to be able to understand him. This time Gamorra, being a younger version from before she met the Guardians, could not understand Groot at first. After some time however, she was surprised to realise that she was finally able to understand him.
Then, at the very end of the film, there's a brief moment when Groot finally says something other than his trademark line. Just like Gamora, I did a double-take as I realised what I had just heard. It felt like, just as Gamora had learned to understand Groot over time, so had we, the audience. It was as if HE hadn't changed, WE had. It's a powerful moment, and a great payoff to three movies of what originally seemed to be a simple running gag.
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