Review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) by Jesus_Saves — 06 May 2023

In reality this movie is closer to a 8.5 but I would feel wrong if I rounded and gave this a 9/10.

I was worried going into this movie. Phase 4 of the MCU has been mixed so far, with some films being better than other projects, and the CGI being of lower quality than normal for a studio like this. Fortunately, this movie is one of the better ones of this phase, and the special effects are all good in this movie. Volume 3 is a lot darker and more serious than I thought it would be, with there being multiple times where the Guardians gruesomely kill others, the exploration of Rocket's backstory of how he and his friends were abused, and how multiple characters almost die. This sadness makes sense though, as the characters have been through quite a bit over the past few movies. The jokes helped balance this movie, since GOTG stories are normally goofy movie with some serious and emotional parts to them. Rocket's backstory is mixed. It is really odd to see cyborg cute animals talking to one another, and in some cases it can be cringey with their dialogue or with their actions. That being said, it was heartbreaking to see them die, and when Rocket went into respiratory arrest and flat-lined, I almost cried. His backstory helps you understand why he is the way he is, and it's nice to see how far he's come since then.

Most of the characters in this movie are well used. The High Evolutionary, the villain, is very effective. He is shown to be a calm person who thought himself as God at first, but it is later revealed that he has a dark side where he is an angry basket-case who won't hesitate to commit genocide in order to create perfection among his creations. I like how the movie makes it clear that all of the Guardians are truly a part of the team and how they all have a part to play in the functioning of the team. The new guy, Adam Warlock, has some funny moments, and it will be interesting to see how he plays out in the future of this cinematic universe. The theme that I took away from this movie was how humanity is imperfect, but that it what makes us people, and our faults can be beautiful. This is the type of deeper messages that I like in stories, so it was nice to see it here. The ending of this movie was a bit cheesy, with the singing being a bit much, and having Groot saying much of anything other than "I am Groot," doesn't bode with me well. That being said, it does well at setting up the future for the next movies.

This entry still proves that Marvel knows what they are doing and how they can still make good content.