Despite the fact you can see the gears at work in this film, Guardians 3 did for me what few MCU films have done: it made me genuinely concerned about the characters and it made me care. Care enough to *gasp* make me call this the best in this particular corner of the MCU… and *double gasp* the best MCU film in general.
Guardians 3 picks up after the latest Thor movie (and the Christmas Special) with the team making their home on Knowhere… only Peter is now in a deep funk over Gamora’s absence. But when someone from Rocket’s past comes for him, the team must unite to save him… with a little help from some friends (and even more songs).
Yes, the machinations of one of these films are sometimes a little too obvious. The songs kick in continuously and the inserted comedy routines feel like inserted comedy routines. Marvel has long had issues with tone and taking their stories seriously… though this one I think might need it a bit due to some dark, dark bleak sad material.
This film goes into the history of one of the Guardians and it’s dark. Maybe too dark… but I loved it because they took it far enough for me to feel the tragedy they were setting up. I was moved… and they expertly tie the backstory into the rest of the film so it doesn’t feel like an easy afterthought.
The fact I felt like things mattered, that the stakes were genuine, caused in me actual concern over the safety of these characters. That’s what make this film great. Maybe that’s due in part to some of the marketing behind the film, but in that an MCU film works on the emotions as well as this does is impressive regardless.
It’s also partly due to all the legwork the Guardians (and Guardians adjacent) films have done with these characters. Not to get all Vin Diesel on you, but when they talk family, I believe it now. This is the best group of characters at this stage in the Marvel game… and all that sentiment on screen worked on me off screen too.
Pretty much everyone gets a moment on stage, including Cosmo the dog and Kraglin. But we also get some movement between Peter and Past Gamora, for Drax (who has actual character growth), and even Mantis gets a genuinely lovely moment or two. James Gunn knows these characters so very well. He will be missed.
The main villain is genuinely a terrible, awful, very bad no-goodik. A genuinely reprehensible guy with a pretty great makeup job (good enough that the Robocop reference worked). Less valuable was Will Poulter’s character who felt like they had to include him since he was in the Guardians 2 post-credit scene. But his part is small enough that it doesn’t hurt the film.
So, yeah, I love Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Best of the sub-franchise and even the franchise as a whole. It might be that time will lower the score slightly and notch some of the other MCU films up, but – for now – me sitting in that movie theater feeling moved and worried and joyful all mixed together makes this flick the best of the lot.
Score: 95