Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3

"To the forever and beautiful sky."

This film is a swan song for all Marvel fans and superfans out there. A fond farewell to another batch of extraordinary characters that have made us laugh and cry and dance with joy to their stellar soundtracks!

Guardians 3 marks the end of the MCU we know as we delve into the Multiverse storyline and leave space behind us. This is a truly fun film for all the family and is a fitting reminder of the Marvel of the past. I was beginning to lose hope that Marvel could produce a good superhero film that i could enjoy after so many disappointments, then James Gunn comes along and gives us a Garden of Eden superhero film that took my breath away and made me cry like I was watching Endgame for the first time again.

Gunn confirmed that this was the last Guardians film before he goes off to join DC and that's sad, considering all the joy he has created with these characters. He turned some minor comic book characters that you only see as second hand characters into household names of Marvel Studios by using comedy, dim-wittedness and, above all else, music!

I never thought (and I'm sure everyone in the world is in on me with this one) that my heart would be broken when i saw a talking tree die in Infinity War, but then again i never thought i would see three Spidermen on screen together recreating a meme but here we are.

All that was done through incredible storytelling and character building which is what makes this trilogy so great. it's imaginative, thrilling and lively to watch which is what you want from a film, Groot will be marked down as one of the greatest Marvel characters ever created and he only ever says one line (apart from his last line in the film obviously). This is a prime example of what can be achieved with thoughtful storytelling, pristine visuals and some extra added Covid time to give it its final touches.

Its also one of the darkest entries in the MCU to date as we see more gore than we expect in a Marvel film and a heart breaking storyline and the first F bomb ever to be used in the MCU, beating Deadpool by a year! That's what gave this film the edge it needed to be great and memorable and it gave Marvel the confidence it needed to go further with their film constraints while still being family friendly.

The film was all about Rocket this time round, a hero whom we learn so much about in this entry and how much he has gone through. Seeing his heart breaking scene with Lylla (played by Linda Cardellini) was such a powerful moment for his character that we just connect with him instantly and begin to root for him more.

His relationship with the main villain, The High Evolutionary (played by Chukwudi Iwuji), set the tone for the whole film and it started a rollercoaster of a ride, filled with flashbacks and emotional plot twists that earns him a spot on the top 10 Marvel characters.

This is a final arc for all our characters that we have loved for years, everyone of them gets the ending they deserve and leaves us on a happy note as they begin the next stage of their journey. Especially Star lord and Nebula, both started off as criminals (one was way way more sadistic than the other) and ended up being intergalactic heroes and selfless characters who end up going on separate journeys at the end.

Star Lord returns home after realising he has been gone from Earth for too long and must relearn what it means to be Human while Nebula retires to build a home she never had for refugees from The High Evolutionary's destroyed spaceship. Both endings are swan songs for their characters and mark the end of not just their journey but also the Guardians themselves. Even though Rocket now leads a new team of Guardians, it won't be the same now that the characters we have watched grow have now taken their bow.

The film also introduced new characters to the Marvel Universe, such as Cosmo the Dog, a telepathic dog in a spacesuit! (yes, that's pretty much it!) and the big boy himself, Adam Warlock! (played by Will Poulter)

For those who are unfamiliar, Adam Warlock is one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Comics, capable of beating Thanos hand to hand and conversing with Celestials and their God! He is a godlike character and introducing him in a Guardians film put me off a little. Poulters performance helped bring life to a very serious character and i admired it but Warlock can annihilate the Guardians while drinking a cup of tea and we only saw a fraction of his true power in this film. I understand that he ahd to be toned down for the film, otherwise the runtime would have been 15 minutes max, but i was expecting to see him display a beautiful style of absolute power. Maybe we will see it in future projects.

Then we have the villain, a perfectly written villain so evil that you just want to give him a good hiding! (a good spanking!) He was such a despised villain, he might just be the most evilest character we have seen in the MCU so far. Iwuji delivers an Oscar winning performance as the villain and the things we see him do in this film sends nerves racing to your brain. Gunn wrote a truly horrific and hated villain and that's masterful writing!

The visuals in this film are some of the best for Marvel in recent years, the lighting and use of CGI blend perfectly together and create some incredible space spectacles that perfectly illustrate the narrative of the film. It feels like we have been pulled into a comic book and we are watching the pages get drawn before our eyes and that's what Gunn intended. He is a massive comic book fan and this is what he was born to do, he made this film so visually pleasing and colourful that it looks like it was actually shot in space!

The latest soundtrack is probably the best in the trilogy (in my opinion!) it has such memorable tracks and dance worthy songs (even a song from the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen!) and the official music score itself is emotional and impactful that it will leave a hole in your heart.

The sound was epic, gripping and fun and light and that's what you want from a Marvel film. You want it to be epic and fun yet gripping and intense because that's what made the Avengers and Infinity Saga the best cinema in recent years. It made the film feel like it was back to standard Marvel, which is what we want as an audience.

The film gave us such memorable moments that we will cherish forever, I will now always regard the hallway fight scene in this film as the best fight scene I have seen in a Marvel film ever! (again, in my opinion!) The choreography that was in sync with the music was a work of art, it was like watching Picasso paint! I had a smile on my face the entire time I watched it.

The Orgocorp scene where they descend onto the weird eye complex in space while listening to SpaceJam was so visually pleasing, it brought a tear to my eye because that was what i wanted to see in a Marvel film and the ending dance scene made me tear up because that signified the end of the journey for our heroes. I was crying happy tears because I was happy that everyone got a happy ending, which is a rare case for Marvel characters these days, and I was completely satisfied with the end of the film.

This film is a reminder of what Marvel films can be and why they are important to make, it brings the audience to the edge of their seats and gives them moments they will remember forever. When I was watching this, it was like I was watching it 5 years earlier, back when Marvel was good and I looked forward to the next chapter.

I still remember how I felt the first time I saw Star Lord dance to "Come and get your Love" by Redbone. I had never seen anything like it before in my life and it introduced me to the Guardians of the Galaxy and they instantly became some of my treasured characters. I have loved listening to Groot saying "I am Groot" and seeing all their wacky escapes and touching moments and listening to killer soundtracks.

Seeing it all come to a close was sad and felt like turning the final pages of a beloved book. I didn't want it to end, but nothing lasts forever so we can at least enjoy one last outing with our favourite band of intergalactic misfits and wish them a fond farewell on their next adventures.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 is now streaming on Disney + and is available on DVD and Blu ray.