This is how its Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, and to some extent the whole trilogy, shows what a Marvel movie can be when it's allowed to be it's own thing and not beholden to furthering other projects. It has its flaws but the focus on character and satisfying resolutions make this one of the MCU's best efforts in years. In fact, one of its best ever.

The film begins with an attack on The Guardians by Adam Warlock, teased at the end of volume 2 and played brilliantly by Will Poulter as a gold dusted himbo, leading to Rocket being critically injured. This leaves the rest of the team in a race against time to track down a cure and brings them into conflict with the racoon's creator, The High Evolutionary.

They say that if you want the audience to hate a character just show the character kicking a puppy. By that metric The High Evolutionary will go down as one of the most despised villians in cinematic history. He's a full on animal abuser who's frustrations with life's imperfections give him no regard for the suffering of others and have him creating and genociding entire species on a whim. Played with an air of Shakesperian grandeur by Chukwudi Iwuji, The High Evolutionary makes a case for being the MCU's best villian to date.

Pretty much all the cast get time to shine and develope. Quill and the new (or is it old since she came form the past?) Gamora re develope their relationship but maybe not in the way you would expect, the change in Nebula over the course of three films is visable and believable, returning the favour from Volume 2 Mantis helps the others see Drax's worth and Kraglin gets his chance to live up to his old boss Yondu. The only one who doesn't see much development is Groot, who is curiously on the periphery of preceedings while his closest companion is in mortal danger. While Rocket is in many ways the main protagonist of the film he mostly appears in flashbacks as a very different character than the smart mouthed rodent we have come to know and his banter with the rest of the team is missed.

Making the stakes more personal rather than more epic for the conclusion of the trilogy is an unusual move in a genre that tends to favour spectacle but its a fitting send off for a series that has always placed the emphasise on its characters. That's not to say there isn't plenty of bang for your buck, with action scenes aplenty and the traditional drawn out MCU final act that makes the movie longer than it needs to be. It's also, like it's predecessors, actually funny and packs in some of the best gags Marvel has to offer, even if it could be accused of going lowest common denominator a couple of times too often. Its not all laughs though, throwaway jokes and humour filled chats are mixed with some truly dark events.

Is it too dark? No, but if you have young kids I'd check this out on your own before deciding if they can handle it. James Gunn is a filmmaker who has never been afraid of playing away from the light and on his final hurrah for the mouse house he doesn't hold back. There are multiple scenes of cute things in distress and some visual grotesquery that reminds you that the director of Slither is behind the camera. One shot in particular (you'll know it when you see it) stretches the level of gore you can get away with in a family film to the absolute limit.

Volume 3 isn't perfectly paced and it may give you tonal whiplash but character and heart make Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 a fitting end to the most unique of Marvel trilogies.

8 fathers out of 10 destroyers

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