Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) Review

After many years, we have made it to the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy with Volume 3. I have now seen it and here is my review for the film. The premise of the film sees the Guardians trying to recover from the death of Gamora, when they have to work together to save a member of the team and try to save the world once again. 

Main Character

After the events of Avengers: Infinity War Starlord played by Chris Pratt was the most hated character in the MCU. But I think the time has come for people to move on from that and appreciate how good Pratt is in the role. His character sees really development in this film and I think the character was balanced with his humour and some real seriousness that I think was truly vital and effective. 

This is the first Guardians film where I see another member of the cast as the main character and that is Rocket voiced by Bradley Cooper. To be honest, he is the emotional depth of this entire film, by examining his past it adds way more depth to the character and I really cared about how he was treated here. 

Supporting Characters

Chuckwudi Iwuji plays the High Evolutionary and he is the best villain in this trilogy. He is so evil and creepy to watch, he has the presence that is required for this character and I really liked seeing how his character comes across and was a great villain for the protagonists. 

Karen Gillan as Nebula has had one of the best character arcs in the entire MCU. For me, this is her best performance in this role. There has been a clear progression from the villain she originally was and I loved her chemistry with the other members of the team. It is clear that her time with The Avengers has raised her leadership and it is a role that aids the characters development. 

Zoe Saldana is back as Gamora and as mentioned she is playing the same version of Gamora that we met during the events of Avengers: Endgame. She is definitely harsher here then she was in the previous films but it does work, there is an uneasy relationship between her and the Guardians but it does progress well. 

The rest of the Guardians are great. Drax, Mantis & Groot all have amazing moments here with Mantis in particular being the best she has ever been in any of the films. The crew are at their best here and it really feels for the first time that this is a family working together. 

Story 

The story is really well written. the characters development is at the foreront of the story telling and that is nailed pretty much perfectly. As I mentioned above, this is the first film where the crew really feel like a family and that is presented really well. I cared about the stakes that were provided and the ending was great. But there is one problem and that is the story for one character and it really annoyed me as they were one of the things I was excited about. I won't say who it is but people can probably work out who and I thought it wasn't exactly well handled here. 

Script

The Guardians of the Galaxy films have been mainly known for their comedic writing and that is still here and it is pretty funny. But the main strength of the film is the emotional and dramatic moments and dialogue. They are fantastically written and I really cared about all of the members of the group. 

Style 

The Style of the film looks great, the effects both practical and CGI are superb and feel worthy of the big screen. The action scenes are really exciting and again seeing the team together is really effective. The film is quite long, but it was paced really well and I was never bored at any points throughout. 

Overall

Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a fantastic film that brings back the stronger films of the MCU. It raises the bar and hopefully this level of film is the standard that is going to be set for the future films in the franchise. 

Rating - 9/10

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023) Review

I thought that it was about times I added video game reviews to my list of reviews and what better way to start then reviewing the new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order which was one of my favourite games of recent memory. The premise of the game is set 5 years after the ending of the first game, Cal Kestis has split from his previous crew and is trying to take the Empire down by any means necessary. 

Characters

Cameron Monaghan once again voices Cal and he is fantastic in this game. The character has become one of the most interesting in the whole of Star Wars and that gets expanded here. You can tell that Cal has been through a lot in the 5 years between games and that has made him see certain things in a different light. Monaghan sells it perfectly and this is a character I thoroughly enjoy playing as.

The crew from the main game - Merrin, Cere, BD-1 & Greez are back here in slightly different roles and they are all fantastic. The relationships between Cal and these characters is thoroughly developed and I loved how natural it felt that these people hadn't been together for years. They have changed since the first game and I like how their stories were treated alongside Cal. 

The new characters are also really well realised. Bode Akuna who is voiced by Noshir Dalal who also voices Charles Smith in Red Dead Redemption plays a new ally of Cal and he is a well realised character. Their chemistry is well realised and makes you care about this new character and his motivations for working with Cal. As it was shown in the trailers the new characters from The High Republic is really interesting, especially from someone who isn't that familiar with this time in Star Wars. It makes me want to pick up the books and find out more. 

Main Story

The main story is possibly my favourite part of this game. It feels like a natural progression of the story from the previous game and does an excellent job of progressing our main characters from the first game while developing new characters. Some people have dubbed this game as The Empire Strikes Back of this trilogy and I would agree, it is much darker then the first game but it feels appropriate and like it suits the world being built. It has its twists and turns and it all fits really well and satisfying for a fan of Star Wars and this franchise. 

Side Content 

One huge improvement this game has is that there is way more to do here then their was in the previous game. The majority of missions are pretty linear but well designed. But when you go to the planet Kobah there is plenty of side missions and activities for the player to take part in. It encourages the player to take part in these and even if they aren't all great I appreciate these additions. A couple of these side missions are fantastic with rewards that feel like they are worth doing. The game has added training to the meditation rest point and for new players this is a useful addition. 

Gameplay 

The gameplay is really great. It feels familiar to fans of the first game that it is easy to jump in. But it is more fluid and feels like Cal is a much stronger Jedi then he was in the previous game. There are new enemies to face and some of them are really challenging which is nice to see for sure. The new teammate system isn't used much but it is a nice change that shows Cal works well with his allies to defeat enemies. Things as mount travelling and Fast Travel are really nice additions to the game and makes it easier to explore the world. But probably the biggest addition is the stances, players get to select from 5 different stances based on what is required for the mission. They all feel really different and it was nice to try out these different stances and seeing what worked and what didn't. I did feel there was some issues in terms of the platforming and jumping which seemed to be the ways I died the most. Also the game has a similar issue to the previous game in that the final boss is incredibly cheap, it was incredibly frustrating and I only defeated them by turning the difficulty down which was really frustrating. 

Graphics

The game looks amazing, it continues the good work that the previous game had in terms of the great graphics. The cutscenes are amazing to look at and the planets all look great. This game has huge customisation with Cal. Whether it is his hair, beard or clothes he is so customisable and everybody can have different looking versions of the character. Creating his Lightsaber and designing BD is a really fun part of the game and makes this game stand out. 

Overall

Overall, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a fantastic game that is a must play for any Star Wars fan. I would even say if you aren't a huge fan play Fallen Order and then get this game as these are amazing single player games that prove that this concept is not dead just yet. 

Rating - 9/10