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