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Movie review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' goes dark, downbeat

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Fred Hawson

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A scene from " Guardians="" of="" the="" Galaxy="" Vol.="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/entertainment/5/05/guardians-of-the-galaxy-05052023.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from &#x27;Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.&#x27; <em>Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The Guardians&#x27; headquarters in Knowhere was suddenly attacked by a super being called Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), son of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the Sovereign empress. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) sustained a serious, untreatable injury which led Star Lord (Chris Pratt) to bring them all to seek a solution at the Orgosphere, where Rocket&#x27;s creator, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), presided. </p><p>In 2014, the Guardians of the Galaxy were still an obscure group of heroes from the comics, a big risk for Marvel to bring to the big screen as a CG-effects-heavy outer space adventure. However, the first film turned out to be an unexpected success mainly because of the likability of the cast and their chemistry as a team. Its musical soundtrack, composed of catchy pop tunes like Blue Swede&#x27;s &quot;Hooked on a Feeling,&quot; propelled its popularity. </p><p>In &quot;GOTG Vol. 2&quot; (2017), we met more of Peter Quill&#x27;s family -- his ancient Celestial father Ego, and his delightful empath sister Mantis (Pom Klementieff). Between that and this new sequel, &quot;Avengers: Infinity War&quot; (2018) happened, which led to the death of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), However, a younger version of her, Gamora-14, appeared in &quot;Avengers: Endgame&quot; (2019), and here as a Ravager under Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone). </p><p>This third installment was dedicated to Rocket, where he came from and where he is going next. We see how he developed from a cute raccoon kit randomly picked from a cage, to a meek genetically-engineered genius, to the gruff gun-toting bounty hunter we knew him to be. We also meet his fellow genetically-engineered prototype mutants -- Lylla the otter (Linda Cardellini), Teefs the walrus (Asim Chaudry) and Floor the rabbit (Mikaela Hoover).</p><p>Writer-director James Gunn still imbued &quot;Vol. 3&quot; with pretty much the same magical ingredients of adventure, humor, heart and catchy songs to sustain the audience appeal of the first two films. </p><p>Opening with an acoustic version of Radiohead&#x27;s &quot;Creep&quot; and dealing with the unsettling theme of animal cruelty, this one had a decidedly darker, downbeat mood than the first two, which it carried all the way through to its bittersweet ending. </p><div><strong>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, &quot;<a href="https://said-fred.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-of-guardians-of-galaxy-vol-3.html">Fred Said</a>.&quot;</strong><br/> </div>

This third installment was dedicated to Rocket, where he came from and where he is going next. 