Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a joy ride – movie review

By Alexandra Heilbron on May 4, 2023 | 2 Comments

From the moment the latest installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise begins, with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) mourning the loss of Gamora (she’s not dead, but has lost her memories of him and is no longer a member of the Guardians) to the scenes of Rocket as a baby raccoon in a cage with other baby raccoons, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a non-stop adventure.

As always there’s plenty of humor, which lifts the audience up during a dark story in which a villain called The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) experiments on animals to make them superior.

Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper and Sean Gunn) is experimented on and becomes brilliant — even more intelligent than those who created him. He makes friends with other animals who are being experimented on, including a rabbit, a walrus and an otter — of whom he’s especially fond. The animals, who have never been outside, dream of seeing the sky and they treasure their friendships, in a world that treats them cruelly.

When the Guardians are attacked in the present day by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and Rocket is gravely injured, Peter and the rest of the team discover that Rocket has something embedded that makes it dangerous to give him medical attention. They have to find The High Evolutionary to get something that overrides the implant in order to save Rocket.

Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) are especially in fine form, with many hilarious moments, while Nebula (Karen Gillan) has become a devoted asset to keeping the team alive during the dangerous mission. They discover her sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is now a Ravager, which Peter is less than happy about — and Groot, now a fully grown adult, shows off some new skills.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a joy ride from start to finish. Just as you feel sad about baby Rocket and the other animals, the Guardians bring the audience back up again with their hilarious quips and antics.

Although Stan Lee is no longer with us, there’s a photo of him that scrolls by during the credits with photos of the cast, as a great way of honoring him. There are also two scenes during the credits. The final one, which comes just as you think there won’t be a second clip, shows Peter and his grandfather, who is holding a newspaper with a very funny headline (note: if you’ve seen The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, it’ll instantly make you laugh).

5 out of 5 stars.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens opens exclusively in theaters on May 5, 2023.

If you’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and would like to rate/review it yourself, click here.

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1. Gwen • May 4, 2023 @ 12:37 PM

   Didn’t know there had been a Holiday Special. Did it come out in theatres? Can it be repeated? I love this series and have been waiting for this to come out.

2. CDubya • May 19, 2023 @ 4:33 PM

   The Holiday Special was hilarious and it was on Disney+.

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