Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

In cinemas now

James Gunn’s firing from the MCU back in 2018 came as a shock, considering the fact he had made the previously little-known Guardians of the Galaxy a household name. Thankfully, Gunn is back in the director’s chair for the third and allegedly final instalment of the Guardians saga, and with a heavy degree of creative freedom too.

That goes a long way to ensuring that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a far more rewarding endeavour than a lot of the MCU’s recent output, with its unique cinematography, fantastic soundtrack and emotionally-driven storyline all standing out.

Said story sees the Guardians on an intergalactic quest to save Rocket (Bradley Cooper) from dying, a mission which sees them square down with the High Evolutionary (played by an excellent Chukwudi Iwuji). It is surprisingly a far darker instalment than the previous Guardians films and certainly pushes the boundaries of what we have come to expect from Marvel (this features the MCU’s first f-bomb!), placing a lot of emphasis on the theme of animal cruelty.

Indeed, the entire film is underpinned by a dark atmosphere that heightens its more tragic moments (such as Rocket’s upsetting back story) and leaves us sad to be waving goodbye to this ragtag group of heroes. There were few dry eyes in the cinema by the time the end credits finished rolling.

What’s also pleasing is that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 feels entirely separate from the wider multiverse saga. There’s no mention of Kang the Conqueror, or even Thor for that matter. Essentially, this feels more like a James Gunn film than it does a Marvel one, and that’s a good thing. One can only hope that it will encourage the studio to persevere with more standalone, creatively-driven projects in the future.