From director James Gunn comes the third installment to the beloved franchise, “Guardians of The Galaxy” Everything down to the music and the character development this film has it all. It is able to find a balance between comedy and emotion, bringing Gunn’s signature taste back to the big screen and into the MCU. “Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 3” kicks off the final film of the guardians franchise.

Chris Pratt, Zoe Zaldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Dave Butista, Sean Gunn and Bradley Cooper all return for this final installment. Peter Quill, who is still coping with the loss of the original Gamora, is living his life in solitude alongside the rest of the guardians. Last seen in “Thor Love and Thunder”, the Guardians are back in action. Now inhabiting the planet Knowhere as seen in the holiday special, the guardians have been spending their days off world. The planet of Nowhere is now their place of residence. Kraglin and Cosmo have been welcomed with open arms onto the team. The duo have a nice dynamic from beginning to end. They are both capable of holding their own throughout the film. 

After years of waiting, Rocket’s story is finally expanded upon in this film. Rocket is at the center of this film, as the audience gets the long awaited backstory of Rocket’s past. It was revealed in the first movie that Rocket had been used as a test subject for some secret project. This film was able to focus on just what those experiments were and how they impacted his entire life. This film takes its time to introduce some of Rocket’s friends. Those critters are all able to understand what each other is going through creating a special friendship between them. Getting a look at Rocket’s backstory really fleshed out the character and allowed more stories to be told from a different perspective. The angle James Gunn took to this story really kept me interested and wanting more. 

The approach this film took as opposed to the first two films was something new and never done before. That’s what I think pushed the film higher in terms of storytelling. The crucial moments these characters had were not only fulfilling to the audience, but it also allowed the story to progress further. 

Adam Warlock, who is played by Will Poulter, is a newcomer to the franchise. This character you may or may not be familiar with as he was previously teased in “Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2”. This follows up the cliff hanger that ended the previous film being contained in an internal hibernation chamber. Adam Warlock is a high functioning solar powered superior being who is now released from hibernation. 

Being born into a new society, this titular Marvel character is often seen remaining neutral to the ongoing battle. When he encounters the Guardians, they get into a bit of a struggle. Oblivious to the situation and the surrounding environment, this is bound to cause some confusion among the Guardians.

Chuckwudi Iwuji makes his first MCU debut as The High Evolutionary. The High Evolutionary is a menacing interstellar threat hell bent on the idea of creating the perfect form of biological matter. He is able to challenge the morals of Peter Quill, figuring out what makes him tick. That is what allows this character to flourish. Challenging the very soul of the team to break them. This is what forces this crew together for one final mission.

Senior Jakob Stafford is State High student and fellow moviegoer.

”In my opinion, the movie was pretty good.¨ Jakob says. ¨I feel that this was definitely the best out of the two for sure. That one fight scene was one of my favorite parts!”

Senior Eathan Sheaffer was able to share his thoughts on the movie. 

“I enjoyed this movie quite a bit! I feel it was one of the better movies Marvel has put out since Avengers: Endgame.” Sheaffer Says. “This movie was everything I expected to be, so I can’t complain!”

These characters were criminals at the start of the trilogy, and the character development and emotion put into this film made a great redemption story for all of the characters. Director James Gunn, was able to take these lesser known characters and turn them into someone to care about. “Guardians of The Galaxy Volume 3” answers that question. Every character we’ve come to care about gets to finish their journey, in ways that just ring true. 

These character arc conclusions might be the best of all. For better or worse, there’s not much subtlety to any of the character moments. 

Every minute of these actors’ screen time is used to tell their story, to resolve this interstellar saga of creation. This is done in the form of background emotional tones such as hate, love, ego and sacrifice. This, eventually, is what this film is able to do. It is able to drag all the pieces into play to their final positions.

The best part about this film is that every single member has their time to shine in this movie. Every character within this film has something of value to offer. Drax, Nebula, Groot, Cosmo, Star-lord, Mantis, Gamoa and Kraglin all of the individual moments these characters get are so important because it fleshes them out as characters. Rocket, however, is at the heart of this film.

This film envelopes you with awesome visuals. Everything about Rocket’s past and the way it is paid off in the climax The florence in the machines, the catharsis and the long awaited goodbyes, the long awaited hellos. This showcases Rocket confronting his past and it’s not pleasant. 

The story of the Guardians, these Guardians at least, is over. Definitively. We’ll probably see some familiar faces pop up sometime in the future, but the story, the group, the “found family”, has reached its end. The idea that started back in 2014 is over. That is reflected in the title, finally bringing us a well-deserved grand finale to these characters and their individual stories. Serving as a final farewell to these characters.

Overall, James Gunn brings you an amazing heartfelt story bringing this trilogy of films to a close. This film complements every beat seen so far, combining Gunn’s signature taste and style to this third installment. This film has its moments both good and bad, but will be sure to get you in the feels!