Back when I saw the first Guardians film, I was hooked. These were my kind of people and I so wanted to be in their gang! I was lucky enough to go to Guardians Secret Cinema in 2022 in London and arriving in Contraxia, with snow falling above was an out-of-this world experience.
As Guardians fans, throughout the years, I think we've been very lucky in the journeys we've travelled with them. Guardians Volumes 1, 2 and now 3, Infinity War, Endgame, Thor Love and Thunder and the Holiday Special, plus of course the shorts, I am Groot.
We've seen all sides of them, lost one of them, gained them again, seen their highs and lows, triumphs and losses and now we're with them for one final ride.
Going into volume 3, I could hardly contain my excitement. For me, this is up there with Infinity War, Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home but this, volume 3, feels much much more personal than those. It really felt like I was joining some very special friends on a farewell journey.
Of course, by now we all know that this film centres around telling Rocket's story and how he came to be. It is all things all at once - heart-breaking, warming, comforting, horrifying, sweet, distressing. Every scene featuring young Rocket and his beautiful friends had me in floods of tears and even now I can't think about their bond and friendship and harrowing start to life without tearing up. How James Gunn wrote this without tears blotting his paper I don't know, perhaps it did.
It is not understating it to say that these scenes are the most harrowing and heart-breaking I have seen in the MCU and that includes The Snap (or Blip). I had my head in my hands sobbing at one point, in truth I hardly stopped crying for 2 and a half hours (which went by far too quickly).
For me, one of the biggest things which makes this film work, as well as so many others, is that it doesn't link to anything else in the MCU. Don't get me wrong I love all that interlinking and characters interweaving, it's an amazing thing, but in this instance, being distant from that and their own entity is it's strength. You're solely focused on their story, their ending and that is how it should be. It shouldn't be about anyone else. Actually, I take that back, there is interlinking but rightly between the first two Guardians films. Their universe is interwoven and that is all brought together here in absolute style.
It is made with such heart, love and sincerity. Their off-screen bond comes through on the screen, the love that they have on-set, comes through on the screen, it reaches the audience and give you a big hug - and boy do you need it!
The comedy and character dynamics which we all love from volumes 1 and 2 are still there in abundance. Drax with his observations and one-liners, Mantis with her kindness and empathy, Groot with his....well, you know and Nebula's intensity. As we know from the Holiday Special, Quill is still mourning Gamora and now also the 2014 version of her who went her own way after the final battle in Endgame. Gamora is....well, it's best that you watch the film to find out.
The villain this time is in the form of the High Evolutionary (Herbert Edgar Wyndham) played by Chukwudi Iwuji. He is so cruel in his endeavours to make the perfect society and one of the most horrifying villains the MCU has ever seen.
What James Gunn does so well and with so much impact is to go from extremely funny moments to an absolute heart-wrenching one and then back again. It's truly an emotional rollercoaster, but one I didn't want to finish.
The soundtrack also, yet again hits the spot. My playlists feature so many songs from the films and this one will be no different. The music is the story as well, it is so magically and perfectly woven into the fabric of the story that it's seamless and the songs just evoke the scenes and moments so well.
The action is spectacular too. There's one particular scene which is just stunning, the camera work, the choreography of the fights, the comedy added in. I really won't say much about it as you have to see it and it will take your breath away.
I can't thank James Gunn enough. I want to hug everyone of them and say thank you. I don't want to say goodbye, not in a million light years, but if it has to be done, this is the perfect way to do it.
Farewell Guardians, it's been a blast.
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