WATCHLIST
2023 Watches
Third Year Cinema 

Finally got round to watching Guardians Vol.3 today, after seeing the predominantly positive reviews and opinions from those already viewed. I can admit this is a good film, one of the better MCU projects, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s the best, like many have said recently. 

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Let’s be honest, the Phase 4 films have failed to inspire; 
Guardians feels like a breath of fresh air. It's less a run-of-the-mill superhero film and more a out of world space adventure handled with care by James Gunn.

At it’s heart, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 is a story about family, loss and technology all of which are prominent in today's zeitgeist. These themes sometimes cause you to forget that you are watching a Marvel movie. The movie's backstory is dark but it helps to hammer home the themes and the villain. This universe is full of characters that are both weird and unique when compared to the rest of the MCU; which is mostly a good thing. Despite the movie being dark at times, there is also a lot of humour which fits especially well with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise when compared to other Marvel franchises. Both the action and the music were level in what we now expect from Guardians of the Galaxy movies. This is one of the better post-Endgame movies and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
 
As a whole, I enjoyed the movie. It's lively and emotional, alternating between the two and at times blends them. Serving as a farewell to a beloved band of misfits who became family, and I don't recall ever feeling this connected to their characters before. Rocket takes the spotlight but everybody else is great as well, both antagonist and protagonist.

The second half is chaotic, but I loved it (the last 30 minutes were my favourite of the movie!). GOTG3 is both emotional but also packed with great action as well, with most of it in the last third of the movie. Adam Warlock felt like a waste, he's portrayed as a really strong character yet felt like he's in the sidelines for the whole movie; just popping up here and there then disappears. He deserved a better character arc after his introduction, but hopefully we'll be seeing more of him. I thought the third act was predictable though, especially his and Mantis's roles. 

I think the best quality is that it's one of the few superhero movies I felt invested in the characters in a while. The movie focuses on the emotional aspect of it more instead of the plot and looking cool, even though that's a prevalent theme of the movie. I wasn't expecting it to enjoy it as much despite looking forward to it, thought it'd be another case of superhero burnout. It's sad and well-made farewell to the guardians of the galaxy.