GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3 : Tuesday 9th May 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3' at my local Odeon earlier this week. This hotly anticipated American superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, and is the sequel to 2014's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 2017's 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' and serves as the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the second film in Marvel's Phase Five and more than likely the final instalment in this particular series. Written and Directed once again by James Gunn who recently jumped ship and now heads up, with Peter Safran, DC Studios as Co-Chairpersons and joint CEO's. Gunn's next Directorial outing is slated to be 'Superman : Legacy' due in July 2025. The film saw its World Premier screening at Disneyland, Paris on 22nd April and was released in the US, China, here in Australia and other territories last week. It has garnered generally positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$366M off the back of a production budget of US$250M. 

At their new home base on Knowhere, the Guardians of the Galaxy (Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel) are attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a Sovereign warrior created by their High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) who seems to answer to the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). After Adam overpowers them and seriously wounds Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), he is stabbed by Nebula (Karen Gillan) and forced to flee the scene. The Guardians are unable to tend to Rocket's wounds due to a kill switch attached to his heart, made by the company Orgocorp. They travel to Orgocorp's headquarters to find the override code, having at best 48 hours before Rocket dies. 

As Rocket lies unconscious, memories of his past life come flooding back. As a baby raccoon, he was experimented on by the High Evolutionary, an alien geneticist who sought to take what he viewed as lower life forms and enhance them into a perfect anthropomorphic species in order to create a Counter-Earth. 

After being modified Rocket befriended the High Evolutionary's other test animals: the otter Lylla, the rabbit Floor and the walrus Teefs. The High Evolutionary perfected the anthropomorphisation process with Rocket's advice but ordered Rocket's brain to be extracted for further research, and his friends incinerated. Rocket was able to free Lylla with an improvised electronic key card, only for the High Evolutionary to kill her, upon walking in and discovering Rocket's ruse. Rocket, enraged, mauled the High Evolutionary face and head and shot his guards, but Teefs and Floor were killed in the exchange of gunfire. Alone, angry and despondent Rocket steals a spaceship and flees. 

Meanwhile, the alternate version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who has joined the Ravagers led by the high ranking Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), helps the Guardians infiltrate Orgocorp, which is owned by the High Evolutionary. 

They retrieve Rocket's file, but discover that the code has been removed. The group speculates that Theel (Nico Santos), one of the High Evolutionary's advisors, has it, so they depart for Counter-Earth. They are followed by Ayesha and Adam, who are ordered by their creator, the High Evolutionary, to capture at all costs Rocket for his brain.

Arriving on Counter-Earth the Guardians are helped by a family of local residents in tracing Theel to the High Evolutionary's ship. Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) remain with Gamora and Rocket as Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and Nebula (Karen Gillan) travel to the High Evolutionary's ship. Nebula is forced to wait outside by guards as Quill and Groot board. Drax and Mantis chase after Quill's group. 

The High Evolutionary sets off the destruction and planned recreation of Counter-Earth, which ultimately kills all life on the planet, including Ayesha. As his ship enters orbit, Quill and Groot leap off with Theel, landing back on Counter-Earth and retrieving the code from the computer implanted into the side of his head, just as Gamora arrives with their ship. In the meantime, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax board the High Evolutionary's ship in order to rescue Quill and Groot, not knowing that had recently and literally jumped ship. As Quill's group attempts to access the code, Rocket flatlines and has a near-death experience, where he is reunited with Lylla, Teefs, and Floor. Lylla tells him that his time has not yet come and that he still has work to do, as Quill uses the code to disable the kill switch and save Rocket's life. 

On the High Evolutionary's ship, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax come across hundreds of imprisoned humanoid children, before being captured. Quill's group sets out to rescue the three, who are placed in a chamber with monstrous Abilisks. Mantis connects with the Abilisks saying they only eat batteries, and so allowing the group to escape and reunite with Quill's group, together overcoming the High Evolutionary's army. Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the Spacedog (voiced by Maria Bakalova) arrive back on Knowhere, and Cosmo creates a telekinetic bridge connecting Knowhere to the High Evolutionary's ship to free the captured children. Rocket discovers imprisoned animals on the ship before being attacked by the High Evolutionary, but the rest of the Guardians help subdue him, remove his mask revealing the seriously disfigured face of the man and leaving him to die on his ship. The Guardians rescue the animals and lead them aboard Knowhere. Quill nearly dies by freezing in deep space trying to cross over but is saved by Adam, who had a change of heart after being saved by Groot. 

Once the dust has settled, Quill announces that he intends to leave the Guardians, bestowing the captaincy to Rocket before leaving for Earth to reunite with his grandfather Jason. Mantis embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the Abilisks, Gamora reunites with the Ravagers and is welcomed back by Stakar Ogord, and Nebula and Drax remain on Knowhere to raise the saved children. 

There is no doubt that Director James Gunn has wrapped up his final instalment of the 'Guardians' trilogy with a lot of heart, a good dose of emotion, action set pieces aplenty, some witty dialogue, a thumping soundtrack, all the colour and grandeur of the galaxy that you could ever imagine, plus a whole zoo load of animals that would make any self respecting PETA advocate squirm in horror. And for the rag tag bunch of space heroes Gunn sees them all go off in their own directions to seek out new challenges and adventures, and as for some of them if you remain in your seat for a mid-credits sequence and right until the end credits have rolled you'll catch a glimpse of what the future (possibly) holds. My only criticism of this film, and it seems that thirty-two films in now, of the MCU at large, is that the CGI action spectacles are often so beautifully rendered that their screen busyness leaves the viewer wondering where to focus the attention for fear of missing out on something happening on another part of the screen. 

'Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-