The cornerstone of these Marvel movies is a world that needs saving. Our world, someone else’s world, another timeline’s world – whatever flavour. But what if it didn’t have to be? What if we traded in the apocalypse for something more intimate and far more relatable? Like a friend in danger. The emotional stakes would be equally as intense, our heroes would put their lives and values on the line, and there would still be a villain responsible for the situation that needs a whooping. Guardians of the Galaxy has been watching too many Fast and Furious movies and decided to make Vol. 3 all about family. And what a difference.
Part of what makes this Guardians Vol. 3 so enjoyable is that I had no idea what the story was about ahead of time. Take this as a warning to stop reading now if you’re looking for the same, unprepared experience.
We think Vol. 3 will focus on Peter Quill
(Chris Pratt) winning over Gamora 2.0 (Zoe Saldana) after his original Gamora was sacrificed during the… you know what, if you don’t know the full backstory by now, there’s not enough space on this page to map it out. Go watch Infinity War / Endgame.
Sometime after the Blip, the Guardians set up camp on Knowhere where Peter developed a drinking problem, Groot (Vin Diesel) joined a gym, Nebula (Karen Gillan) worked on her anger issues, and Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) kept on keeping on. Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is also doing just fine, minding his own business, until a literal golden
boy, Adam (Will Poulter), smashes down from space and blows him across the city. It’s a mess. Everyone gets a little banged up, but no one more so than Rocket whose implants prevent the Guardians from patching him up. The only way to save Rocket is to track down the people who made him. To no Marvel fan’s surprise whatsoever, the mad scientist responsible has a god complex and absolutely loves the colour purple.
In two words, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is devastatingly delightful. Incredibly, there’s still more to uncover about this patchwork team, and none of it feels like a reach. Vol. 3 balances just enough backstory with present, clock-ticking pressure to make the 2.5h runtime breeze by. Eventually, inevitably, the team stumbles into the old, reliable destruction of a planet, but by this point in the story it’s a tolerable cliché. The movie does a good job of trying to get us to care about random civilians while poor, sweet, helpless Rocket is simultaneously running out of time. We’ve spent two-and-a-few movies falling for these characters so when one goes down, we’re foaming at the mouth for justice. Vol. 3 isn’t just about saving the world, again; it’s about tapping into the relationships
we’ve built over the franchise and forcing our chosen family to defend them.
In some cases, this means reaching for the tissues. Who doesn’t love a zoo full of doe-eyed, fluffy animals, whether recognizable or totally alien with wires poking out of their armpits? Now prepare to send them to slaughter, one by one. That’s right; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 makes animal rights activists of us all. There’s no arguing that a cage full of shivering baby raccoons won’t tug at some deep, maternal instinct. In the end, as Vin Diesel would say, we protect our family, 
even if that means creating a rodent problem on Knowhere.
After a stream of Marvel movies that all look, sound, and conclude the same way, Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 3 gives me hope. Has Marvel wriggled out of its rut? It’s too soon to say. But Vol. 3 shows us that there are still more superhero angles to explore. Pro tip: planetary destruction isn’t the only card in a deck. Knocking one friend out of the game is enough fuel to power an entre movie and take us on the emotional rollercoaster that we deserve. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the adventure we’ve been waiting a very long time to see, and a rocketing 8/10.
Plenty of Popcorn 