Review: Don't bother with the negative stuff; 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' is a near-perfect swansong

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Before I begin, I seriously do not understand the polarizing responses Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has received on the global circuit. I understand having a perspective but fail to fathom the few alarmingly negative responses it has gotten.

Nevertheless, this swansong for both Director James Gunn and the guardians in their entirety is a ride I was fortunate to be on just as the film gets a release in India tomorrow. Without spoiling anything, here's a rundown of pointers that might assist you on whether to watch this film or not-

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: The Rocket Story

This third installment could have easily been called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: The Rocket Story as it gives one of the most loved characters of Rocket Racoon the perfect arc, it deserved. Everything surrounds the origin of Rocket and its culmination towards a finale and a better choice couldn't have been made. 

The stupendous CGI work done on the creature gets you everytime where him crying will have you crying and him having a hero moment will have you hoot and cheer! Add to that, Bradley Cooper voicing it so perfectly that I haven't seen a better voice performance in recent times. The friendship, pain, sacrifice, love and just some good-old badassery attached to Rocket made for immensely entertaining viewing.

Giving Everyone Their Moment (s) To Shine

You got to applaud James Gunn for making sure that inspite of it centering around Rocket this whole time, literally every loved character gets their moment(s) to shine. Be it Drax being his usual dumb-self but immensely lovable, be it Mantis being the emotional being who cares about everyone, be it Peter Quill being a supreme leader, be it Nebula making sure everyone's together and safe or be it Groot, I mean, it Groot! He is the best! 

Even the smaller characters like Kraglin, Cosmo, Miriam Shor as Recorder Vim and Nico Santos as Theel and so on - everyone has a purpose and one that is so beautifully written and put into practice. Hell, there's even Nathan Fillion in a superfun cameo. It is the kind of writing and characterization that deserves notice and appreciation.

The Signature Humor & Music

What made Guardians of the Galaxy so popular, unique and some of the most innovative work in the MCU? The original voice of James Gunn. The director, who (probably) directs his last MCU film reminds everyone how he is one of the best owing to two factors that define him and this franchise the best - humor and music. The humor, once again is on point with some hilarious one-liners, situations and even character developments. 

It is amazing that Will Poulter aka Adam the Warlock actually is such a softie and a noob with even his moment of fun, humor and even naivete. And of course, the music. Churning out yet another exhilarating soundtrack from the retro era and even the 2000s, music continues to play such an important tool in more situations than one here. It is fitting that one of the key moments in the climax is related to music (not spoiling with details).

Overstuffed But Worth It

The one minor critique which I only felt at a few instances before the climax of how it felt overstuffed. Just for a select few moments, it seemed a tad too much to be packing into a finale but even then, it was totally worth it as it reached the end. The cheering, hooting and sheer joy along with lots of sobbing is going to be off the charts as the movie ends.

The Verdict

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was exactly what the MCU needed in its recent streak of underwhelming installments. It ends up being a bittersweet feeling though owing to the fact that on one hand, you experience a freaking roller coaster joyride of a film but on the other hand, you know that James Gunn and a few characters from this world might not return.

Rating - ****1/2 (4.5/5)