Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023)

Director: James Gunn

Starring: Chris Pratt, Chukwudi Iwuji, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff

Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own – a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.

Rocket has always been my favourite character in the series, and this installment now entirely revolves around him – but is it in a good way?

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3’ picks up where ‘Vol. 2’ left off, with the original cast returning. I loved the first film, I absolutely hated the second, and I was not the least bit entertained by this installment. Had the film been about an hour shorter – and without all that annoying humour – it might have been awesome.

Hollywood superhero movies sometimes become so overblown that they’re laughable – as in unintentionally funny. All the crap that happens in this movie is beyond comprehension, and even if I were to switch off all my brain cells, I would still raise an eyebrow in disbelief at all the garbage the creators feed their audience.

First and foremost, all that senseless humour! This film is like a visualization of stand-up comedy one-liners, and shamelessly bombards its audience with stale wisecrack comedy. Ugh, enough is enough!! Not even the intended serious moments were taken seriously because of all the dreadful humour and unconvincing acting.

We learn more about Rocket, but I’m not liking it. The Guardians discover Rocket was a lab rat (erm, Raccoon, I beg your pardon…but you know what I mean) when he was just a baby, and he has a kill switch implanted inside him. I’m sorry, what???!!! Ok, as ridiculous as this is, there were a few very emotional moments during the flashbacks that I didn’t expect to find among all the slapstick. These moments felt like they belonged in an entirely different movie. I mean, I rooted for the little guy!

Rarely do I see a film that tries to play with your emotions as much as this film does, accompanied by a – dare I say beautiful – somber score. In the end ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ became a sentimental journey of over-the-top CGI and – I’ll say it again – silly humour! My gosh, this film is just laden with CGI from beginning to end. There’s not an inch of realism or believability in this entire movie! There’s also just way too many ridiculously weird characters for the sake of being weird.

Although said to be the final film in the franchise, there’s bound to be another film. Money talks. Hollywood loves money. And this film earned $845.6 million on a budget of $250 million. Oh, c’mon, how could they possibly resist…?

Would I watch it again? Nope!