Review - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 (2023)

This is the one you’ve been waiting for. The best of the what's now clearly Marvel's best franchise/trilogy and very possibly the new top-tier movie of the MCU ...and featuring the most despicably evil movie villain to haunt the screen in ages. An emotionally resonant blockbuster that re-establishes James Gunn as one of the absolute top-class creators working in modern Hollywood filmmaking.
#guardiansofthegalaxy #guardiansofthegalaxyvol3 #marvel #jamesgunn

[@mikebirks2336]

The scene were the group find out Rockets history is by far one of the best viseral and almost horrific moments where they don't actually show anything but still tell the story. It is told purely by the sounds and the casts reaction.

[@mikeb1938]

Crazy when Nebula saying Rocket had it worse than her with Thanos

[@chavesa5]

The obvious reshoot insert of Nebula to speak to the dumbest motherfuckers in the audience with "this is worse than Thanos" undercut it a bit.

[@stacie1595]

I was a sobbing mess pretty much the entire movie! mostly angry sad tears but also some happy tears here and there. This isn't unusual for me, I'm a crier, but this movie stands out to me as particularly emotionally taxing. I walked in not really knowing the context and I kind of wish I had prepared myself for the pure evil of the villain. Animal cruelty mixed with child abuse, eugenics, and human/animal experimentation honestly needed a trigger warning or something. But I loved it! You're right, I felt like there was a purpose to it all. It felt bigger than just another silly space mission.

[@MariaVosa]

Me too. Also a crier, but also turned off by overly affected scenes. I cried several times both from sorrow, anger and joy. And I never felt manipulated, it felt as if Gunn shared all these emotions himself. It was honest.

[@galenubal]

Saw it last night. It’s one of the best MCU movies. Lower stakes than normal, which is a good thing, as it is more personal and affecting. I teared up a couple of times, as did several others in the audience, judging by the sniffles and eye wipes around me. As Bob said, it also has the most despicable, hateful bad guys I’ve seen in a movie in a long time. I really wanted them to die.

[@ZachBobBob]

Whole entire civilisations get wiped out I'm not sure about lower stakes

[@akaMokassin]

After monday, it will be one of two marvel movies (this one and endgame) that I will have watched twice in a movie theatre.

[@that90sguy30]

Hearing this makes me feel like Kraglin at the end of GOTG 2- "YEESSSSSS!!!! YEEEEEAAAAAAA-HAHAHAHA YEEEESSSSSSS!"

[@EmersonFlemingEmRock13]

I think this movie just solidified James Gunn as my favorite director...maybe ever. I can see how the tonal whiplash of this movie and his others can be jarring, but I like it because it lets the movie go to REALLY dark places but still acts as an incredibly funny and moving blockbuster.

[@daveseesmovies]

Glad I saw this at a screening with Bob and he validated my two-plus hours of blubbering.

[@Legomyegoorj]

I just got back from seeing it as of the writing of this comment. Bob, you nailed it. This is an incredible and deeply disturbing movie, one which I want to see again so badly because it’s so good, yet also never again because it’s so traumatic and emotionally taxing. It’s a weird feeling, but wow.

[@SymbioteMullet]

I suddenly flashed back to some really old bob from the escapist days, talking about transformers and how they kept being huge but not deserving to. "The studio isn't the problem, the audience is the problem, the studios keep putting out slop because the hogs love it" The bob of now is not the bob of then, but hopefully those words won't come back to haunt us all. Totally gonna go see this by the way.

[@shurik121]

I saw it today and it was amazing. It is definitely my favorite MCU movie, and one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen.

[@PranavanathanYoganathan]

An incredible movie and a great way to wrap up the guardians saga. I personally really liked the heartwarming and darker stuff in this movie more than the comedy which is a first for me. I can also understand if some people may find some of it difficult to watch.

[@lizzymatheson6487]

I'm glad somebody realized what the High Evolutionary actually was

[@sonamadinolf6096]

Just got home from watching this. We were talking about how the villain was better than many seen in a while: Not only, as Bob said is he despicable, but he is smart as well. Without spoiling, he is smart, makes intelligent plans, and learns from his mistakes.

[@metallicnole4514]

He's probably the most despicable villain I've seen in a comic book movie in a while. It's nice to see a villain that doesn't need to be really complex or even sympathetic, but just evil and love to hate.

[@samvimes117]

BRILLIANT if you don't get at least bleary-eyed there's something wrong with you VILLAin had an ethos despicable as it was

[@BlueHooloovoo]

It was a great film; however, i have to warn parents who may have young children that the story in this film is much darker than the previous Guardians films. I think children younger than 10 may feel a bit uncomfortable with some parts, especially when it comes to Rocket's back story. As I said, it is a great film but it does go into some dark places at points.

[@ChumblesMumbles]

I'm so glad this one finally got done and it's good. The series and the actors and the director and the fans (for once) deserved it. You did too, Bob, now that the DC retrospective is out I'm guessing that was in the works in the background while this was being done, and damn if slogging through that nonsense didn't need something to restore the faith.

[@ultimategamer8139]

Okay. That did it for me. I was gonna see it for sure, but this made me wanna see it opening night.

[@wm2429]

Best of the whole MCU is a bold claim. Excited to watch

[@mabusestestament]

Bob likes to swing big.

[@confuzedpenguin9974]

He's not wrong

[@Arezoo298195]

Just out of the theatre now. He’s not wrong. I’m still crying.😢

[@qsmith2514]

What a special franchise GOTG is. Love wat hung a movie you can recognize as perfect in the middle of it.

[@JPruinc]

I cried, laughed, and laugh-cried through the entirety of the film. This film made we want to actually deal with my own baggage. Damn fine review.

[@benwasserman8223]

Caught last week’s IMAX screening. Had a few nitpicks, like whether the Adam Warlock stuff gelled with the A-plot. But overall, Vol. 3 was fantastic - up there with Captain America for the best Marvel trilogy.

[@ctrtoken]

Perfect score #18! Can't wait to watch this with the family this weekend.

[@wizzzer1337]

I was thinking to myself "how did they allow this movie to get PG-13 rating?"... and than I realized: "ohh wait, this is EXACTLY the type of movie PG-13 was meant for!" PG-13 has sort of lost it's meaning lately and has become "PG plus" rather than "almost R" like it was originally intended for.

[@TwinRiver100]

was kind of what I was hoping for. will be trying to see it. Hope my notes and grades for this match up. I'm looking forward to this as well.

[@predabot__6778]

Well, I guess I'm going to see this one. Thanks for the heart-felt review Bob.

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

I'd go to a theater to see this picture. Hell yeah! I went to see the original TWICE.

[@delusionnnnn]

If you tap the "1" key while playing this video, you can make Bob sample-rap "fuck fuck fuck f-f-f- fuckin' years". FYI.

[@Cameroo]

Thanks for the review Bob! Been looking forward too this for awhile! Can't wait to see how Gunn wraps things up.

[@TrafalgarLaw2011]

I watched it yesterday. It was indeed amazing. Not sure if its my most favorite marvel movie, but it is there at the top

[@raggedcritical]

Adam Warlock also featured pretty heavily in the excellent GotG video game, complete with his alliteration tic.

[@KainGerc]

yeah, and he was much better explored and adapted. in this movie he feels more like Drax 2.0 he's entertaining enough and works for the movie's purpose, but it also feels like a missed opportunity compared to what they could have adapted with the character.

[@rmeddy]

Just came back from it and I loved it. It was much darker than expected and goes to great places and paid off great GOTG3 doing the Super Metroid completion run really worked

[@matthiasl.6551]

Hey! That's a spoiler! 😉

[@therealtijuanaman]

I remember the high evolutionary from Spiderman Unlimited

[@ALNizhoni]

"...a functioning brain that evolved after the discovery of fire..." You sir, are a scholar and a gentleman.

[@Alverant]

I can't wait to see it this weekend. I wonder if there's a chance of GoG 4 getting the band back together. Or if they'll pick new characters because the galaxy needs its guardians.

[@AndrewMcColl]

Gunn's gone on record that this is the final appearance of this iteration of the team. Individual characters may return in future Marvel projects, but not the whole line up. And there's plenty of space for a new group of Guardians to take up the mantle. Anyone up for Agent Venom in space?

[@o3941]

Just seen it. Loved it. Absolutely happy my fears about this movie were misplaced. Audibly said "What the fuck" when a certain line was spoken by a character.

[@masonl87]

Just walked out of the theater like an hour ago. Best of the Trilogy, and all respect to the first two, but it's not even fuckin' close! This is one of the most affecting movies I've seen in a theater in the past decade. If this movie doesn't just WRECK you, then you are a soulless robot person. Congratulations, everyone; we have a functional Turing Test.

[@gregoryvn3]

I'm now dreading seeing the movie almost as much as I'm excited to see the movie, but see it I shall!

[@mabusestestament]

This gives me some hope. I may catch it on streaming or eventually get a copy at my local library.

[@adams3627]

Moviebob moving into his Max Payne 3 era, I see.

[@BRoboto1]

5:18 - The unyielding horror of being reminded that the monsters in fiction are just art imitating real life.

[@XanderVJ]

Watched it. I think Volume 2 is still better, mainly because I think Volume 3 drags towards the end and the secondary character arcs aren't as satisfying. But still, one of the best blockbusters of recent years. Rocket's story is just incredible all around. Prepare handkerchiefs.

[@swanpride]

Yeah, I wasn't being able to pinpoint why it drags, but it does drag. Plus that is the first guardians movie where I can remember a single song after it. But at least the sad scenes were (mostly) approciately emotional.

[@androyus]

Holy shit, a 10/10? 😮 Looks like the movie really speaks to you. For someone like me who think that Drax' physical prowess has been underutilized in prior MCU movies, does this 3rd movie have anything good when it comes my aforementioned complaint?

[@MichaelRaymakers]

Yes.

[@androyus]

@@MichaelRaymakers Nice

[@michaelshort4339]

Just an FYI: The auto-closed-captions rendered Chukwudi Iwuji's name as Chocula.

[@MoonMoverGaming]

In 20 years, this is going to be one of those movies that people talk about as having traumatized them as children.

[@wokeaf1242]

Yeah. I figured it was going to be like this. And hey, even if you can't understand the stupid people look on the bright side. I was having a conversation about Bostonians (I think you're from Boston, at least your accent is a bit Good Will Hunting) and I point you out as one of the positive things about that state. Thanks for the heads up about Guardians. Now I need to make sure I have a proper IMax seat for this one, because we all know we need to see this puppy in IMax. Yeah science!

[@BladeBlur]

Hearing Bob talk about Puss in Boots makes me wish it got a proper movie review

[@Beretta249]

I feel like I'm going to see something that makes me wish Cowboy Bebop had ended similarly well. Not "time never really passed and nothing really changes because everyone is basically the same," but "we're different people living similar lives and this has value. We're _about something_ not forever victimized and stuck in the quicksand of our trauma." Not an expression of despair, but a celebration of justice. The road out of hell is hard and long but _it does lead to heaven._

[@mabusestestament]

Life isn’t like that for everyone. Cowboy Bebop tries to play into noir tropes and such a message/ evolution doesn’t fit the genre, it would be quite the opposite.

[@BOYVIRGO666]

The series are kind of different things. Bebop is very much about the weight of the past and your own baggage slowly dragging you down. None of the bebop team gets a happy ending because life isnt really isnt that easy. Guardians is a blockbuster about overcoming damage, bebop is a noir piece about the how that damage is hard to deal with and not everyone can overcome it. Jet was kind of a patronizing moralist to everyone in his life and is lonely because of it, Spike was a criminal who hurt who knows how many people and propped up decades of crimes and pain and 'dies' as a result of trying to redeem at least part of that, Ed is a child living in a world where no one will take care of her and she chooses to wander endlessly looking for a father who clearly doesnt care enough about her to stay, and Fae? Fae was left behind by the world due to an incident that wasnt her fault and in the intervening years chose to be a con artist instead of dealing with the situation in a healthy(which again is also not her fault but thats life).

[@rjmorrison7039]

lmao looked up this channel to see if you reviewed GOTG3 yet at the exact right moment haha. I was weary about this movie based on the trailers but GOTG3 owned

[@NorthJerseyJedi]

I loved this movie it but am I alone in thinking that there must be a 4 hour directors cuts somewhere? This movie felt hacked to bits and the pacing felt a bit rushed. IDK I could be wrong.

[@blackflagsnroses6013]

Best film since Endgame and top 5 MCU. Indeed the most detestable villain, you just want to lay hands on. Great Swan Song to this era of Marvel and Gunn’s departure

[@meander112]

WGA solidarity! ✊

[@tenkenroo]

Jesus Christ the scenes with rockets fellow experiments broke me.

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Lady Lyla 🎉

[@colinsmith929]

Thanos wants to kill half the galaxy for some poorly conceived reasons. I sleep. The High Evolutionary hurts the swearing raccoons horrorifying animal friends. This is the real shit!

[@colinsmith929]

Chukwudi Iwuji as the high evolutionary was an amazing performance. He's an actor i've seen around before but after this movie I am keeping an eye out for him. What a great job.

[@stonekidman2306]

bob looks amazing with that chain

[@MariaVosa]

Waited to watch this until after the movie - and absolutely agree with Bob. Great movie. Maaaaybe a bit overdone with the needle drops, but that is a flaw I can live with. My soul however, is permanently scarred from seeing Rocket cry over [spoiler]. Never wanted to see a villain utterly destroyed more than the High Evolutionary. Not even Ramsay Bolton.

[@Suzanne_sf]

If this actually stopped animal cruelty from ever happening again, I might agree with you. I have a feeling I'm going to be hiding in my brother's shoulder. I can't take animal cruelty in any form, and I love Rocket. I might have to sit this one out. Thank you for the review.

[@chavesa5]

The cheerleading is a bit much. It's a very good movie and exactly what was promised and delivers. There are some rough edges that will get, well, dissected pretty hard in the coming years and they'll be right to, but for now it is indeed a strong cap to a strong trilogy of movies.

[@OddModlin]

Thanks for the work Bob. Your opinions are a great guide for me.

[@gaddag1477]

What a way to end a trilogy. If this is the last good movie that comes out of marvel i would be ok with it.

[@glenngriffon8032]

A 10/10?! Well i guess i need to see this then.

[@Rubberman202]

Edit: Love the Puss in Boots Jack Horner shout-out, though now I'm concerned by just how vile this movie's villain will be. I've really been meaning to get back into the MCU, I kind of dragged my feet when it came to the Disney+ stuff and knowing that at least WandaVision and the Loki series might be necessary in order to make sense of certain movies. I'll eventually get around to it, though, since I still like the movies, and I'm anxious to see this one as well.

[@JessieBanana]

Oh my god, now I’m excited. Not seeing this until Monday though just because of my schedule. You are the only one I trust not to say too much.

[@infiniteoctopaw]

I wanted Rocket to MURDER the bad guy sooooo badly.

[@Evolution_Kills]

Welp, I know what I'm doing this weekend.

[@deshunsmith7828]

Yes , that what up . Cause I am too

[@seriomarkj]

This was so close to an R rating, and did not pull the punches, it hit like a ton of bricks when it needed to, all around great flick

[@zSpeSh]

I don’t typically comment as much as I consume but having seen the film earlier today,this is a FANTASTIC review,right down to the Gunn subtext I haven’t seen anyone else pick up upon. I found Vol 3 a perfect cap,satisfied with every character arc n where they were left plus overjoyed that I cried more happy tears than sad ones. Much catharsis to be had,probably the best of the trilogy (although I am a MASSIVE Vol 2 enjoyer n don’t put that much stock into the first one) but easily the funniest for me despite being the darkest. So much heart n the cast (especially Mantis,Nebula n the High Evolutionary) gave their all to keep the stakes at an all time high when they seem to mean so little in Marvel movies in general right now. Can’t wait to run it back. Thanks for giving it the unbiased rub this outing deserves,will be subbing immediately!

[@TrueYellowDart]

I’ve mellowed on Marvel a lot since Dr Strange MoM was a letdown for me but I’m legit stoked for the GotG to, once again, make me /feel/.

[@prdeadpool1380]

L take

[@TrueYellowDart]

@@prdeadpool1380 Okay, I’ll bite: how come?

[@andybear_9]

So James Gunn DOES still have it? Or?

[@schm00b0]

10/10??? It's great! It's definitely one of the (if not the best) Marvel movie, but 10/10??? I disagree! It was 9/10. It's 10/10 when it comes to ensemble cast Marvel movie. Come to think of it, it was 11/10 in that category. While I hope for the best when it comes to Gunn's DC, this era of late stage capitalism we live in leaves me not very optimistic.

[@IronChuck]

Well, I was gonna skip this one because it kind of looked... well... kind of half-assed in the feels. But I guess change of plans.

[@mrtalos]

I think actually starts getting to the point at about 1:15

[@Estolcles]

Comment: "Marvel Fatigue" I think the idea of the society at large being tired or having had too much Marvel stuff they're starting to tire is bullshit. HOWEVER, I do believe it is a person-by-person thing. I know this because I'm going through it now. I just haven't felt the drive to follow up on everything from Multiverse of Madness forward. So "Marvel Fatigue" is real, just not how it's usually described.

[@ataraxia7439]

Hey MovieBob I know tierlists and tops tens etc. aren’t really your main thing but I would love to see you personal subjective ranking of the mcu films at some point

[@nyceplayz8051]

Thank you Bob

[@dinogoldie9716]

I LOVED this movie! I do have 2 minor gripes though: 1) Get stabbed through the chest? No worries. Simply pop on a firstaide pack and your HP will be restored instantly. 2) How come Mantis could communicate with one species of mindless hostile mobs but not the "hellspawn" mobs?

[@lukemccann8930]

Solidarity forever

[@rdoino2210]

NGL, I was going to see GOTG3 on opening night, but I wasn’t overly excited after the last few movies… but now I might have to just go first showing in my area

[@Caernath]

WGA Solidarity!

[@Ruskles06]

Loved the film, will watch again!

[@bullymaguire8868]

I loved this movie and may actually be my favourite Marvel movie yet, tied with The Winter Soldier, but just one gripe .. If Starlord had his rocket boots and helmet, he could have made that space jump no problems, also jumping out of the control room? Easy peasy. Seems like they took his gear to artificially make it harder for him

[@lexxstrum]

Honestly, I've been wondering how far into online spoilers I should go: I know stuff is going to hit the emotional feels for me, and I feel the need to prepare myself.

[@itamarowak]

This was my first mcu i watched with absolutely no spoilers and it was worth it It was Incredible: at least 9/10

[@Zeikier]

Iunno I feel like Marvel could stand to slow down on cranking things out. Glad to hear Guardians is still a banger tho.

[@moondog548]

Oh man. Even better than Part 2 that was made to perfection JUST FOR BOB???? :o

[@zig131]

Ugh. Still going to wait for it to come to Disney Plus as involvement of Chris Pratt makes me feel icky about it. Knowing what a deplorable person he is has really tainted my enjoyment of what was my fav franchise in the MCU.

[@BigDollars360]

I thought it was a great 2 hour movie wrapped in a 2.5 hour shell. Adam Warlock and the biosatelite should have been cut entirely.

[@StephenLeGresley]

I didn't like it. Half the dialogue was yelling, the Evolutionary was annoying and insufferable and I couldn't watch the cruelty to animals so I had to look away for half the film. Plus no one dies on the GOTG so another Marvel movie with no stakes. And the end credits scene is eating cereal FFS. I won't be watching it again.

[@cre8original]

It was good in 3D.

[@zionsutherland6312]

If bob says its a 10 its a 10

[@johnvinals7423]

So the villain of the first “Guardians” movie is a nationalistic/speciesist fanatic, the villain of the second “Guardians” movie is a toxically masculine colonial imperialist, and now the villain of the third “Guardians” movie is an animal-testing eugenicist.

[@erubin100]

I'm sure the film is fine, but I just don't trust Bob's reviews anymore. He always seems to go REALLY easy on Disney, even when the film in question is clearly deserving of harsh criticism.

[@Ruskles06]

No, he's right on this one. Solid and entertaining throughout!

[@Raminotaur]

Sorry MovieBob. I accidentally hit dislike when I meant to hit like. I hit like afterwards, but I don't know how this affects the infamous algorithm.

[@yabbadabbindude]

Didn't wait the spoilers and I skipped to the score. Can't wait to come back after I watch it

[@MrXander0319]

NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN!!!

[@nemowindsor8724]

I do wonder if it is the most original franchise under Marvel…it is very much recognizable as a space opera, similar to Mandalorian, Star Wars, especially Farscape, from which it rook a lot of its tone and look, and unfortunately ported a lot of sexism. But I really enjoyed GOTG2, and do want this to succeed. I like space opera, sexism warts and all. And Gunn has been working to challenge his youthful misogyny and has improved significantly from the first. Thanks for finally mentioning the Dr. Moreau influence, been wondering why other reviewers hadn’t mentioned the comparison to him and Island of Lost Souls!

[@ReverseUnicorn]

Its based of the comic book, though that was set 1000 years in the future. Like DCs Legion of superheroes.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

In a real sense, MCU has every popular flavor of sci-fi under its roof: Flash Gordon-style pulp (Thor), Star Trek humanitarian (Captain Marvel--I heard that, haters, SHUT UP) and Star Wars style space opera as you say with GOTG.

[@huffmyshorts]

Also, I'm still holding out hoping you'll review Evil Dead Rise

[@rocko7711]

Fantastic review Bob

[@LateCambrian]

Yessss Bob!

[@TheMaskedHero]

We need more hateable bad guys in Marvel films.

[@hongquiao]

Guardians 2 is probably my favourite Marvel film. This one... eh, not bad, not great. Rocket's flashbacks slowed the pacing everytime, and I felt like a lot of what they reveal would've been more powerful if discovered by the rest of the team. Which also would've made it so Rocket and the villain actually had something to talk about during their final confrontation. Also the score was REALLY overbearing. Anytime a character has the slightest feels it like someone yelling in your ears "FEEL SAD NOW!!!"

[@MegamiShin]

I've been waiting for a good Marvel movie for a while, so I'll see this.

[@davehandelman2832]

Not as good as 1 or 2 but DEFINITELY the best Marvel since No Way Home.