Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Remarkably, given the studio brand: this is absolutely Gunn's movie. It's cheerfully gross, frequently hideous to behold, nakedly emotional, indulgent to the point of bloat in its desire to tie off every narrative thread...and, happily, its own thing.

While better than most recent Marvel or DC films, it definitely lacks the fun, buddy-film aspects and sincere relationships of the original in lieu of an exhausting mission-based story.

Completes Rocket’ transformation from a footnote to one of Marvel’ greatest characters.

Too often it feels like James Gunn made a playlist of songs he likes and then came up with scenes to go with them.

Guardians 3 is a real warm and fuzzy movie that sometimes makes you forget that you’re a bit bored with the onslaught of superhero movies.

Be forewarned, it’s a slog for the first 90 minutes of its 2h 30m length. Then real energy kicks in.

GotG3 has no real tie-in to the larger MCU. There are a few references to Thanos, the Snap, and the Infinity Stones, but that's about it. This tracks with the trilogy as a whole, which has always stood outside the larger Marvel narratives.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a surprisingly risky blend of dark tones and sinister villainy with great visuals, tasty music, and the emotionality we expect.

While the fun, laughter, and quips, set to jukebox favourites that made this ragtag MCU family a joy to hang with are all present and correct, there are some problems with the Guardians’ third outing

The strongest material is perhaps the most unexpected: the backstory of Rocket Raccoon, which is involving and even touching in ways that the rest of the picture is not.