From May 3 arrives at the cinema Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3the second film of the Stage 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universeas well as final chapter of the trilogy of ramshackle galactic heroes led by Peter Quill and James Gunnhe too, after some inconvenience (read: momentary dismissal by Mamma Disney), arrived at the terminus of his collaboration with Marvel Studios. The future, for the director and screenwriter, is rosy and sees a command chair ready to head the next DCU extension under the Warner Bros wing, but for now let’s stop at this latest, funny and heartwarming adventure that he wrote and directed under the watchful eye of Kevin Feige And Lou D’Esposito.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the plot

Nine years have passed since “Come and Get Your Love” Of Redbone resounded in the caves of the abandoned planet of Morag, leaving a deep mark on the collective imagination of the MCU audience. The protagonist of the scene is a then unknown Peter Quill, a dancer and very far from the hero image that that shared universe had proposed up to that moment.

The Guardians have changed form, after the tragic events of Infinity War And Endgameand after a parenthesis of cohabitation with Thor, Star-Lord and company have settled in Everywhere, where their HQ is now. While each of them tries to find the rhythm after the death of their original Gamora (the one that circulates in the universe now is just a version of her from the past), an unstoppable and mysterious force bursts onto the planet and seems to want to kidnap Rockets. However, he only manages to injure him very seriously and so he runs away, leaving the Guardians behind him upset and frightened: their friend is dying and so they decide to embark on a very difficult mission to save him.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 it is proposed as a final part of a parable of growth and development that began in that cave of Morag. What James Gunn he was able to do with his characters was just that, a precise, rational and coherent journey in the formation of these heroes, for which all the sense of purpose, of conclusion that comes with the film it also coincides with a feeling of completion and satisfaction, since each piece falls into its rightful place, even if it is not exactly what we had imagined from the beginning. From desperate and lonely outcasts, the Guardians find themselves like a real elective family, learn to be one and finally understand how important it is to accept themselves and others as they are, in order to walk on their own legs.

What no Marvel hero has ever had

What sets the Guardians apart from all the other characters in the mcu is that they are always told by the same head and therefore this narrative parable was possible better than in other cases. None of the Marvel heroes who have benefited from their own trilogy has had the same opportunity to tell themselves in such an organic way, from a narrative and stylistic point of view, thanks to the constant presence of James Gunn that moves with great dexterity within the boundaries that Feige has drawn around it.

The result is a film that perfectly mixes and calibrates the moments of unbridled action with those relaxing and reflective, the sharp and increasingly foul-mouthed irony with the truly touching moments, above all those dedicated to Rocket’s past, the heroic component with that slob. And obviously the musicpresent, intrusive, a fundamental component for the film and for the imagination that viewers have built around these characters. The effect is immediate: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is effectively the best Marvel movie since Endgamebecause it brings back on the screen a piece of what all viewers loved about the first 3 Phases, together with the novelty that the film itself offers.

High Evolutionary makes himself a frustrated God in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The actual narrative development that Gunn offers us, linked to theHigh Evolutionary, super villain of this chapter, however, turns out to be almost pretext, so that we can then reach the right conclusions for each of the team members. This does not mean that the villain in question is just a tool, on the contrary: Chukwudi Iwuji plays the role of a character of Shakespearean stature, a man who tends to the utopian perfection of a good world, willing to do any horror to achieve his goal. “There is no God, that’s why I came forward” he will say at some point L’High Evolutionary, yet his attempt to put himself in God’s place fails in the face of his inability to design and implement the creative spark, typical of the best civilizations. And so, with a few simple jokes, Gunn also gives us a frustrated three-dimensionality of a villain who will have to come to terms with his past, in the figure of an angry raccoon who cries out for revenge.

The balance of writing James Gunn allows each character to shine, each member of the team manages to find his place, his usefulness, his calling, proudly carrying forward the most important message of the film, self acceptance. And it is precisely in the insistence of the message to be delivered to the public that the film stumbles: continuing to carry on Disney’s mission to dull the viewer’s ability to decode, the film explains several times that each of us “is fine as it is”, clearly stated. A noble and just message but which takes on the disarming contours of a Advertising Progress when it is blurted out with this pedantic clarity. After all, it is a problem that Disney continues to present in its recent films across the board, from Walt Disney Animation with Strange Worldpassing through the Pixar with Redup to, as in this case, ai Marvel Studios.

However we will not conclude this Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review on a sore note, because the feeling of fullness and satisfaction, combined with emotion and amusement, that leaves the film at the end (remain seated, there are two post-credits scenes!) are truly rare in the blockbuster cinema of recent years, and for this we have to thank James Gunnwho as he packs his bags and begins another extraordinary adventure with the DC Comics character, has given this last great gift to Marvel fans.

On the notes of “Badlands” Of Bruce Springsteen the journey of the Guardians of the Galaxy (as we associate them, at least) on the big screen. There will still be many adventures to experience and tell, but we will have to learn to live without them Rocket, Gamora, Drax, Nebula, Santis, Groot And Star Lord by our side.