"We'll fly away together...one last time...into the forever and beautiful sky."
Nobody likes to say goodbye. Goodbyes are hard. In the MCU, we have said goodbye to Iron Man, Cap, Natasha, and so many more. Good guys, bad guys, big names, and small...goodbyes are hard. This past weekend, millions of us said goodbye to The Guardians of The Galaxy, as we knew them, in the MCU. Spoilers are ahead, so you have been warned. We didn't say goodbye the way that most of us thought that we would be. After all, none of our team died. It was just time for this particular Guardians team to go their separate ways. The arch, for a lot of these characters, has ended. In my opinion, I think the Guardians Arch has been one of, if not THE BEST arch, in The MCU! The character stories, the character growth, the villains, the music... all of it. As a whole, the Guardians movies have been some of the best entries into the universe. Coming from someone that did not dive too deep into the Guardians comics, that's saying a lot. That's the biggest point here. Guardians were C, if not D list books and characters, in the vast world of Marvel. So how did this happen? Well, one thing is...Mr. James Gunn. What a brilliant mind to bring us these stories. Thank you!
Now, let's get to our final installment of the franchise. This past weekend, Madi, Juice, myself, and even my Mom, went to see Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3. Wow. What an emotional movie. A rollercoaster of sadness, anger, angst, victory, worry, and so much more. This Rocket-centric movie was great. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I had few qualms, and no complaints. The humor was timed well, and the heavy parts hit the right way. Though Josh said that it was his least favorite installment, Madi and I would have to disagree. I can't necessarily put mine in a certain order, at the moment, but it definitely is not my least favorite. I am definitely interested in hearing your thoughts. Let us know in the comments below, or email us at 30andnerdypod@gmail.com
Let's start with my qualms. As I said, there are only a couple. My main qualm is that Adam Warlock felt very quickly forced upon us. I only say this when trying to imagine being in the shoes of an average MCU fan and movie goer (aka my Mom). IF you did not remember that post credit scene or have any knowledge beyond MCU, you would be like, "Who the fuck is this gold guy and what's his deal?" I think they semi-explain him well enough with dialogue between people, but just dropping him in and not giving him a ton of exposition early on; may be tough for some average watchers. They easily could have led into this movie with a short comic style panel and special like A Man Called Adam, or a special like Werewolf By Night was done. Again, it didn't ruin the movie for me. Just a thought. My only other qualm is that Star-Lord never used his helmet. It's such a small detail, but it is kind of a staple to his image. Again, just small little qualms. Other than that, I have no problems with the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it; loved it even.
Let's talk characters. The growth and change of these characters, over the last 10 years, has been nothing short of brilliant. Each character has evolved, grown, and become so important to not just The MCU, but us, as fans. Rocket's story was hauntingly beautiful and so heavy. Seeing the creation of the character, the birth of his anger, and the torture that he went through; was so heavy. Peter's trauma was definitely prominent throughout, even outside of the Gamora stuff. He was so set on saving Rocket and making sure everyone was safe. It shows his trauma, in the fact, that he does not want to lose anyone else like he lost Gamora. His trauma also speaks loudly when the other Gamora is around. The loss and hurt that he is feeling is portrayed so well by Pratt. Drax and Mantis were delightful in this one. Their relationship has come so far since the second installment. They are like a brother and sister comedy duo, in the best way. I think that Mantis will be back, or they'll give her a D+ show. Who knows? Everyone gets a Disney+ show these days.
I didn't necessarily love this Gamora, but understood why. She wasn't "OUR" Gamora, and she couldn't become ours. She had to be the Pre-Quill Gamer to add the dynamic and to differ from our Gamora. I enjoyed the dynamic of Cosmo and Kraglin. It added to the humor, as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the story they gave Kraglin of trying to step into Yondu's shoes still. The flash of Yondu and the moment that Kraglin stepped up and did what he needed was really cool. Groot is obviously fantastic for the little bit that he gets to talk. His action scenes shined through, in this one, in a big way. Then, of course, there is Nebula. I like Nebula more than Gamora in this franchise. I have always liked the hard to love anti-hero character. Wolverine, Vegeta, Stone Cold...and Nebula is no different. She emotionally shines through, in this one. Her love for her family is such and amazing underlying story. She has embraced The Guardians Family and now has a purpose, in the universe. She is one that I hope comes back in future projects. We are sure that Star-Lord will be back, after that post credit scene, but we are unsure on the rest. Well, we know Drax is done, but as for the rest, we shall see. I like that too. I like that it is open for return, and they weren't all killed. I do think that all of them surviving is a ballsy move, considering the finality of the trailers that have dropped.
Speaking of characters, how about the villain?! Wow!!! This may have been one of the top times that I have wanted to see a villains fall. Chukwudi was hella-phenomenal in this role. He's already amazing, but with this character and with the writing he was given; wow, I hated him. Fantastic job. Plus, a lot of the hate, stems from his cruelty of animals. Don't fuck with animals, man. Like I said, Adam Warlock is a big deal to Marvel mythos. I ended up liking it pretty good, but I still think he was just thrown in really early with not a lot of back story for the average fan. His mother was a great starting villain. We knew that she would be back eventually, but I liked that she was also used as a catalyst to push Adam to his next stage of life. That's how heroes are made. Sacrifice of loved ones. I enjoyed Nathan Fillian's little addition. It was quite humorous. I enjoyed the little cameos of Howard The Duck and some other characters that we have seen throughout the Guardians Franchise.
The story was great, the characters were strong, the villain was fantastic, and everything in between was extremely enjoyable. I give it a solid 9.2 out of 10. I highly reccommend it. That being said, is there TOO MUCH MARVEL happening? Are we on our way to Marvel fatigue or comicbook movie fatigue? Only time will tell. Stay tuned to 30&Nerdy for more Guardians talk and more happening in The Nerdiverse. What do you think? What did you like or dislike about it? Let us know your thoughts. On behalf of Doctor Davis and The 30&Nerdy Podcast, this has been your Duke of Nerds, Tyler Mac...Cheers To YA!