The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies both live on my top five movies list. When I heard there was a third movie coming out, the words ‘overjoyed,’ ‘excited,’ and ‘impatient’ were all understatements for how I was feeling. However—it was hard to describe how I was feeling after I watched Volume 3. 

The movie received mixed reviews. It was called “practically perfect in every way” by Forbes, but described by the New York times as a “dour, visually off-putting two-and-a-half-hour A.S.P.C.A. nightmare of a film”. Let’s look at why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 didn’t quite live up to my expectations. 

Characters 

The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are part of a trilogy, so naturally many of the characters returned in the third movie. The Guardians of the Galaxy are a couple fugitives who came together to save basically the entire universe, multiple times. This main squad is full of dynamic characters, with complicated and intertwined backstories that win your heart every time. Volume 3 did not disappoint by adding to these characters’ stories and lives, it definitely was not the cast and crew that left viewers wanting more.

Soundtrack

The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies are loaded with songs from the 60s and 70s. Main character Peter Quill listens to many songs from that era on his walkman to stay connected with his life and memories on Earth. Songs like “Hooked on a Feeling”, “Come and Get Your Love”, and “I Want You Back” won viewers’ hearts and ears throughout the first two movies, and they gave the movies a specific feel. In the third volume, Quill is gifted a music player with songs from the 80s, 90s, and even 00s. While “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” accompanied one of the best action-packed scenes, the rest of the music did not live up to the hype set by the first two movies. The film ended with “Dog Days are Over”, a song that was very different from the rest of the track, signaling a new direction for the Guardians in the future, a direction that not many viewers felt excited about.

Humor

The Marvel cinematic universe always incorporates jokes and lightheartedness to balance out the intense action and violence in the movies, but the Guardians of the Galaxy movies take it to the next level. The main characters are all so different in terms of backgrounds, morals, and even brainpower that the conflicts between them keep viewers laughing throughout the entire experience. The Guardians movies have been able to portray serious and emotional themes along with this humor, but in the third movie, it all gets very sad. One of the main characters, Rocket, is a raccoon who was experimented on along with many other animals to discover which animals would be most successful throughout the torturous tests. There are many flashbacks to Rocket’s early life where he is suffering, watching his friends suffer, or even watching them die. This is meant to tug on viewers’ heartstrings and understand Rocket’s past, but I think they went a little overboard. The disfigured animals resemble Five Nights at Freddy’s characters and it’s hard not to be a little grossed out, regardless of how sad their stories are. These depressing flashbacks darken the mood of the entire film instead of leaving viewers laughing or inspired, as most Marvel movies do. The finality of the movie with it being the last Guardians of the Galaxy film in the trilogy might also have left a melancholy taste in viewers’ mouths instead of the lightheartedness that was expected. 

Overall, this third volume of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy had a lot of potential but didn't quite reach it. It was a successful movie for Marvel but left many viewers, including myself, dissatisfied due to the changes in soundtrack and overall humorous effect, despite the return of all the crowd favorite characters.