Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was released on May 5th, and it was highly anticipated to be an incredibly emotional movie based on the trailer. The trailer tugged at everyone’s heartstrings by giving us a new perspective on Rocket Raccoon’s life before he joined the Guardians and how he ended up being a talking raccoon. The movie was spectacular and, indeed, incredibly emotional, but found its way to becoming one of the best Marvel films I’ve ever seen.
Rocket is my favorite Guardian, so maybe I am a bit biased when I say that this movie really does tug at every single emotion possible if you’re invested in these characters like I am. I was anxious for Rocket through the entire movie, hoping that he would make it out okay since Marvel does have a tendency to take some of our favorite characters away from us.
I will say that if you are sensitive to animal abuse and really anything pertaining to animals, this movie is a hard watch. I found it incredibly hard to even think of what these animals (all animals were CGI, so no animals were actually physically in the film) had to go through, and while nothing too jarring was explicitly shown, it’s heavily insinuated. These animals were used as test subjects, manipulated, and amputated to become the ‘perfect race’ by the High Evolutionary, the villain of the film. The High Evolutionary is a ruthless character, set on creating what he perceives to be the perfect race or civilization, no matter the cost. He is willing to destroy hundreds just to feel that he has reached perfection.
Among many other interesting storylines in the film, like the new Gamora and Star-Lord figuring out where their relationship stands, the movie never undermines the integrity and importance of the main story being told. It does a wonderful job of progressing every character’s storyline while giving us the story we’ve been anxiously waiting to hear for a while now. The film details Rocket’s life before the Guardians, the past he has so intensely tried to hide and block out. We see him finally acknowledge who he came to be and how that happened, with some of his best friends and ‘found family’ beside him backing him up. The movie heavily emphasizes how important each Guardian member is to each other, and it’s clear in this film that they are truly more like a family than co-workers.
The film finally tells Rocket’s story in its entirety, including all the heartbreak and trauma he went through, allowing us to understand his character and his personality better. Rocket is a beautifully written character, and I can promise you if he wasn’t already your favorite of the bunch, you’ll leave this film with a newfound appreciation for him and his role in the movies.