A scene from 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Don’t know about you, but in my books, the MCU has been in a slump since Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame. Spider-Man: No Way Home was enjoyable, but was more about fan service. So I’ve been waiting patiently for an MCU film to recapture that magical blend of superhero action, heart-warming elements, and a narrative that satisfies while actually bringing a tear to our eyes. That unique blend was what made the Marvel films extra special, and elevated them within the superhero genre.

So right off the bat, I’m happy to report, that while not perfect, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 has the Marvel mojo working again. The film is part of Phase Five of the MCU - after the tepid Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And thankfully, there are no strong multiverse/metaverse elements to this written and directed by James Gunn foray; but just a strong, straightforward mix of origin story, current action, and Guardian gruff humor.

From the outset of the film, we’re given a strong sense of what will be driving the story of this film, and it’s Rocket (Bradley Cooper). How he came to be, as an experimental creation of this film’s impressive villain, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji); and when Rocket’s life is put into danger, how the Guardians will go on an extended mission to save his

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nébula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (Vin Diesel) are there to provide the fireworks, and Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) is waiting in the wings. Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) provide able Guardian support. And it’s good to see Filipino Nico Santos on board as Theel, a trusted lieutenant of the High Evolutionary. The most notable new character would be Adam Warlock (Will Poulter).

The overriding theme of this outing is family, and more important than family as defined by blood relations, it’s the importance of ‘found’ family. This theme keeps coming up in the course of the story, and it’s a strong one to pin the narrative on.

No spoilers here, so I’ll just say that while the film meanders, has a middle portion that feels stretched, and has more than one possible strong ending; the film’s extended running time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, is well-served. Sure, you could say, given what I mentioned about strong endings that we could have a tighter edited version; but by and large, there is a logic to all that is presented.

The Guardians music soundtrack have now turned into one of the highlights of each film, and while I fully understand where this is coming from, and how it’s part of the Marketing and Merchandising of the film franchise - I do wonder if this has now reached the stage of overkill. If you see that as a complaint, it is a minor one.

This Guardians Volume 3 is a marked improvement on 2 and the Christmas special. If it’ll stand as the swan song of the franchise, then they’ve said their goodbyes in a fashion that’s well worth remembering… and we’ll be missing them. This film opens in cinemas on May 3, Wednesday.