Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (PG-13) (live-action/CGI)
Disney Movies; Disney Wiki; IMDb; Marvel; MCU Wiki; Rotten Tomatoes; TV Tropes; Weta Digital; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Disney+; Google Play; Movies Anywhere; Vudu; YouTube

Caution: spoilers.

This is the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the second film of Phase Five. It takes place sometime after The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, in 2026 (it was released in 2023). Peter Quill apparently spends much of his time getting drunk because he misses Gamora, who was killed in Avengers: Infinity War. Then suddenly, a Sovereign named Adam Warlock (the son or artificial construct made by Ayesha, who was seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) flies into Knowhere trying to abduct Rocket, to bring him back to the High Evolutionary, who had done horrific medical experiments on a baby raccoon to enhance its intelligence and abilities. There are flashbacks throughout the film to Rocket's time as an adolescent, whom the High Evolutionary called "subject 89P13" (or just "P-one-three"). The High Evolutionary is a scientist who has been trying for a long time to create the perfect species, by inducing accelerated evolution in "lesser" beings, like Rocket, who was part of Batch 89. That batch also includes an otter who decides to name herself Lylla (voiced by Linda Cardellini), a walrus who calls himself Teefs, and a rabbit who calls herself Floor. P13 then names himself Rocket. Eventually, we see how Rocket escaped from the High Evolutionary's company, OrgoCorp. In the present, the Guardians stop Adam from kidnapping Rocket, but Rocket is severely injured. And it turns out he has a kill switch built into him that prevents any tampering with his body, so the Guardians can't use medpacks to save his life. They determine that there must be a passkey to override the kill switch, and infiltrate OrgoCorp to find it.

They get help from Gamora, or rather a past version of Gamora who was brought into the present in Avengers: Endgame, and who had never become a Guardian. This makes things pretty awkward for Peter, who is still in love with her, but she has no memory of him nor any interest in getting to know him. She's just there for the job. She's actually a Ravager now, and they are like her family, just as the Guardians had become her family in the original timeline. Meanwhile, the High Evolutionary is still trying to recapture Rocket, because he believes Rocket's brain has a trait that could be incorporated into future experimental creations. And... a lot of stuff happens that I don't want to go into detail about. I will say that the Guardians encounter an OrgoCorp guard played by Nathan Fillion. And Kraglin was in charge of Knowhere while the other Guardians were away, and he eventually pilots Knowhere to Counter-Earth, where the High Evolutionary's lab/spaceship was located. He and Cosmo help the Guardians escape from the ship, along with all of the experimental subjects there. Peter nearly dies in space, but is saved by Adam, who takes up residence in Knowhere. In the end, Peter decides to return to Earth to reconnect with his grandfather, leaving Rocket as captain of the Guardians. Mantis goes off on her own to discover what she wants to do with her life. And of course, Gamora rejoins the Ravagers.

There's a mid-credits scene with the Guardians on a new job. And a post-credits scene with Peter and his grandfather.

Well, it's a funny movie, as usual, but also very dramatic. And there's a fun running gag about Kraglin calling Cosmo a bad dog, and her wanting him to take it back. And the whole movie is just really fun and action-packed and cool, with plenty of good music. And it was good to learn Rocket's backstory (and finally see him accept "Raccoon" as part of his name). I think this is supposed to be the final "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie, but we may well see some of the characters show up in other movies and/or series. So I look forward to that. But this was a fitting finale for the Guardians' story.