Despite being nestled within the multimedia behemoth that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies have always felt a bit more personal, reflecting the indy-honed sensibilities of writer/director James Gunn. As such, when some ill-advised social media posts from years past came to light and briefly removed Gunn from guiding the series he started, it felt wrong. After all, it was his quirky approach to the characters that transformed them from Marvel Comics backbenchers into beloved movie stars.

幸运的是,回到Star-Lord耿氏找到了他的方式,Groot, Rocket, et al, one last time. And if the first film was the introduction of a “Star Wars” element to the MCU, with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” he gets to have his “Return of the Jedi” moment, offering a rousing wrap-up and bittersweet goodbye to his time overseeing this corner of the franchise.

As we rejoin the Guardians for this go-round, Star-Lord, a.k.a. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), is still grieving lost love Gamora (Zoe Saldana), who died in “Avengers: Infinity War” in 2018, then came back in “Avengers: Endgame”第二年要机智h him. Peter, as you may recall, was abducted from Earth as a child by space aliens on the day his mother died. He then found out (in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”) that his dad was a space god who actually gave his mom cancer. Given all of that, you can see why he crawled inside a bottle and chooses to remain in a drunken stupor while the other Guardians do their best to maintain their HQ inside the desiccated cranial cavity of a space giant.

When an overpowered alien with gold skin and bad attitude named Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) shows up intent on capturing Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) for reasons unknown, he fails in the attempt but Rocket is left mortally wounded. Thus begins the film’s central quest, as the team –– including sentient tree Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), ex-assassin Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Quill’s half-sister Mantis (Pom Klementieff) –– sets out across the outer reaches of the MCU to save their friend (with plenty of Gunn’s trademark needledrops along the way).

They soon cross paths with this installment’s big bad: The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a “Robocop-looking Skeletor-wannabe” who we learn is the genetic engineer with a God complex who first turned Rocket from an ordinary raccoon into a hirsute Han Solo. Now he wants Rocket back, and he’ll happily destroy a civilization or two to get him.

There are other threads of varying significance throughout, but even with a relatively expansive 2 1/2 half hour runtime, some are more well nurtured than others. On balance, the Warlock story line doesn’t amount to much, which is sure to come as a disappointment to longtime fans given his significance in Marvel Comics lore and the portentous post-credit tease in “Vol. 2” six long years ago. Poulter certainly looks the part and is undeniably amusing, but he lacks the expected gravitas to go with his gold pallor.

That said, the Rocket story line is easily the most significant and rewarding, a testament to how beloved the little guy has become for audiences since his introduction. Throughout the film, his tragic, heretofore unrevealed origin story slowly unfurls, making for some of the most raw and heart-wrenching material in the MCU’s 15 years. It’s kind of remarkable Gunn was able to go to some of the places he does. For Cooper’s part, he has been voicing the role for nearly a decade now and yet unearths here new layers of pathos for his CG-animated alter ego.

Speaking of pathos, Dave Bautista’s Drax has always been one of Gunn’s secret weapons, with the actor’s physicality working perfectly with the character’s dim bulb persona for maximum comedic effect. Even so, there's an aspect of sadness going back to the first film’s revelation that Drax’s wife and daughter were killed by Thanos, making his desire to preserve his Guardians family more meaningful and allowing for developments in this chapter that feel earned and appropriate.

These movies have always presented the idea of family as something you choose as opposed to being born into, and Gunn brings that throughline to a natural conclusion here, highlighting that families grow and change, and that’s OK too.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is overstuffed and a tad too long. But it’s also a humorous, heartfelt farewell by Gunn to his band of misfits. While the film takes pain to emphasize that the Guardians will go on, whatever comes next will certainly be different without him.

Zaki Hasan is a freelance writer.