The Marvel franchise returns with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3., a  movie that has no shortage of funny, sad, and sometimes brutal moments.

Without question, this new movie is one of the best recent Marvel movies. Director James Gunn manages to create a movie that is relatively self-contained and does not focus entirely on the next installment in an effort to make more money for the franchise.

This movie serves as a sort of backstory for Rocket Raccoon as well as having the Guardians deal with the fallout of Avengers: Endgame. 

The Guardians, specifically Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), react to the death of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the subsequent return of her past self. The past Gamora has no memories of being romantically involved with Quill or being part of the Guardians at all.

The Guardians unite against a new villain, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) who strives to help society evolve into new perfect lifeforms. He is credited with creating entire species and civilizations, including the Sovereign from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Also in this movie is Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a powerful member of the Sovereign who wants to please the High Evolutionary so he does not destroy their entire society. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an emotional and exciting outing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The violence and language in this movie is definitely above that of an average MCU outing, but the change in style and comedy is refreshing for fans tired of the clichés of most new Marvel movies. 

The comedic and serious moments are balanced masterfully, and there are a lot of both. Many of those serious moments come from Rocket Raccoon, who is usually delegated to comedic relief, as he explores horrific memories from his past. 

One of the standout performances in the Marvel Universe ever comes from Iwuji, who truly helps make the High Evolutionary a villain to be remembered. Most recent Marvel projects lack memorable villains, but that is not the case here.

Fans of Marvel overall will love this movie.