When Peter 鈥淪tar-Lord鈥� Quill, while inspecting a murky extraterrestrial region, pressed play on Redbone鈥檚 鈥淐ome and Get Your Love鈥� in the first 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy,鈥� it would have been hard to imagine that James Gunn鈥檚 space opera would ultimately lead to something as sincere, poignant and kinda cornball as the trilogy-ending

But as Gunn has showed over over the course of these increasingly soupy sci-fi spectacles, the genetically spliced DNA of his chaotic, cartoonish cosmic vision is a double helix of opposites. Breezy 鈥�70s rock papers over extreme violence. Cynical exteriors cloak sentimental emotions. A ragtag group of outcasts, more so than even the cast of 鈥淔ast and the Furious,鈥� talk a lot about 鈥渇amily鈥� and 鈥渇riends.鈥�

Against the odds, 鈥淐ome and get your love鈥� has turned out to be a legit invitation.

鈥淰ol. 3鈥� is a messy, overstuffed finale. But you rarely question whether Gunn鈥檚 heart is in it.

Sometimes it spoils some of that effect by trying too hard to juxtapose tonal extremes, and show off its brash juggling act. Yet whatever this sweet, surreal sci-fi shamble is that Gunn has created, everyone here seems to believe ardently in it. And for even a movie that sends a golden-hued Will Poulter shooting through space to the tune of Heart鈥檚 鈥淐razy on You,鈥� that earnest belief goes a long way.

The song, though, that kicks off 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3鈥� is not an upbeat one. Radiohead鈥檚 鈥淐reep鈥� casts a sour mood over the Guardians, who we find in a lethargic state of disarray in the spaceport Knowhere following their 2017 鈥淓mpire Strikes Back鈥�-esque second chapter.

Whether 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥� is best suited to strike these solemn notes, or reach for such last-chapter poignancy in 鈥淰ol. 3鈥� is debatable. I鈥檝e always liked these films at their most cartoonish. Donning a degree of self-importance is probably the most Marvel thing about this 鈥淕uardians.鈥� Gunn鈥檚 films 鈥� which, unlike most of the comic-book studio鈥檚 releases, are both written and directed by him 鈥� have always stood out for their distinct lack of Marvel house style. 鈥淕uardians 3,鈥� unfortunately, has contracted a touch of 鈥淓ndgame鈥� grandiosity.

The group 鈥� including Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) 鈥� is quickly sent into emergency mode. Adam Warlock (Poulter), an artificial being created by the High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), comes careening into their lair, leaving Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper and played in motion capture by Sean Gunn) on his deathbed. To save Rocket, a cybernetically enhanced raccoon, the Guardians must hurriedly resuscitate him with his original programming.

This means traveling to the lab he was created in years before by the High Evolutionary (a sensational Chukwudi Iwuji, an all-time Marvel villain), a Doctor Moreau sort who鈥檚 been toiling to craft a 鈥減erfect鈥� race of hybrid creatures to populate a copy of planet Earth. As the Guardians seek to infiltrate his realm, 鈥淰ol. 3鈥� repeatedly flashes back to Rocket鈥檚 experience with the High Evolutionary: his transformation from raccoon, his joyful experience with other experimental creations and his harrowing escape.

It鈥檚 telling that in this 鈥淕uardians鈥� swan song that Gunn centers Rocket and less so Quill, whose father-son drama dominated 鈥淰ol. 2.鈥� (Here, he鈥檚 mostly in save-my-friend mode when not wrestling with the heartbreak of this version of Zoe Salda帽a鈥檚 Gamora. Thanks to some 鈥淎vengers鈥� events, she no longer even knows him.)

These are foremost epics of orphandom about distinctly un-superhuman characters. Mother and father figures float in and out, while the Guardians attract one forlorn figure after another. In 鈥淰ol. 3,鈥� it鈥檚 both comical and even a little stirring just how far empathy reaches for all of God鈥檚 鈥� and Marvel鈥檚 鈥� creatures. Gunn has taken a woebegone B-team or C-team of comic book oddballs and cast them into a cosmic tapestry of weirdos and misfits, ranging wildly in size, shape, color and dancing ability.

In 鈥淰ol. 3,鈥� Gunn really lets the freak flag fly, putting the Guardians in battle with not just the High Evolutionary but the notion of perfection. It鈥檚 not a coincidence that this 鈥淕uardians鈥� film arrives, finally, in the suburbs 鈥� or at least some slightly warped version of it.

Gunn, a B-movie director at heart, fills these films with more sinewy than sleek worlds, full of florid beauty and opulent grotesquerie. (鈥淰ol. 3,鈥� more than the last two films, reminded me of 鈥淭he Fifth Element,鈥� a good thing.) It鈥檚 often clear that his ambitions are sometimes just a bit too much; this, like his DC film 鈥淭he Suicide Squad,鈥� 鈥淰ol. 3鈥� could have used a firmer editor to corral some of Gunn鈥檚 impulse for excess.

This installment, of course, nearly didn鈥檛 happen after . And partially because of that forced hiatus, he鈥檚 now ruling an even larger, more mainstream superhero cosmos at DC. That surely has something to do with the sense of parting that permeates the final act of 鈥淕uardians 3.鈥�

After so many speeches about friendship and togetherness, 鈥淰ol. 3鈥� ends curiously elegiacally, and with one last dance.

鈥擩ake Coyle, The Associated Press