The conclusion to Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” released this past weekend with a 118 million box office debut. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” earned the second highest opening weekend, only surpassed by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” which debuted at 146 million. The final installment of the trilogy also made significantly less than “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” which came in at 146 million in  2017. Even still, the film outperformed Marvel’s previous release, “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania” which debuted at 106 million. 

The final installment focuses on Rocket’s (voiced by Bradley Cooper) tragic backstory. After an injury received in the opening sequence of the film, Rocket is left in critical condition, and the Guardians must glimpse into a past Rocket has kept a secret in order to save him. 

Through fragments of memories, we learn Rocket was created by the High Evolutionary. He is a mad scientist attempting to create a perfect society through animal testing and eugenics. Rocket manages to escape, but loses his friends along the way. Time later, the High Evolutionary has been unable to create the perfect society. He becomes determined to retrieve his most successful experiment, Rocket. 

After saving Rocket and the many organisms the High Evolutionary had experimented on, the Guardians decide they must all find their own way in the Galaxy. Mantis leaves to search for her own adventure, Drax and Nebula stay to lead a brand new city with all the refugees, Rocket and Groot remain guardians of the galaxy along with some new friends, and Peter Quill returns home to his grandfather on Earth. 

The franchise comes to an end with all the action sequences, mischief, humor, and incredible soundtrack we’ve come to expect from “The Guardians of the Galaxy.”