Run time: 150 mins

Have your tissues at the ready, especially for fans of racoons and other furry critters, as the guardians return for one final gig in James Gunn’s loopy sci-fi yarn

The team, including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista, are simply hanging out when they’re attacked by a golden super being (Will Poulter) who is both a merciless killer and a bumbling oaf. When Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) is gravely injured in the attack, they go in search of his medical records, and the film becomes a heist caper set aboard a space station made out of pink, lumpy meat. Rocket is also being hunted by the detestable High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), an interstellar Doctor Moreau whose animal experiments will have you shouting at the screen in protest.

The film is as chaotic as the plot suggests, but Gunn manages to keep a consistently engaging throughline; one that is surprisingly dark, even grim in places (animal lovers, you are warned). As well as the usual CGI hijinks there is also a surprising amount of heart, and it’s just nice to see a Marvel entry come to an actual close.