Is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Family-Friendly?

The Marvel Studios brand has become pretty synonymous over the years with being something families can largely watch together. There's usually a bit of towing the line with inappropriate humor in some of their films but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might be the first of their theatrical movies that really carries a dark tone throughout. Building off of 2017's Vol .2, which itself got a little heavier than the first movie in 2014, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 really digs into the origins of some characters while also navigating the grim present of others. In short it makes for a Marvel movie that really focuses on trauma, and may not be the most appropriate for some kids. 

Per the MPA, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is Rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements." Writer/director James Gunn has spoken pretty openly about the film detailing the origins of Rocket, revealed to be a product of The High Evolutionary and his experiments, and the movie is quick to show a lot of those moments on screen. For some with a sensitivity to animal cruelty, implied and directly shown on screen, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could be a lot to handle.

"Well, what was helpful was that I was working with Sean a lot as opposed to any animal," star Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays The High Evolutionary, revealed in an interview with ComicBook.com. "So I was interacting with, with another actor. But I have to say the first time I saw I was doing ADR, I'd seen something and I saw a scene with Rocket and then Rocket's eyes, I literally saw my dog's eyes. I have a schnoodle called Cicero and I saw his face and I was like, 'I am going to hell.'..So it really helped that when I was dealing with the animals, I wasn't actually dealing with any animals, but, you know, it because it would have been much harder that way. You know, my agent couldn't talk to me properly for like two days after seeing her screening, she went home and hugged her dog and was like, 'I don't know how I can talk to you for a while.'"

Cruelty to animals, fictional though they may be, isn't the only thing that really makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a darker movie. There's about the level of violence that one would expect from a Marvel Studios movie throughout the film, but some sequences also get very heavy considering the characters. Major confrontations with powerful Marvel characters take place, with the fate of some of the Guardians left in the balance, plus Nebula shows off her uncanny ability to bend herself back into shape after being twisted into a pretzel from a violent fall (more than once). There's also some uncanny gore effects when a character's disfigured face is revealed, which might rival a melting Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark in terms of violence in a mainstream movie.

As has previously been revealed, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also marks the first time that a Marvel Studios movie has featured an uncensored "F-Bomb." Though the MCU has played with this in the past, having characters start to say the world only to be cut-off by the film ending or being dusted by Thanos, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 features the word in full and without a bleep of any kind. This is perhaps not a deal breaker for some, the same tactic was done in several X-Men movies previously, but it is enough for it to earn Guardains of the Galaxy Vol. 3 a "strong language" descriptor in its official rating.

In the end, as is the case with any kind of guidance with a new movie, parents should know what their own kids can handle before potentially subjecting them to something upsetting. Maybe your children have a good grasp on fiction and can discern the lessons that are at the center of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, or maybe they're just not ready to see a tiny raccoon get tortured on a giant movie screen. The choice is up to the audience, but the warning seems warranted.