This is the final stand the Guardians take against those who threaten the galaxy. And by god, is it awesome.
Film
- Adam Warlock's explosive introduction. He comes blazing through the planet and crashes straight into Rocket and attacks him with such force that Rocket is left in critical condition for most of the movie. It takes all of the Guardians working together to bring him down. While he's still a beginner character with much room to grow, they still did a great job of establishing him as an Invincible Villain that raw power alone won't stop. It crosses over with Nightmare Fuel to a degree because of just how relentless it all is; none of the Guardians have a second to waste and their journey only intensifies afterwards.
- Groot and Adam's grapple across the planet of Knowhere. Adam must be given villainous props for reducing Groot, the most powerful of the Guardians next to Nebula, down to a head! Bigger props to Groot for surviving and regenerating from just his head and a few thick roots to walk like an octopus with.
- Drax stepping in between Adam and his friends and manhandling Adam Warlock, even No-Selling his powerful beams and restraining him enough to give them a chance to regroup. He even gets a few good hits in before Adam begins his rampage again.
- Nebula morphing her arm into a blade and stabbing him straight through the chest with it. While it doesn't do much, even Adam is surprised that it affected him as badly as it did.
Adam: That... hurt.
- Star-Lord hacking the equipment of the sentries in the Orgoscope, making them completely useless against the Guardians as they bounce futilely against the walls (and each other), winning the Guardians an easy victory. Extra awesome when it comes just as it seems like they'd lose.
- This needs elaboration: Star-Lord is attempting to convince Ura the receptionist into letting him access the station's system by appealing to her good nature and saying that all he wanted to do is just to convince the Orgoscope sentries that he just wanted to save his friend. Despite Gamora not having any faith in the plan, it actually works and Ura is convinced into letting Peter use the system...after which he immediately declares that he's not actually trying to convince the sentries to stand down, he just wants to access the system to hack the sentries' suits while playing Ura for fools.
- Even as a child who adored the High Evolutionary, Rocket still had the foresight to plan for an escape if needed, collecting small, easily-missed bits of tech and hiding them under debris in his cage. When the High Evolutionary reveals his plan to kill the entire 89 lot, Rocket already has his escape plan ready is able to assemble those miscellaneous bits into a makeshift keycard able to unlock the cages.
- Crosses over with Nightmare Fuel, but Rocket lashing out against his creator and mauling him into an ungodly mess. It's as horrifying as it is utterly cathartic.
- Star-Lord and Groot single-handedly taking out all of the guards and scientists in the hall of the High Evolutionary. Bonus points for having Groot fire six different firearms at once while Peter swiftly maneuvres around him.
Groot: (defiant stare) I. Am. Groot.
Star-Lord: He said "Suck. My...!" (High Evolutionary cuts him off in rage)
- When the the High Evolutionary starts trying to explain all his grand plans for the universe, Peter cuts him off and tells him he doesn't give a damn about whatever his motivation and backstory are, nothing can possibly justify what he does and make him the "good guy".
"I don't need another speech by some impotent whack-job whose mother didn't love him rationalizing why he needs to conquer the universe."
- Peter grabs the scientist with Rocket's information (the same scientist who once mocked him while they were at his mercy, but is now cowering and quivering in fear) and holds him at gunpoint, clearly fuming that this man had a direct hand in Rocket's suffering. How does Peter repay him? He kills him, yes, but not with a simple blast to the face as he does most, he launches him out the window (with Groot following close behind) and allows him to fall to his death while Groot ensures Peter's survival. The image of Peter dragging his body and slamming it over and over into the ground as hard as he can is nothing short of cathartic.
- On that note, how does Groot save Peter from the fall? Not by forming a shield of branches, like his previous incarnation but rather, he rapidly grows branches on his back and layers them with leaves, actually giving himself wings that he can glide with!
- There's an extra level of catharsis that comes with Peter's method of killing. Theel displays the sort of person he really is, giving an already furious Quill another reason to make him suffer. Launching him out the window rather than simply shooting him dead ensures that his death doesn't come easily. The drop, even without Groot to incumber Peter's fall, is very high and it takes quite a bit of time for them to hit the ground. Peter and Groot ensured that Theel knew his death was coming and there's nothing he can do about it, but they weren't going to even give him the satisfaction of knowing when it comes. The only way he'll know? When he's already dead. So all Theel can do is cry and whimper in terror as he falls to his own inevitable demise.
- Doubles as Funny, but when the High Evolutionary contacts the Guardians demanding they turn over Rocket, Peter coldly and bluntly rebuffs him and takes one hell of a staunch stand against him. He pretty much tells the High Evolutionary where he can stick it and that if he tries to lay a finger on Rocket, the Guardians will kill him.
Peter: Screw you, you stretched-face,
Robocop-lookin',
Skeletor wannabe, PURPLE NURPLE PIECE OF—!!!
(The High Evolutionary breaks his earpiece in rage)
- Peter was so enraged by the mad scientist, had James Gunn not have him use the one Precision F-Strike that is allowed by the PG-13 rating of the film earlier at Nebula, he would more than likely have opened his retort with "Fuck you!" instead.
- Kraglin is contacted by Peter for aid in fighting the High Evolutionary. What happens? Well, nothing at first. In fact, it seems like the High Evolutionary may have the upper hand as he launches his entire base into orbit and the Bowie, the larger of the two Guardians' ships, is but a speck in comparison even with its upgrades... until the High Evolutionary is alerted of an opening in the vicinity. At first just an ordinary Jump Point for a ship to enter through... which then folds from its usual hexagonal shape to a massive gateway... and the High Evolutionary finds himself face to face with Knowhere itself. The dead Celestial glaring him down with all its haunting splendour, firing deadly beams from its left eye. It's enough to make the High Evolutionary - even in the confines of his ship - outright panic at the mere sight of it. Damn, Kraglin.
- Even better is that it's a middle finger to how the High Evolution bragged that there were no gods. So the decayed skull of what is considered a god in the MCU smiting him for his arrogance is nothing but satisfying.
- Additionally, Kraglin's Big Damn Heroes moment mirrors that of his mentor/father crash landing as rescue party in Volume 2. Yondu would be damn proud of him!
Kraglin: Howdy there, you freakin' creep.
- Later, Kraglin and Nebula have to pilot Knowhere and the Aretes, respectively, so that people can jump off to safety. Nebula is using her own body to pilot an exploding ship and trusting Kraglin to be ready on the other side, and they nail it (with support from Cosmo.) "Kragula back in action" indeed.
- The High Evolutionary, hellbent on retrieving Rocket, jeopardizes all his work and resources to get him. One of his underlings recognizes this and implores him to stop, only to be met with a spine-chilling villainous Badass Boast from their boss.
- Even the High Evolutionary gets one pretty damn awesome moment. Once his underlings make clear they intend to mutiny and seize his ship, the High Evolutionary does not hesitate. He unleashes a burst of gravitational energy, instantly vaporising all of them on the spot (and completely destroying the central hub). Completely undeterred and solely focused on capturing Rocket, he makes one hell of a terrifying yet epic Slow Walk through the flaming ruins of his ship to find him. With his dark silhouette contrasting with the burning wreckage, he looks less like a man and more like a demon roaming the depths of Hell and goddamn is it chilling. While largely ineffectual in actual combat, this scene can and will remind you that the High Evolutionary is the EPITOME of a Not-So-Harmless Villain.
- The image of him levitating through the wreckage with a look of grim determination on his face is also pretty badass... and more than a little frightening.
- Mantis has been promoted to The Beast Master by taming three Abilisks, the creature that the Guardians fought in the opening of the previous film, by calming them with her powers. After leaving the Guardians, she brings the three of them with her.
- Drax having enough of the High Evolutionary's shit and straight-up tearing and crashing his way through the ship's reinforced steel doors, especially just before the big battle. Drax may be the simple one, but he's The Big Guy for a damn good reason.
- The absolutely glorious one-track shot of the Guardians (now including Gamora) taking down every single monster and guard sent to kill them in the corridor. The music (''NO! SLEEP! 'TIL BROOKLYN!'') and pacing is perfect and everyone gets a chance to show off their stuff. Special mention must go to Groot and Rocket working together to take out almost half the room with only their teamwork and skills. The visual of Groot's elongated arm running through enemies with his best friend and father figure clambering along and around it and leaping high into the air with a brilliant grin on his face as he guns down everyone in sight is downright therapeutic to witness.
- A bonus for fans of Batista's WWE years, you see Drax hit a Batista Bomb on one of the mooks during said scene.
- This is the first time throughout the film the Guardians are all together, having spent the entire film separated thanks to Rocket's injuries and Nebula, Drax, and Mantis' capture. Fridge Awesomeness kicks in when one realizes that the High Evolutionary only ever got this far because the story’s circumstances kept them apart, and now that they're together again? Nothing he can send against them stands a chance. Indeed, the only real struggles they face for the rest of the film are related to evacuating the Arête, not any of the High Evolutionary's abortive attempts to kill them.
- For the first time in years, Rocket Raccoon comes face-to-face with the one responsible for his transformation from a normal raccoon into an Uplifted Animal. The High Evolutionary comes across as a frothing at the mouth madman, using his gravity powers to toss Rocket around like a rag doll, all while ranting furiously at Rocket and screaming insults at him. Rocket, who, throughout the past movies, has responded to even perceived insults by flying into a rage, is completely calm as he frees himself and offers his rebuttal, finally adopting his comic book codename.
High Evolutionary:
YOU!! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPE ME?! [
begins tossing Rocket with his powers]
NO!!! YOU THINK YOU HAVE SOME WORTH IN AND OF YOURSELF WITHOUT ME?!
NO!!!! YOU ARE AN ABOMINATION! NOTHING MORE THAN A STEP ON
MY PATH,
YOU FREAKISH LITTLE MONSTER! HOW
DARE YOU THINK YOU ARE MORE,
8! 9! P! 1! 3?!?!?![Rocket activates his anti-gravity boots, allowing him to land on his feet and draw his gun on the High Evolutionary who looks on in stunned terror.]Rocket: The name's Rocket. Rocket... [
cocks gun]
Raccoon. [
shoots him]
- What makes it especially awesome is that the High Evolutionary developed his gravity control tech to allow himself to be nigh unstoppable, especially after being viciously mauled by Rocket years prior. Meanwhile, Rocket's anti-gravity boots were just something he developed as a lark, but they allowed him to No-Sell the Evolutionary's powers entirely. It shows that Rocket is ten times the genius that the High Evolutionary could ever hope to be.
- The final assault on the High Evolutionary, with all the Guardians working together to deliver one hell of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. It easily brings the bastard down more than a peg. His death (or rather defeat) is definitely one of the most satisfying the MCU has given us in quite a long time. Bonus points for Gamora peeling off his flesh mask to show the true monster he is underneath.
- It's worth listing the blow-by-blow of how the team takes the High Evolutionary down. After all the misery he caused them, the Guardians are able to bring down one of their worst threats in less than twenty seconds.
- First, Rocket shoots him across the room, leading him to get back up and charge Rocket in a blind rage.
- This leaves him open to a sucker punch from Groot, who knocks him directly into Drax's arms.
- Drax bodyslams him, then punches him into the air, where Peter shoots him and halts his momentum.
- This leaves him open to get dropkicked back to the ground by Mantis, whereupon he's immediately shot again by Nebula into a wall.
- Before he can fall back to the ground, he's caught by Gamora, who swiftly runs him through with the Godslayer sword. Quite an appropriate way to defeat a self-declared god. And finally Gamora removes his mask revealing the real face, or what’s left of it anyway after Rocket was done with him.
- What makes this even better is that this scene is a brilliant metaphor for the High Evolutionary's character as a whole. The Latex Perfection that is his face is a fake, plastic mask that he shows to the public who are largely unaware of the depraved monster he truly is. The Guardians, the heroes of the story, peel that face away and reveal for all to see the true monstrosity that lies underneath. The Nightmare Face that Rocket left him with all those years ago is a physical representation of what he is and always has been.
- As the High Evolutionary tries to once again claim he was trying to make things perfect, Rocket's Armor-Piercing Response cuts through his bullshit once and for all with fifteen words:
- Cosmo the Space Dog manages to use her telekinesis to hold the High Evolutionary's asteroid-sized space station in place (with help from Mantis), saving hundreds if not thousands of children and animals.
- Kraglin finally mastering the Yaka arrow with all the speed and precision of a true Ravager, taking out most of the mutant animals and henchmen of the High Evolutionary single-handedly. Yondu would be proud (and he is).
- Not to be outdone, Cosmo rescues Kraglin from the one target he misses and rips out two pieces of debris, and crushes the henchman into paste. No wonder Kraglin calls her a good dog!
- Considering that Rocket would have died from his kill-switch had he needed to receive life-saving medical aid at any point in the past, the fact that he survived in a galaxy full of criminals and alien threats without ever having been badly injured—even despite being a young and tiny animal with no experience with technology beyond what his enhanced intelligence allowed him to gain behind the High Evolutionary's back—is itself a long-term moment of awesome.
- At the very end of the climax, Quill is the last to jump across from the High Evolutionary's crumbling fortress to Knowhere, but Cosmo's seal between the two breaks and Quill is stuck to suffocate in space. The others are horrified, and Groot reaches out his arms to no avail. Just when it seems the Guardians have lost another member of their family, Adam suddenly flies over and carries Quill to safety, fully completing his Heel–Face Turn.
- Minor one, but props to Jason Quill for living all the way to his nineties and still being in relatively good physical and cognitive health.
