Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | 2023 | PG-13 | – 1.7.5

Why is “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of flirting scenes, discussions of lost love, many battle sequences with explosions and fights with some blood and matter seen, many scenes of experimental procedures on animals and the resulting creatures locked in cages for later destruction, a few scenes of genetically altered children locked in cages, a character shown near death in a couple of scenes, discussions on the creation of perfect societies, many arguments, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When the Guardians’ HQ is attacked by a super powerful being and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) seems to be mortally wounded, his friends vow to do whatever it takes to save him. With Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Will Poulter, Chukwudi Iwuji, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rosenbaum, and the voices of Vin Diesel and Maria Bakalova. Directed by James Gunn. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Groot with translation by others and other lines of dialogue are spoken in an unidentified language without translation. [Running Time: 2:30]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man seems to be attracted to a woman and compliments her eyes; she yells at him to stop after telling him that her father implanted her eyes as punishment. A man professes his love for a woman and she rebuffs him. A man flirts with another man after a woman uses her powers of suggestion to make him think that he is hopelessly in love with him. Two creatures rub noses together tenderly.
► People talk about “touching” someone and others misunderstand it to be in a sexual sense, when that was not how it was intended.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man shoots flames engulfing a man seated in a chair and we see the resulting charred remains with skeletal details, blood and matter. A woman carrying a glowing sword stabs a man through the back and he collapses. A man holds another man at gunpoint, they argue, one man slams into the other man and they fall from a ledge barreling toward the ground until a tree creature sprouts viny wings and carries one man to the ground while dragging the other along the ground and into water where he lies dead; the other man uses a knife to pry a device out of the other man’s head leaving a bloody hole. A man yells and causes an explosion that kills everyone in the area (we see flames erupt). A woman stabs a man, pulls a flesh covering off his face, and leaves him to die. A man jumps off an exploding vessel and floats through space (we see his face and eyes freeze and his head puffs up) until he is guided to a ship where he is resuscitated and seems OK. Many guards are shot and we see goo spray from wounds; three men are zapped with an electric blast and a woman’s head is knocked back and her neck flops around unnaturally (she’s OK); a man uses a sword to cut a beast in half and we see the pieces separate with a squish.
► A powerful being blasts through glass and crashes into a genetically engineered raccoon, who is thrown back and slams onto the ground; a woman with a weapon on her arm tells the attacker to get on the ground, shoots him (throwing him through a wall), he gets back up and throws her, a large tree creature grabs the attacker and wraps vines around him as he flies into the air (the severed head of the tree crashes to the ground later); the attacker breaks a woman’s arm (we hear it snap and see it bend unnaturally) and we later see her with all her limbs bent unnaturally (we hear cracking as she straightens them), and a genetically engineered raccoon is shot and gasps for air (we see a bloody wound on its chest and it foams at the mouth).
► A genetically engineered creature is shot in the back and falls dead as a genetically engineered raccoon yells and cries and a man mocks it; the genetically engineered raccoon attacks the man, slashing him on the face repeatedly and shoots guards as they enter the room and shoot at the raccoon; we later see that two other genetically engineered creatures were shot and killed (we see blood on their bodies). A woman is attacked by a hybrid “war pig” security guard and they fight with throws and strikes; a man later twists the guard’s head off and it collapses (we see the severed head on the ground). Two people fight with several guards in a room and we see some being thrown and others being slashed; an explosive is thrown and people are pinned under rubble with some lying motionless.
► A small turtle is placed in a containment tube where it transforms, becomes larger, developing non-turtle features and rages pounding on the wall of the tube before it is incinerated; we see a few similar scenes with different animals. A giant vessel separates from a planet causing the ground to crumble and causes explosions. Three characters are thrown in a blast. Three characters are dropped into a cell and we hear their bones crunch when they land hard on the floor. Three giant creatures with many mouths filled with teeth and tentacles approach and threaten three people in a cave. A dog uses its telepathy powers to slam two large slabs of cement together crushing a beast between them. A woman is pushed out of a crashing vessel and onto the ground. A man with superpowers roars, his hands burst into flames and he collapses on the ground.
► A man is shot in the chest and thrown back (we see a smoldering spot on his chest and he gasps for air; he is shot again in the back and he falls to the ground). A woman is shot and she falls to the ground spitting black goo. A powerful being is slammed against a wall and pressed into it by another powerful being. A woman holds a gun to another woman’s head. Armed security guards surround several people, two people fight with several guards and one holds a gun to a woman’s head as she is led out of the area. A woman in a control room is shot and she falls to the floor screaming with a bloody wound on her leg. Three characters stand outside a vessel and begin to gasp for air and freeze as they enter space unprotected; one character breaks the door open and they get inside to safety.
► Several people try to resuscitate a wounded genetically engineered raccoon, they attach a medical pack to its chest and it thrashes and sparks fly. Several scenes show animals and modified animals in cages and one scene shows a human hand reaching into the cage to take a raccoon kit out (it looks very frightened). Many children are shown locked in cages in a dark area in a few scenes (implied that they have been genetically modified in some manner). A raccoon kit is tossed into a cage after having experiments conducted on it; it says, “hurts,” as other modified animals try to calm it. A man yells and stumbles into a room carrying a cage filled with animals that are put into containment tubes where they undergo transformations; he later orders the creatures to be incinerated and the brain of a genetically engineered raccoon to be removed and preserved. A character flatlines and another character does chest compression to try to revive it. Many animals locked in cages cry and whimper in a few scenes.
► A man whistles and a self-propelled arrow sails around a crowded area knocking into objects and eventually stabbing a woman in the chest; she removes the arrow and does not appear injured.
► A flying vessel readies its cannons and shoots at another vessel: several vessels fight each other and we see attacking forces breaking open the hull of one vessel. A flying vessel breaks through several stretchy protective shields around another vessel until it is struck by energy blasts; electricity bounces through the vessel as it is boarded by characters called Ravagers and they surround the members of the crew. Several armed guards enter a containment room where five others are hiding and they yell at each other; one says, “I’m gonna go to jail for murder.” A flying vessel crashes into another flying vessel to retrieve five people and they escape. Many hybrid creatures move toward a flying vessel and seem alarmed, they throw rocks at the people onboard, a little girl throws a ball to one of the characters and he throws it back, hitting the child hard in the head and knocking her down. A hybrid creature is shown hitting another with a bat and the struck creature slams against a dumpster. A man strikes the rider of a motorcycle throwing him to the ground and steals the motorcycle. A man crashes into garbage cans and lurches down the street in a car when he drives for the first time. A genetically engineered raccoon soars away in a space vessel while being shot at. Many beasts charge like a stampede over a hill and toward a town where a few guardians await and prepare to fend them off.
► A woman shoves a man hard against a wall, yells at him and storms away. A woman yells, “Don’t you ever think,” at another character. A man and a woman argue in many scenes with yelling and some shoving. Two women argue in several scenes. A man says, “Everyone around me dies.” Two women greet each other with grunts. A man says that he watched his mother die in front of him when he was 8 years old. A man says, “I made a [scatological term deleted] shaped like a fish.” People talk about whether another person is dead or not in several scenes. A man is referred to as the “High Evolutionary.”
► A character’s face seems to be flesh stretched and pinned on the side of his head (we see the stretched flesh) and we later see him without the skin and bloody exposed bone and an eyeball are visible. Humanoid characters are shown with scarification on their faces and bodies, some have metallic teeth, and a couple of humanoids have golden skin with gold hair and their eyes are golden/yellow; one humanoid has antennae, humanoids are shown with a variety of skin colors and eye colors, a genetically engineered raccoon functions as a human, and a tree creature can shoot out tendrils from his limbs to grip things.
► A woman is shown in a bathroom stall (we see her clothed legs below the knee and a piece of toilet paper falls to the floor when she stands up). A creature urinates and we see the stream. Five people land on a planet and bounce as they try to walk across its spongy surface.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 6 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 15 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiots, grimy, bad dog, mopey, dumb [anatomical term deleted], maniac, creep, liability, big dumb clown, purple nurple piece of [scatological term deleted], sick, beautiful numskulls, whack job, moron, twit, super [scatological term deleted], medley of mistakes, stupid, subtle, ridiculous, lost puppy, professional thief, monster, baby, bro), exclamations (dang, freaked out, friggin, frickin, are you kidding me, there’s something wrong with him, oh my gosh, oh no, shut-up, there’s the rub), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. God, oh my God, there is no God, for God’s sake). | profanity glossary |

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 SUBSTANCE USE

 – A hybrid creature seems to be selling drugs to other hybrid creatures in an alley and the drug is referred to as selling meth later. A man in what looks like a bar appears inebriated when we see him with his head on a table and he stumbles and slurs his words when he gets up; another character carries him out of the bar and it is implied that this has happened before.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Grief, lost love, friendship, death of loved ones, sacrifice, evolution, greed, ignorance, bigotry, perfection.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 MESSAGE

 – It’s good to have friends.