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We waited to review Rocket until last so the most people would have the chance to see the movie first. Because full spoilers ahead!
As Rocket takes on more leadership duties within the
Guardians of the Galaxy, his past actions have consequences that come back to haunt him.
There's a line near the end of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 where someone says to Rocket "this story has been yours all along and you just didn't know it." They weren't just talking about this movie, but the entire Guardians saga: sure, we may have been introduced to Peter first, but Rocket and Groot were the first two to get together and form the core of the group, Rocket's the only one to survive Thanos, and now (last chance to avoid spoilers) Rocket's the one left to lead the team into the future. We once questioned whether Marvel could make audiences care about this little washing-rat, and now a decade later, we know not only can Marvel make us care, Marvel can make us cry.
Like all the other movie Rockets, this one gets a head with a jaw that looks like it should be articulated but isn't. The lower jaw is done as a separate piece from the rest of the head, then glued in place. Why? So they have an easier time making versions with open and closed mouths. Okay, then why doesn't this one come with both versions? Why do we only get the one with the mouth shut? It really should just be a little hinge or something.
We had a discussion, here, on whether or not Rocket belonged
on our list of spoilers on toys; I said he did, because the figure gives something away about the movie, just by looking at him; Shocka said he didn't, because that thing is in all the trailers and on all the posters, and anyway, you'll never even notice it until after you've already seen the movie. Can you guess what it is? His uniform. The Guardians don't wear their team uniforms until after Rocket gets attacked, so if the toy shows him wearing one, then clearly he's going to survive. What do you think?
The tiny little suit is dark blue and maroon,
and represents the first time Rocket has worn shoes. The logo on the chest is golden, and his fur is a muted brown with lighter stripes around the tail, on the cheeks, and over the nose. The interiors of his ears are the same color, which is backwards: raccoon ears are usually white along the edge, not in the center.
Wearing boots means this Rocket gets more articulation than previous versions: until now, his little ankles were too tiny to support
both swivel and hinge joints, but no longer! Like older ones, he moves with a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, swivel/hinge wrists (another small improvement), a balljointed torso, swivel/hinge tail, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and the aforementioned ankles. Too bad there's no jaw!
Rocket's only accessory is the same gun the original movie figre came with, just in black instead of brass. It's fine, but it wasn't really designed with this figure in mind, so it doesn't look quite as nice as it did back then.
As is tradition, Rocket being the smallest toy in the series means he gets the biggest Build-A-Figure piece: GOOD DOG Cosmo's entire body and head.
Rocket Raccoon is such the main character of the movie that he can spend most of it nearly dead, as still be the one driving the story forth. Guardians 3 may have had the longest gap yet between one MCU movie and its sequel, but clearly the wait was worth it.
-- 05/21/23
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