Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

[FitzTheRuke]

(A) At least it wasn't The Rise of Skywalker?

Yeah, I know, Low Bar.

It's a better than average movie, and there are a lot of things I like about it. It's the best Marvel movie I've seen in years. But it's weaker than Guardians of the Galaxy 1. I'm not sure how it stacks up next to 2, although I did enjoy watching 3 more than 2.

Yeah, I agree with that!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I cant say I agree. I liked the second one a lot more. I feel like 3 was bogged down with way too much future building junk that Marvel likes to do these days. 3 was fine, I didnt dislike it, but it felt like a step back from the Guardians brand to me. Tried a little too hard, missed the beats, not all of them, but a lot of them felt forced. YMMV.

I actually don't think it had much of any "future building junk". With the sole possibility of a Legendary Star Lord TV show (or whatever they have planned) I think EVERYONE was being "written out" of future Marvel stuff.

It's not so much that it was setting up upcoming stuff - it's that it was trying to give you an idea as to where everyone's story continued on so that you could imagine it for yourself.

Now, Marvel may have other plans for some of those characters, IDK, but I really believe that there was almost no set-up done there. The opposite. It was a conclusion.

 

[payn]

I actually don't think it had much of any "future building junk". With the sole possibility of a Legendary Star Lord TV show (or whatever they have planned) I think EVERYONE was being "written out" of future Marvel stuff.

It's not so much that it was setting up upcoming stuff - it's that it was trying to give you an idea as to where everyone's story continued on so that you could imagine it for yourself.

Now, Marvel may have other plans for some of those characters, IDK, but I really believe that there was almost no set-up done there. The opposite. It was a conclusion.

I think they absolutely have plans for these characters. The whole movie's point was to torch hand off for "space avengers".

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I cant say I agree. I liked the second one a lot more. I feel like 3 was bogged down with way too much future building junk that Marvel likes to do these days. 3 was fine, I didnt dislike it, but it felt like a step back from the Guardians brand to me. Tried a little too hard, missed the beats, not all of them, but a lot of them felt forced. YMMV.

I've never been able to put my finger on why I don't enjoy 2 as much as 1, which isn't the same thing as saying 2 is a weaker movie. Maybe it says more about me than any the movie. I'm glad you do like it! YMMV indeed.

 

[payn]

I've never been able to put my finger on why I don't enjoy 2 as much as 1, which isn't the same thing as saying 2 is a weaker movie. Maybe it says more about me than any the movie. I'm glad you do like it! YMMV indeed.

You're not alone, lots of folks felt 2 was not as good as 1. I feel like I cant decide between them myself. Ego was far more interesting than Ronin was, but both movies felt great to me. 3 just felt good. A high bar set by some of, IMO, Marvels best.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think they absolutely have plans for these characters. The whole movie's point was to torch hand off for "space avengers".

I really don't think so. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that many (if not most) of the actors are DONE.

Plans change, of course. One of the things that movies and TV tend to do that fans tend to not be aware of is to make set-ups that no one has any plans to follow up on, and then follow up on them if there's 1) Immense fan pressure; 2) An idea by the creators; 3) Contracts in place or the possibility of getting the actors to sign them; AND 4) the Money Makes Sense. (The last being the biggest in the end).

 

[Ryujin]

You're not alone, lots of folks felt 2 was not as good as 1. I feel like I cant decide between them myself. Ego was far more interesting than Ronin was, but both movies felt great to me. 3 just felt good. A high bar set by some of, IMO, Marvels best.

There's something to be said about having a "straight man" for the comedians to play off against. I feel like #2 didn't have one. Even Nebula and Drax don't fit the bill.

 

[payn]

There's something to be said about having a "straight man" for the comedians to play off against. I feel like #2 didn't have one. Even Nebula and Drax don't fit the bill.

I felt like Nebula fit the bill perfectly.

I will say,

Spoiler: spoiler

I was very happy that new Gomorrah played the straight man and didnt join the crew and/or end up with Quill even thought seeds were planted.

 

[Older Beholder]

I liked the movie and the backstory, but that hallway fight went on forever (with no consequences to the protagonists!) and I just wanted it to end.

Ultimately I think the movie's greatest and most comic-bookish sin is that it pulled too many punches. Things that should have mattered enormously, that should have carried a lot of emotional weight, didn't. You can't watch Star Wars: A New Hope without realizing that you just watched a movie where billions of people got murdered when their planet blew up. But Guardians 3's tone expects you to forget about billions(?) of people dying because hundreds of animals like those from which the people were made got saved. They expect you to forget about presumably thousands of casualties on Knowhere from the hundreds or thousands of murderbots that attacked it (unless they all miserably failed at their murder mission?), just because Kraglin killed a dozen of the murderbots with the arrow and an assist from the dog.

I enjoyed the movie, but I can't help feeling like its unintended Broken Aesop (Broken Aesop - TV Tropes) is: Only Some Lives Matter. It doesn't sit well with me.

Or perhaps that’s the point. Animal testing is real. Planets being blown up by space weirdos, not so much. Maybe we’re meant to feel more for ‘Floor’ in contrast for a reason. I do think a couple of things undercut the theme, but the destruction of the planet wasn’t one of them.

I found some things in this movie to be emotionally devastating, far more than anything that happened in a galaxy far, far away. I don’t remember anybody being too worried about a planet blowing up in Star Wars, if anything people thought Darth Vader was cool, and he was redeemed two films later in a movie that was joked about for caring more about the death of a single Ewok.

I don’t think the audience and heroes aren’t meant to care about the alternate Earth, it’s done in a way to show the High Evolutionary doesn’t care, that all this is just disposable to him.

Gunn is the master of making silly stuff emotional and vice versa. Almost like the blue button is for red, the green button is for yellow, etc…

 

[Ryujin]

Or perhaps that’s the point. Animal testing is real. Planets being blown up by space weirdos, not so much. Maybe we’re meant to feel more for ‘Floor’ in contrast for a reason. I do think a couple of things undercut the theme, but the destruction of the planet wasn’t one of them.

I found some things in this movie to be emotionally devastating, far more than anything that happened in a galaxy far, far away. I don’t remember anybody being too worried about a planet blowing up in Star Wars, if anything people thought Darth Vader was cool, and he was redeemed two films later in a movie that was joked about for caring more about the death of a single Ewok.

I don’t think the audience and heroes aren’t meant to care about the alternate Earth, it’s done in a way to show the High Evolutionary doesn’t care, that all this is just disposable to him.

Gunn is the master of making silly stuff emotional and vice versa. Almost like the blue button is for red, the green button is for yellow, etc…

There's a reason why it's easier for a pilot to drop a load of bombs, than it is to shoot or stab someone.