Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3

[Nick]

Nowadays this actually sounds like a very good thing. If the critics hate it, that means it will be good. The audience seems to have the completely opposite reaction of the critics nowadays (Ahem, the Mario Movie)

This has not been the case with the MCU though.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I'm going in with an open mind still, but I worry that if the James Gunn-directed finale to the Guardians of the Galaxy story doesn't even live up to tempered modern MCU expectations, the MCU franchise is done long-term. At least as we know it now. I wouldn't be surprised it there started to be reboot talks at that point.

Thor, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Guardians of the Galaxy have now all gotten movies since Endgame, and people can only consistently muster up excitement for maybe 3 of these.

 

[Nick]

I'm going in with an open mind still, but I worry that if the James Gunn-directed finale to the Guardians of the Galaxy story doesn't even live up to tempered modern MCU expectations, the MCU franchise is done long-term. At least as we know it now. I wouldn't be surprised it there started to be reboot talks at that point.

Thor, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Black Panther, and Guardians of the Galaxy have now all gotten movies since Endgame, and people can only consistently muster up excitement for maybe 3 of these.

See, I had excitement for this movie. The marketing has just been SOOOO BAD. The movie actually sounds like it's one I may like, but I worry audiences will be harsh (Snyderverse fans will likely review bomb) since the movie is supposedly not cheery like the first two movies and in that way subverts the expectations. I actually like my expectations being subverted as long as it's a good movie. I loved TLJ for what it did. I just hope it's good.

 

[grlhowl]

I'm going in with an open mind still, but I worry that if the James Gunn-directed finale to the Guardians of the Galaxy story doesn't even live up to tempered modern MCU expectations, the MCU franchise is done long-term. At least as we know it now. I wouldn't be surprised it there started to be reboot talks at that point.

I agree. I think the MCU has performed a way recently that makes it seem like the end could be near. If this performs well, I can see them mistaking interest in the most beloved MCU characters for a renewed interest in the franchise as a whole, and a bunch of greenlit projects as a result. And then the rest of the shows and movies this year (besides Loki maybe, he's also a beloved character) will underperform and a bunch of stuff will be cancelled again. I wonder what effect the strike will have on the MCU's future as well (though that's not the important part of the strike)

 

[fryoj]

They watered the MCU down with too much content. There's always been the "have to watch all of the movies" effect so you knew what was going on. When they had a new Disney+ show coming out every few months, and for characters a lot of people didn't know or necessarily cared about, it created fatigue. Couple that with some of the more popular characters getting killed off/wrote out, and you have even the big movies drawing less interest.

 

[Nick]

So surprisingly the RT score went up and stabilized around 80%. I was expecting it to go down as that’s normally how things happen. The first group of reviewers likes it most and then second group comes and likes it even less and etc, etc.

Watching some videos with some of my favorite reviewers, it seems to be a fun movie that fans and the gp at large will enjoy.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah the reviewers I watch seemed to like it

Glad it will make GOTG trilogy into sometime people talk about.

 

[Blue]

I enjoyed it. At times I wish it was a little more serious instead of having a joke ruin the moment, but overall I think it fits right alongside the other two.

 

[Nick]

For me, best MCU movie since NWH. Please don't take that to mean it's as good as NWH, but simply that among Phase Four and Five films, i'd place this as second best. In many respects that's not saying a ton, but at least we're back on the right track a bit. This is a movie much like the other Guardians films where I feel like James Gunn did a great job mixing heart with humor. Fairly weak villain, but the Guardians are lovable enough that I was sort of able to forgive it?

I enjoyed it. At times I wish it was a little more serious instead of having a joke ruin the moment, but overall I think it fits right alongside the other two.

See this was my issue with Thor 4 because the humor in that was so far out there even from Thor 3, but as far as GotG 3 goes here, I didn't feel like it was uncharacteristic in how the "joke ruining the moment" points were utilized (of which I thought there weren't all that many thinking about it). I felt most jokes were well timed. There's really only one thing I wish had been taken more seriously in the movie and it's not something that wound up being played for a joke.

 

[SeventyOne]

For me, best MCU movie since NWH. Please don't take that to mean it's as good as NWH, but simply that among Phase Four and Five films, i'd place this as second best. In many respects that's not saying a ton, but at least we're back on the right track a bit. This is a movie much like the other Guardians films where I feel like James Gunn did a great job mixing heart with humor. Fairly weak villain, but the Guardians are lovable enough that I was sort of able to forgive it?

Apparently I liked it even more than you--easy top 10 MCU for me--but disagree with your points here. Every detail of this movie clearly "feels" like James Gunn wrote and directed it with his final vision in mind--that makes it a sharp contrast with the new Disney style of filming multiple plot points then cobbling a final movie together by committee. Gunn leaving them with a reminder how far off the right track they are.

Also I thought the main villain was great (and the secondary one grew on me). High Evolutionary actor did an amazing job considering 80% of his screen time was interacting with nonexistent CGI characters. And I thought his character was a subtle yet profound critique of modern society.

 

[MrBlonde]

Apparently I liked it even more than you--easy top 10 MCU for me--but disagree with your points here. Every detail of this movie clearly "feels" like James Gunn wrote and directed it with his final vision in mind--that makes it a sharp contrast with the new Disney style of filming multiple plot points then cobbling a final movie together by committee. Gunn leaving them with a reminder how far off the right track they are.

Also I thought the main villain was great (and the secondary one grew on me). High Evolutionary actor did an amazing job considering 80% of his screen time was interacting with nonexistent CGI characters. And I thought his character was a subtle yet profound critique of modern society.

This definitely felt like James Gunn putting a bow on his little corner of the MCU, and I really enjoyed it. It had plenty of heart and I cared about the characters. I'm sure there's things to nitpick, but it's great feeling like this part of the MCU has it's good balance tone of character-based humor/growth, genuine emotion, and an occasional shot reminding you he can direct horror.

I was thinking to myself how hard it must've been for HE's actor to play against so much CG, but he had a strong presence as he unraveled.

This felt very much like a victory lap for James Gunn, but I think he earned it with his work here. The biggest things that took me out of the story were his cameos of his friends, but it was more of a chuckling to myself vs. ruining the movie. This wasn't my favorite of the 3 nor was it the funniest, and I'm happy to have seen the ride of this particular team come to its fully satisfying and complete stop.

 

[Nick]

Apparently I liked it even more than you--easy top 10 MCU for me--but disagree with your points here. Every detail of this movie clearly "feels" like James Gunn wrote and directed it with his final vision in mind--that makes it a sharp contrast with the new Disney style of filming multiple plot points then cobbling a final movie together by committee. Gunn leaving them with a reminder how far off the right track they are.

Also I thought the main villain was great (and the secondary one grew on me). High Evolutionary actor did an amazing job considering 80% of his screen time was interacting with nonexistent CGI characters. And I thought his character was a subtle yet profound critique of modern society.

Oh I agree it felt like a Gunn movie in a great way.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I honestly thought they really were going to kill off Quill in the finale.

One of the better MCU entries, though I don’t get the deal with Adam Warlock.

 

[rageofthegods]

How was the Oppenheimer trailer.

 

[Nick]

I honestly thought they really were going to kill off Quill in the finale.

One of the better MCU entries, though I don’t get the deal with Adam Warlock.

Spoiler

Warlock was mostly used as a decoy in this movie and they didn’t build his character at all, which was fine I guess since we we’re focusing on main players anyways.

Plus, Warlock is a member of the Guardians in the comics and will be on the new team.

 

[Nick]

Apparently I liked it even more than you--easy top 10 MCU for me

Thinking about it a little more, this was a very good movie and I highly enjoyed it which is refreshing to say about an MCU film though. I'm not even sure what my Top 10 would be. Probably something like this (no particular order):

• Iron Man
• Avengers
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Black Panther
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Avengers: Endgame
• Captain America: Civil War

That's ten films in no particular order. I could however see myself replacing something like Homecoming with GotG 3 and be totally comfortable with that. Like I said though, even with the Multiverse Saga being what it is currently, a Top 10 MCU list is still really hard due to how good things used to consistently be.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed immensely.
This is what ant man should have been..... This is what Kang should have been like, this makes ant man look as bad as Batman and Robin. Holy cow, wow, I can't believe both movies came out close to each other from the same studio

Yes, easily the best marvel movie in years. Much better than all the Disney marvel tv shows, full of heart, full of humor, great action, great character moments. I really loved it. All characters were great. Everyone did great.
I personally enjoyed all the humor. It was much better humor than the humor that ant man 3 had or stuff like she hulk. It made me laugh a lot.
Nebula was my favorite character this time around. She had a lot of heart and I loved seeing this softer side of her. This caring side. I really loved her. There are so many subtle touching moments with her.

The plot was a little generic, but it was much better than anything marvel has done recently, this was much better than guardians 2.
Makes me really sad that this era and this group is over
I'm glad it was great, I'm sad it's over. I will miss them. ( Who knows what the future will bring)
I never cared about when the avengers ended in end game, ( I really didn't care when everything kinda ended) but here, I wish we had more.

 

[SeventyOne]

How was the Oppenheimer trailer.

Saw it in (real) IMAX. Will be buying my ticket as soon as available. Not as much of a Nolan fan boy as I once was, but this is the strongest contender I've seen for movie of the year.

I honestly thought they really were going to kill off Quill in the finale.

One of the better MCU entries, though I don’t get the deal with Adam Warlock.

Spoiler

Theory I've seen is that he was the original villain (hence the teaser in V2), with Rocket's origin supposed to be a TV show or maybe a spin-off movie. When Gunn fired/rehired, became clear he could/would only do one more movie, so jammed two or three stories into one. Agreed Warlock is the weakest link but, as I said, he grew on me.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Avengers (1, 3, 4), Iron Man 1, Winter Soldier, both GotGs and NWH are all very clearly above the rest of the MCU for me.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I’ll post more thoughts later

I don’t know I liked the Rocket stuff but everything else….I didn’t think the music choices were near as strong as his other projects and just generally found the film too long

Glad people loved it but to me it was the weakest of the three films