Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

bnt

Karen Gillan has posted a "week in the life" video about the filming of GotG3. It's about as "all access" as you can get, OK now that the film is out. She says it contains some spoilers, but if there were, I didn't understand them!

https://youtu.be/yWQC0sy-rPQ

pixelburp

With some major releases coming out these last weekends, I imagine the box office will Peter out from the $678 million it's currently at. The lowest of the three Guardians' films but still what I'd call a reasonable haul given the relative state of the MCU and its release methods.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120646856#Comment_120646856

Gotta respect the professional attitude of Gillan, Saldana and Batista. They always seemed quite enthused about their roles while enduring those hours of make-up. Worth noting Jennifer Lawrence effectively hobbled the X-Men franchise through her refusal to sit for her own (even if it was sometimes full body).

Foxtrol

$820m and finally slowing down.

Beat the original but wont have the legs for Vol 2.

Fantastic performance given the early fear mongering and box office competition

pixelburp

It has had more staying power than I'd have thought, but equally it has had good word of mouth; that always does half the work to keep any film alive in the cinemas.

Said it before but give talented people space to make a good movie, and the end result is success.

razorblunt

Very enjoyable. The 2.5 hours fly by.

They kind of neutered Adam Warlock from the beginning though which felt like a bolt on more than anything.

Still a great ending to the Trilogy and lots of loose ends tied up satisfactorily.

Badlands for the credits. Got to love it.

Lewis_Benson

Guardians was a good fillum.

Greyfox

Just finished this, easily the best film of 2023 so far. Great fun from start to finish, Rockets backstory was excellent and even a little moving.

TheIrishGrover

Finally saw this yesterday. Pretty good. Rocket's backstory was quite heartbreaking. A good bit more serious and angrier than the others (To be expected, given the storyline). I do think some younger children might have a bit of a hard time so just be aware.

I didn't mind the treatment of Adam Warlock. I have never read the comics and my only knowledge of him was from the recent game. However I know he is quite an important character and I defer to people more knowledgeable about his character to judge if he has been mistreated. All I will say is that, knowing nothing, I thought he was a fun character..... But yes, I will agree that he did seem to be an add-on and was really only there to introduce another character/franachise. It was definitely a good end to the trilogy while still more avenues to explore.

Spoiler Warning

For some reason I really liked the scene with Gamora rejoining the Ravegers - Them welcoming her back. They wanted her there, they liked her, she wanted to be there and liked them. I don't know why I liked that scene so much - Just a nice scene showing her at peace I suppose.

With the latest Phase stumbling and unfocused, this really did feel to me like the final wind down of the first few phases:Infinity War, No Way Home (I know not MCU but you know), this, Thor fizzeling out. Last Ant-Man did nothing for me and I thought Dr Strange was OK but forgettable. And the series only mildly interesting. Loki was pretty good, as was Falcoln & The Winter Soldier. Hawkeye was fun but never got into Ms Marvel (Must give it another go) and the last episode of She-Hulk had SUCH an awkward shoe-horning in of a Hulk movie/spinoff/whatever that I thought initially it was some meta joke (Although I loved the chemistry between She-Hulk and Daredevil)

Si I kind of take this as almost a "Yeah, it's been a fun 10+ years folks. Now everything is wrapped up nicely and I have no real interest in the Next Generation (With the possible exception of the next Captain America). I'll catch the rest on D+

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829059#Comment_120829059

I think the Gamora plot line was an absolutely fleet bit of writing that stepped around the comic book nonsense that forced Gunn to work around - given Gamora wasn't the one he worked with in Guardians Volume 2, all his writing basically junked. Peter's little monologue about that in an elevator sounding like Gunn ranting. It also showed a surprisingly nuanced and mature capper to the Peter / Gamora plot line. In that....

Spoiler Warning

It didn't force them back together but allowed both parties to grow, and part as friends who respected and liked each other. A dozen different Hollywood scripts would have had a One True Love angle, but Gunn showed smarts to let each other show some self-awareness: Peter got to grow up and stop acting like a selfish, love-sick teenager; while Gamora got to find her tribe and learn the value of caring for others, and defending those who can't.

My head-canon still put Peter & Nebula together, 'cos I remain convinced there was something there, especially from the latter!

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829161#Comment_120829161

From what I remember, the Russo's ran Gamora being killed off by Gunn way in advance and he was fine with it, the only thing Gunn requested was that they include a scene where Peter and Gamora kiss, because they hadn't kissed in either of Gunn's films and now wouldn't be kissing in GOTG3. The original plan was actually for Gamora to die in GOTG2 but Gunn ended up changing it. So when they wanted her to die in Infinity War anyway he was fine with it, and then found a way to use the new version of her in GOTG3 to tell a different story with her.

I think the only thing Gunn really disagreed with was Peter hitting Thanos which allowed Thanos to beat them all on Titan, so there was definitely a bit of a jab from Gunn when referencing that.

TheIrishGrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829240#Comment_120829240

Yeah, that funny jab made me laugh

Mitch Connor

I wonder if Gunn wasn't leaving and the Guardians wasn't effectively ending, would Warlock have been very different. I can't imagine they introduced him in 2 with this being the plan. You could easily take him out of the movie and it would have been fine without much rework needed, imo. Feel like he was only in the movie because he was introduced in 2, and it would have been odder if he hadn't been a part of this.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829369#Comment_120829369

It is almost an unfortunate waste of Will Poulter if they don't end up doing something with him. He's a terrific actor. I'd say Gunn just setup Adam Warlock in GOTG2 without knowing how he was going to use him in GOTG3, and then there was just very little place for him in GOTG3 with the story Gunn ended up wanting to tell, but also had to include him in some way because he's set him up.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829240#Comment_120829240

Yeah, those claiming Disney forced Gamora to be killed off against the wishes of Gunn is just wrong and is a created narrative to beat up Disney/Marvel. The exact opposite is true, Gunn wanted to kill Gamora in GotG2, where Yondu ended up sacrificing himself, but it was Feige and Marvel who talked him out of it. Now whether Gunn wanted her coming back to life is another thing altogether...

Gunn actually did the best job of showing rather than telling us the impact to the characters of the blip and where Endgame left off - where the rest of the story isn't purely based off it, like Wandavision. The close relationship between Rocket and Nebula can be seen several times which wouldn't make much sense if you jumped straight from GotG2 to 3 but does when considering the two of them spent 5 years and dealt with the trauma of the others being gone during the Blip. We also see how close Gamora is with the Ravagers and it is safe to presume that is how she got off earth and who she has been with since.

pixelburp

My mention of Gamora's death was my own innocent belief in what had been reported as truth and just took it at that, not some invented rod to beat the MCU with. Studios and directors/writers diverge all the time, to calamitous degrees but it's not always about trying to find a narrative to boo Disney. Sometimes rumours start, wires get crossed.

If it's true then then hey, so be it but by all accounts I really liked where Gamora and Peter ended up by Guardian 3's cos it took the more mature road and made a refreshing change for a Hollywood always trying to make its leads kiss.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120831957#Comment_120831957

My point wasn't at you, it was broader that many are incredibly quick to jump on anything, real or manufactured, that fits into a narrative that they believe that Disney/Marvel either don't get on with directors/ are hard for directors to work with / force decisions on directors that they dont agree with / are the cause of most/all the issues with their movies.

It isn't surprising that you or most people didn't see the Gunn quotes regarding Gamora's death as news that puts Marvel/Disney in a good light doesn't get the clicks

Slydice

Gave this a watch. Thought it fit well with Gunns Guardians and that it was better than the second film. Felt like revisiting and feeling an earlier era in the MCU 🙂

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120831957#Comment_120831957

I totally get that. I only learned of the whole thing at the release of GOTG3 where Gunn was doing a bunch of interviews and mentioned it (and Gunn tends to call out as much falsely-reported info that gets thrown about as he can). But your point is still valid concerning a different issue; Quill's helmet and rocket boots. People were pointing out that Quill nearly died in space at the end, and questioned why didn't he use his helmet and boots to escape/survive, but Gunn pointed out they were destroyed in GOTG2. However, we see him have them (and use them repeatedly) in Infinity War and Endgame, because the Russo's didn't consider that Quill losing them was supposed to be symbolic and a permanent change, and he wasn't supposed to get them back.

Have to admit, I never saw Quill losing them in GOTG2 as being a big deal and it made total sense to me that he would have just had Rocket make him a new set inbetween GOTG2 and IW. So there were definitely things lost in translation when characters move back and forth between directors/writers with different aims/goals. The Gamora case was one where it actually worked out for the best, where the Russo's killing her but bringing back in a different version of her helped Gunn tell a different story with those characters and allowed them to move on. Whereas Quill's helmets and boots led to a bit of confusion.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120602180#Comment_120602180

I think the general rule is 2.5 times budgets to turn a profit.

With the multiverse etc I am sure there will be further captain america and iron man films at some stage.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120603106#Comment_120603106

This is spot on.

The vast vast majority of films based on video games have been god awful.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120852856#Comment_120852856

While no means a classic, I thought Uncharted was a bit of craic.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120853386#Comment_120853386

Not seen that one but views I heard were pretty poor/mixed, might check it out thanks. 400ish million off 120 budget isn't amazing so not sure much chance of a sequel.

pixelburp

The best game adaptation of recent years was also the most obscure with either medium: Werewolves Within was a lot of fun, had some good laughs. Almost zero budget but I liked it.

Homelander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120854614#Comment_120854614

Agreed, really enjoyed that one.

Acosta

The animal cruelty was a tough watch. Especially as you kind knew where it was heading, and it went on for a good while. Definitely not suitable for little kids, or maybe even myself for some of it. But it also give Rockets origin story a lot of weight, so I understand why he did it.

Overall though, it was excellent, as we have come to expect from James Gunn. I look forward to his future DC flicks. I also liked the ending a lot. Especially the lack of neatness to some of it, and that it wasn't over sentimental.

It's pity the last couple of Avengers movies interfered with the trilogy, but Gunn made the best of it. The second one is still my favourite.