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| The band of funny-looking characters are assembled before a uniquely colorful galactic backdrop on this poster for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 |
A previously unknown implement in Rocket Raccoon's body, (member of the Guardians of the Galaxy), is threatening to end his life within 48 hours. Star-Lord Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians will have to go back to Rocket's creator's HQ and steal the component needed to cancel his death.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is written and directed by great Missouri filmmaker James Gunn (Slither (2006)) as the 3rd and last film in his Guardians trilogy (2014; 2017) based on the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy comics.
The long and troubled gestation process for this film has undoubtedly contributed to the fireworks of invention, comedy, narrative and emotion that takes place on screen here in a stunningly spirited piece of mega-movie-making. Incredibly, Vol. 3 revolves around Rocket Raccoon's birth as an experiment animal, locked in with three other lovable animal friends, unaware of their hopeless fates as mere experimental ingredients for a hateful, cynical creator. Bradley Cooper (War Dogs (2016)) and Linda Cardellini (Austin Found (2017)) (voicing Lylla the otter with robotic arms) and the ambitious score by John Murphy (Kick-Ass (2010)), - along with the masterful animated visuals, - help make this at first bizarre storyline work wonders. The film grabs you emotionally with this dark deliverance tale, (I admit to (involuntarily) tearing up no less than 3 times during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.)
There's cheeky fun en masse, - Dave Bautista's (Dune (2021)) Drax is still highly amusing, but also Cosmo the space dog and Will Poulter's (Detroit (2017)) turn as the mean but also dumb golden boy Warlock are humorous. No less fun are the design inventions: Aliens, suits, a record number (23,000 across 1,000 actors) of prosthetics and so on alert your eyeballs to most every second of the film, as you simply have to look at these strange, wild (and often very funny) creations of invention.
Gunn brings back the musical sequences that his films are famous for, sometimes making Vol. 3 seem like a really good-looking, incredible music video. High-points include Beastie Boys' No Sleep till Brooklyn and Florence and the Machine's Dog Days Are Over, which end the film on a very thrilling and movingly positive high note.
The cast are all back with an excitement and wish to be here in this specific film that is palpable, as they pulled together with multitudes of fans to make Gunn's Vol. 3 happen. Also a major asset is Chukwudi Iwuji's (Dynasty (2019, TV-series)) villain The High Evolutionary, the creator scientist who creates and destroys with equal cool, never satisfied or affectionate about his creations. Iwudi's chilling character is among the strongest villains in comics adaptations and another majorly important leg for the film's success.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as created by Gunn, - it wouldn't have been like this with anyone else at the helm, - is a wild and expansive work of creative energy. It's a little much, yes, and it could definitely be argued to be too much. But then the awesome power of another sequence leaves the criticism void, and anyway it is perhaps a point in itself in this series of being member of a team, a band of friends and colleagues, something greater than one's own abilities and faults, - and in this way it is different from all the other much more individually focused superhero movies, - that it has to be too much. But Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is too much in the greatest way imaginable.
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2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
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Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 250 mil. $
Box office: 723.4 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success (has returned 2.89 times its cost to date)
[Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premiered 22 April (Disneyland Paris) and runs 150 minutes. Gunn helming a third Guardians film was announced around the release of the 2017 2nd film. But in July 2018, Disney fired Gunn for some old tweets with inauspicious jokes concerning rape and pedophilia. Gunn explained and took responsibility for the tweets but was fired nonetheless. Within days 300,000 fans had signed a petition to hire him back, and the cast of the first two films also came forward in strong support of rehiring him. In October 2018 Disney rehired him without announcing it publicly yet. Gunn in the meantime became involved with several other projects that demanded his attention, meaning that the Guardians film was delayed around 3 years due to the firing. Shooting took place from November 2021 - May 2022 in London, England and in Georgia. The film opened #1 to a 118.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and the next 3 still in the top 5 (#2-#3-#3-?), grossing so far 304.7 mil. $ (42.1 % of the total gross to date). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are China with 72.3 mil. $ (10 %) and the UK with 36 mil. $ (5 %). IMDb's users have rated the film in at #153 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Thing (1982) and Finding Nemo (2003). Gunn has been hired to head Marvel's competitor DC Comics coming movies and is set to return as director with Superman: Legacy (2025). Chris Pratt (Onward (2020)) returns in Garfield (2024); Cooper in Maestro (2023). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?
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