I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in a 141-person Dolby Cinema at AMC Theater on Thursday, May 4th, at 7:15 CT. This is the first time in probably over a decade that I have gone to see a brand-new movie in a sold-out theater. Of course, I’ve seen the mid-reviews, but this is one of the reasons why I got an A-List for the summer.
Trailers Seen
- Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning: Part One (July 12)
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (November 17)
- Gran Turismo (August 11)
- Dune: Part Two (November 3)
- Oppenheimer (New Trailer Not Online) (July 21)
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Second Trailer) (June 7)
- Elementals (June 16)
- The Little Mermaid (May 26)
- The Marvels (November 10)
Timing
- Start Time: 7:15
- Last Trailer End: 7:42
- Start of Movie (after Dolby Cinema & Kidman): 7:45
- End of Movie: 10:05
- Mid-Credit Scene: 10:07
- Credit Scene: 10:04
- End of Credits: 10:05
Movie Start Delay (Dolby Cinema): 30m
Runtime: 2h29m
Non-Credit Runtime: 2h20m
Brief Review
Slate originally titled their article, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is nearly 150 minutes of animal torture.” This statement is ridiculous. There are no actual scenes of animal torture. Animal torture has always been implied in the Guardians franchise, so this should be no surprise to viewers. I expected to see a graphic scene where Rocket is torn apart and put back together because of all the negative feedback, but nothing even close ever happens.
Do characters in the movie die that you have grown attached to? Sure, it makes the film powerful. The author even says the same. This is Rocket’s origin story and a great way to conclude the series.
The second act delivers a solid comedy set piece, and the jokes throughout the movie mostly land. The flashbacks are well-spaced and genuinely tell a full second story. It felt like at least 15 minutes of the film was re-telling Rocket’s tale.
I felt all the characters got a proper send-off and would have loved to see more Warlock. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was also a soft disappointment.
Scores
*updated scores after complete family viewing the following day
Tom: 7.5/10
Mandy: 8/10
14-year-old: 8.5/10
11-year-old: 9.5/10
Average: 8.4/10
