You mean, besides looking like he stole Iron Man's armor and the "trendy" haircut?  There just isn't anything "Starlin" about him, which makes him seem less epic.  He looks like he could be anyone, from that gold-skinned race, not WARLOCK!

I think they should have kept him in the chamber for another 2 minutes.

Other than that, I felt much the same as Slam Bradley - they might have gone to the well one time too many with this one. However, I did find it a little more appealing than the Christmas special preview, which didn't click with me at all, for some reason, so there's still a chance I might see this one, without expecting too much from it.

I guess I missed Warlock.

Looks entertaining enough. I loved the first film, second was ok.

Well, I wasn't expecting them to touch The Universal Church of Truth.

Saw it last night. Definitely felt like the quality dropped after having loved the first two. Whatever the first two films did organically, this one continualy tried to force. It had a lot of great moments, but it all felt so very very forced.


Relatively spoiler-free details...

Biggest negatives: High Evolutionary storyline had the potential to be very rich and nuanced but went 2-dimensional by the final act, seemed totally arbitrary whether damage taken by a good guy was near-lethal or forgotten a second later, our heroes were downright cold-blooded murderers at times (especially once near the end), was that really the best use of Nathan Fillian in the MCU? Rocket's backstory was so very very forced and cliche, the ending was so very very forced and inorganic for our characters (especially Peter's choice. Contrast that with his decision in vol. 2), Adam Warlock was utterly wasted as a one-note joke, one scene (its obvious when you see it) was clearly shot after the special effects department had gone home for the holidays, and it's no fun watching a team spend a whole film yelling at and hating each other when the whole point of the first one was that they were a family.

Biggest positives: whereas Gamora and Drax were pretty one-note and forgettable in volumes 1 and 2, they shone in this one. Apparently, this one was really supposed to be about Rocket, but they stole his show. Cosmo was amazing. High Evolutionary was fantastic until the script turned him into a conventional B villain in the final act. Howard the Duck got another cameo. Awesome soundtrack. Final post-credit scene was far more satisfying than it should have been.


I'll agree with Slam that this was the first film I've seen in a while to feel like a true Marvel-level film, but it wasn't a Guardians-level film for me, as I consider the first two to be some of the finest Marvel films yet.

Exactly my feeling after seeing it this afternoon!

This being the final Guardians movie, I was very worried about cheap pathos that would feel tacked-on. But you're right, that ending was very un-Hollywoodish, and all the better for it.

I was surprised (pleasantly so) by how often the film managed to genuinely move me. And I'm a cynical sort of fellow.

After his first few scenes I thought the MCU Warlock was a waste of a good character, but the ending managed to redeem him to some extent. He's clearly not the Roy Thomas or the Jim Starlin Warlock, but he's now pretty close to the Annihilaton: conquest one. Not sure I'd be eager to see more of him, but his part in this film was all right in the end.

Things I particularly enjoyed in the movie included the way our heroes didn't mess around; the corridor fight when they board the High Evolutionary's ship would have been very bloody had the bad guys had blood. (As it is, it was pretty ichory). This was nicely contrasted with Rocket's refusal to go through a cold-blooded execution; our heroes don't hesitate to do what's necessary, but they have moral standards.

I wish the High Evolutionary had worn something more like his red and white armor; another villain in a black and purple coat felt like déjà vu. Apart from that, he was suitably despicable! Scary but not ridiculous.

That the Sovereign would be a creation of the High Evolutionary was a nice twist. It was not necessary, but somehow made sense considering the Sovereign's ability to create artificial life forms, their homogeneity and the apparent simplicity of their society. Granted, they were little more than a plot device in Vol. 2 and didn't require much complexity, but their being pawns in someone else's game explains their one-dimensionality.

I liked the theological conundrum that was stealthily woven into the script: is it right for a god to wipe out his creation if he deems it imperfect? I'm surprised that Disney even dared to go there.

Finally, my wish was granted: Cosmo was shown as the hero that he is! (Well, as she is in the movie). Cosmo was by far my favourite new comic-book hero of the early 2000s: someone whose very nature guarantees that they will be good, because they're Man's best friend. Cosmo is a good dog! Glad she's now part of the new team and hopefully we'll see more of her in the future.