“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (2023)
“It really is good to have friends”.
“It really is good to have friends”.
In the lead up to venturing to my local cinema yesterday with my two favourite people in all the world, my beautiful son laid out THE most comprehensive backstory to the entire series so far, even going so far as to include the “Christmas Special” these much loved galaxy guardians released, together with the songs included and of course, the inclusion of a certain Kevin Bacon. Quite frankly his top to tail detailing of the story so far was out of this world, incredibly funny, entertaining and far better than the thousand or so words I penned from a galaxy far, far away a few years ago and which is naturally linked at the denouement to this article.
Armed with the knowledge of the upcoming songs expected within this third and seemingly final volume from our much loved guardians, the simple question remained:
When would they include the acoustic version of “Creep” by Radiohead?
Longer term readers of my cinematic ramblings may not be aware of my overwhelming adoration for the genre twisting geniuses from Oxford, England nor my obsession for their music. So you’ll be blissfully unaware of this musical fact but as equally unaware as I was, until just two days ago, that the song that propelled the Oxford band into the stratosphere three long decades ago, was even in the film.
I was excited enough as it was that there was a third instalment in the franchise and watching the second film with my two favourite people in all the world at the cinema six years ago remains a truly joyous memory. But with tickets purchased for an “early screening” here in the UK and my son brilliantly bringing me completely up to date on the saga so far (he clearly doesn’t read my film articles and who could blame him?), he struck me with a musical thunderbolt from the blue — “Creep” by Radiohead was featured in the film.
Rejoice I said.
Rejoice!
As we sat talking to largely drone out the interminable wait for the adverts to end and our musical heroes to enter the screen, I stated to my son that they would use a snippet, no more, of a Radiohead song that I hold so dear to my musical heart, and the acoustic and family friendly version without the swear words that isn’t as good as the original, but is still sublimely magnificent. I also said they’d use it sparingly as the leader of our gang mourned the death of his love and he’d be framed looking wistfully across the universe and the galaxies and stars he and his friends patrol.
How wrong could I be?
Instead, and rather marvellously, they played the entire song over the opening credits (the opening credits!) and 150 minutes later as the closing credits rolled and we watched the post-credit “stings” and possible set-up for the fourth instalment of this entertaining saga, the filmmakers ended their latest intergalactic opus with “Badlands” by Bruce Springsteen.
From Radiohead to Springsteen. What more could you possibly want?
Spoilers? You’ve come to the wrong place my film loving friend. Spoilers are for the birds, a symptom of the lazy internet age where everything has to be explained. Make up your own damn mind and equally don’t take my word for it either.
The latest instalment from our galaxy guarding friends is Rocket’s story but it’s all of our stories too. To seek your own life path but to keep your friends tightly in your heart and soul and to never forget the place they hold there. That there has to be a creator but whomever they shall be or have been is not to be trusted. Humanity wins but friendship, love and compassion trumps all and that we’re all fallible and need help even when we feel we can’t ask for it.
It really is good to have friends, and I was lucky to see this yesterday with my two favourite people in all the world and they sobbed and cheered and were lit up like fireworks as we left the darkness of our local cinema.
Another beautiful memory made thanks to the magic of cinema.
From Radiohead to Springsteen. What more could you possibly want?
Thanks for reading. There are a wealth of further spoiler free film articles within my “Film” library here but as mentioned above, here are my original thoughts on the first two films in this entertaining musical saga:
James Gunn — Guardians of the Galaxy
Volumes 1 and 2 Remastered and Trimmed from original publication in May 2017medium.com