Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Once more with feeling.
Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, consciousness is carried by animals — a plane of “anthropomorphic animal galaxy”. The story fights on E8/E11/E13 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing identity, mortality, technology, exploitation, family.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Transformers One (2024)E8/E11/E13 · rare rung · identity, technology
The Matrix (1999)E8/E13 · rare rung · identity, technology
Happy Feet (2006)E8/E13 · rare rung · identity
Underworld: Awakening (2012)E8/E13 · rare rung · identity, technology
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)E8/E13 · rare rung · technology
Jupiter Ascending (2015)E8/E13 · rare rung · exploitation, technologySame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)E12/E14 · rare rung · mortality, technology
Species III (2005)E6/E10 · rare rung · exploitation, technology
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)E6/E12 · rare rung · exploitation, technology
Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods (2014)E9/E12 · rare rung · exploitation, identity
The Animatrix (2003)E9/E12 · rare rung · identity, technology
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)E9/E10 · family, identityAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Ratchet & Clank (2016)consciousness in animals · galactic frontier
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (2011)consciousness in animals · dimension-hopping cartoon
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)consciousness in animals · chipmunk pop industry
James and the Giant Peach (1996)consciousness in animals · insect society
The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)consciousness in animals · dog narrator
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021)consciousness in animals · anthropomorphic gardenSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Companion (2025)consciousness in machines · exploitation, identity
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)consciousness carried elsewhere · exploitation, family
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)consciousness in machines · exploitation, identity
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)consciousness in aliens · family, identity
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)consciousness carried elsewhere · identity, mortality
Status Update (2018)consciousness in aliens · exploitation, identity
