The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is much better than the Star Wars Holiday Special, though it may not be as memorable. This is a simple story about an inconsequential adventure for Drax & Mantis, who actually work pretty well as a comedic duo. And since it's a short Christmas tale, problems are resolved with a wave (or touch) of the hand, and the ending is wrapped up nicely with a little bow. I do wish they hadn't tried to cram modern Christmas hits in every couple of minutes--that was a little distracting. Still, this is better than most of the stuff we've gotten in Phase 4 of the MCU.

I found this by chance on a streaming site the other day. I've only seen the first GOTG but I liked it so I watched this to see what it was like, especially being christmas themed as I am a huge christmas fan.

I loved the story, loved the christmas theme, loved the set decor, loved the feeling behind it all and making the legendary Kevin Bacon into a mythical figure. Having his real wife call him on the phone was a fab stroke of genius.

You might not love this but I doubt that there is anyone at all who will dislike it. It's non stop fun and entertaining from start to finish.

I think it's time I watched all GOTG films as soon as I get a weekend free.

This Christmas special is all I wanted it to be. A shot, (bitter)sweet special with usual Gunn humor. This captures the Christmas spirit perfectly.

This short also explores themes of fatherhood, friendship and contains some songs too without overstaying its welcome.

Mentis takes lead in this, which is great because she doesn't get much chance to shine. Drax is great as always. You can see that this does not bother itself with it being connected to the rest of MCU, not even its own sequel. Which is rare as for the rest of MCU stock. The animations used in this is also good.

Also, Kevin Bacon.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special ends phase 4 on a satisfying high, delivering a short piece of festive fun that still has all the humour and emotional weight expected of a James Gunn project and a reminder that he is/was one of the best filmmakers Marvel had.

The Guardians are all great in their small roles but it's absolutely Pom Klementieff's show and she finally gets to shine as Mantis, bringing new layers to her character and still having a really funny rapport with Dave Bautista. Kevin Bacon fits in perfectly, more than ready to indulge in the silliness and send up.

James Gunn's direction is excellent, it has more in common with his direction on Peacemaker and Super than the previous films and returns the MCU to a practical and lived in feel not properly seen since phase 1, which nicely counterbalances the shoddy CG. The soundtrack is terrific too, a solid selection of festive tunes that are implemented really well.

Pom Klementieff is given more screen time in this special than in all her other MCU appearances combined, and she makes Mantis the perfect point of view character for this Christmas special. She is both hilarious and heart-warming as she struggles to give Peter Quill the perfect Christmas, and her sincerity and chaotic energy are what carries this story. As alien abduction stories go, this one was pretty funny, and surprisingly touching. It still had all the corny Christmas special elements you'd expect - absurd musical numbers, references to old movies, and everyone learning the true meaning of American Christmas - getting presents. If they made another one next year, I'd watch it.