Directed by James Gunn, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special follows the rag-tag team of space-traveling heroes after the events of Thor: Love and Thunder, who are now back on the world of Knowhere. It’s almost Christmas time on Earth but Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) has been feeling very down as the event approaches, mainly due to the absence of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and not having celebrated the event properly in many years. To make this Christmas special for Quill, the rest of the Guardians, mainly Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), head to Earth in search of the perfect present.
This is the second holiday special presentation, and the epilogue, of the MCU Phase 4 of the MCU, which is intended to conclude the phase on a lighter, fun, and heartwarming note. What started off as a simple idea by James Gunn became an absolute gem that is a beautiful addition to the story of the Guardians and a perfect treat for the Holiday Season.
This film promised heart, humor, and holiday cheer and that’s exactly what you get with this small-scale misadventure featuring our favorite galactic crew. This special does indeed set things up for the upcoming Volume 3 but at the same time is very much its own self-contained low stake story that just goes all out on its premise and allows for some great character development in the crew, especially for the main leads, Drax and Mantis.
The duo gets their own time to shine with lots of laughs and heart. Dave Bautista delivers most of the laughs and Pom Klementieff delivers most of the heart, but the one who truly stood out the most was Mantis who receives major character development in this special, especially after a major reveal is made that changes everything we thought we knew about her and her relationship with the team. This reveal not only makes for a huge setup for Volume 3 but also adds so much Mantis’ character, as does everything else in this special. She truly got to kick ass in terms of action and really step up, which I absolutely loved.
Everyone else does a great job with their returning roles and we also got some surprise faces in this special with fun little cameos and new inclusions like Cosmo the space dog, voiced by Maria Bakalova. We also get a fictionalized version of Kevin Bacon who was also a fantastic addition and focus for this special. I had no idea what to expect with his role in this crazy story but it was absolutely brilliant and Kevin clearly was having a total blast.
Like Werewolf by Night, the narrative is simple and gets straight to the point but does so in an effective way, delivering big laughs and many emotional scenes to make your heart melt. It’s a Christmas misadventure full of great surprises and definitely one that cements itself as an annual Holiday watch.
What surprised me most about this special was how much effort went into all the technical aspects including the action, the effects (both practical and CGI), the visuals, and even the cinematography. Again like Werewolf by Night, this felt like a film meant for theaters and was given so much more effort than expected.
Normally franchise Christmas specials aren’t well-directed or well-written but that was not the case here. James Gunn put full effort into crafting this special making it as wild and heartfelt as possible showing how truly talented of a director and writer he is. At this point, anything he touches is pure gold.
And as expected with most projects by James Gunn you get a great soundtrack with a great score by composer John Murphy and a fun collection of Christmas songs by various bands. The best song of the lot is the one James Gunn wrote himself, played by the band the Old 97’s, who star in the film as an alien band that misinterprets what Christmas is, leading to a darkly hilarious Christmas song that had me laughing very hard.
This Holiday Special is absolutely worth watching as it is an important chapter in the ongoing story of the Guardians as well as a very heartwarming parting gift from Phase 4 that ends things on a high note. Thank you James Gunn for delivering us a perfect gift that we shall treasure for all time. I’m going to give The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special an A+ = 100.
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