Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special streams on Disney+ on Nov. 25, 2022. Review by Alex Stedman.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special delivers all the Christmas cheer, sentiment, catchy musical numbers, and laugh-out-loud moments you could ask for in a quick 43 minutes. Kevin Bacon is hilarious as he plays himself in a bizarre situation, as is Dave Bautista’s Drax, but the real star here is Pom Klementieff as Mantis. James Gunn gives this former background character tons of layers, and Klementieff brings it all home with a charming performance. It all makes for a delightful addition to any MCU fan’s annual Christmas rotation.

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[Music] Leave it to James Gunn to close out the Mcu's phase 4 with what very well could Be a new Christmas classic the Guardians Of the Galaxy holiday special not only Shines a very welcome Spotlight on Palm Clementi of semantis but gives us some Unabashed Christmas cheer a couple of Earworms and of course some Guardian Style laughs after this in the Wonderfully spooky werewolf By Night Earlier this year it seems like Marvel Is onto something with seasonal specials Maybe if we gave Peter a really Wonderful Christmas gift it would make Him happy What kind of present Something special he will never forget What about someone special the holiday Special opens like so many Christmas Classics do with animation a quick Charmingly drawn sketch gives us a sad Story about how yandu ruined Christmas For Peter Quill and craglin and as Craglin recounts the story to the gang It pulls right on mantis heartstrings It's here that the humorously bizarre Premise reveals itself what if mantis And Drax Saved Christmas for Peter by Giving him the best gift of all his Favorite Earth hero Kevin Bacon we're Looking for the legendary Kevin Bacon We're looking for the legendary Kevin Bacon

Your voice is smaller I think maybe you Didn't hear it Peter and the rest of the Guardians don't get a ton of screen time In this refreshingly brisk 43-minute Special though the time that Chris Pratt Does get packs an emotional punch but The focus is squarely on mantis Drax and Hilariously Kevin Bacon as the former Two take a thoroughly entertaining and Ridiculous trip through Hollywood in Christmas time to find Peter's present The Comedy of mantis and drags together Never grows tiresome seriously I laughed Every time mantis yelled Drax is his Name and exasperation and bacon playing Himself throws pretension out the window I'm sorry guys He fully buys into this goofy concept While acting as an audience stand in Where necessary Bacon's involvement also Allows a sweet message about the power Of stories to sneak its way in but the Holiday special really is mantis's time To shine and clementev Rises to the Occasion just as Gunn took a formerly Despicable character in Peacemaker and Made him into a believably sympathetic Protagonist in his HBO Max series he Takes mantis previously mostly just a Background character and gives her more Complexity and layers with the help of Clementev's endearing performance as Mentioned earlier she and Batista are a Dream comedic Duo but clementev also

Does a stunning job as mantis acts as The specials anchor for its emotional Moments of which there are plenty it Certainly doesn't skimp on sentiment but Gunn knows how to punctuate weighty Moments with humor without undermining Them so it never gets too saccharine It's filled with scenes that Garner both Laughs and potential tears and it's Delightfully uncynical that lack of Cynicism extends to its full Embrace of The Christmas spirit from its brief Scenes of Animation to the show case of Beautiful Christmas lights to its Musical moments it's not hiding its Inspiration from past holiday Classics And it's all the better for it and by The way those musical numbers deliver Too it opens with a song that's both Endlessly catchy and funny as for the MCU of it all don't expect big Multiversal Shenanigans but the Guardians holiday special does manage to Weave in a big reveal without it feeling Shoehorned in something the MCU has Struggled with in other parts of phase 4. surprisingly it adds to this Individual story rather than detracting From it it's hard to talk too much Around the spoilers but you'll know it When you see it I want this funny man Don't just take stuff the Guardians of The Galaxy holiday special delivers all

The Christmas cheers sentiment catchy Musical numbers and laugh out loud Moments that you could ask for in a Quick 43 minutes Kevin Bacon is Hilarious as he plays himself in a Bizarre situation as is Dave Batista's Drags but the real star here is Palm Clementi of as mantis James Gunn gives This former background character tons of Layers and clementia brings it all home With a Charming performance it all makes For a delightful addition to any MCU Fan's annual Christmas rotation for more MCU reviews check out what we thought of Black panther wakanda forever and She-Hulk attorney at law season one and For everything else stick with IGN

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