When the only thing I did not like about the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was that it was released in November instead of December you know it had to be good. The two Guardians movies are awesome as was their appearance in the last two Avengers movies (Infinity War and Endgame). I felt that they were the perfect group of Marvel characters to base a Christmas special around.
How to Download Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
You can download or stream the film from Disney+. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. Check out also Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The Movie Review
The Guardians are now living in Nowhere and trying to make it all work. Peter is still depressed over what happened with Gamora and just trying to get by. I have to say that James Gunn knows these characters so well that it is kind of worrying to think about who will be handling the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise now that he is with Warner Bros and DC.
The other Guardians notice that Peter is still in a funk and this is where our Christmas tale begins. Kraglin tells the other members of the crew about how when Peter was a kid Yondu spoiled Christmas for him. Kraglin also tells them that according to the calendar, Christmas is right around the corner!
Mantis and Drax decide that they want to bring Christmas joy back to Peter and they try to think of what they could do for him. Mantis and Drax decide to get Peter a present and the best present they can think of is Kevin Bacon. Not some kind of picture or an action figure, but the actual human being Kevin Bacon.
This is hilarious stuff and Mantis and Drax head to Earth and starts looking for Kevin Bacon. If anything, I wish we got more of Mantis and Drax being drunk trying to find out where Kevin Bacon lives. This part of the movie is awesome and it is impossible not to love Dave Bautista as Drax!
They eventually find out where he lives thanks to a map of Hollywood stars. As you would expect, Kevin Bacon is not too thrilled about them being there and they have to use Mantis’s powers to try and get him to come back to Nowhere with them so they can give him to Peter as a gift.
One thing I was surprised by about the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was that this was mainly a Drax and Mantis story. I am not saying that is a bad thing as those two characters have a very fun chemistry, but there is not as much of the other Guardians as you would think.
The movie looks and sounds great! The special effects are very well done, but the practical-looking Groot is kind of odd, but I loved his big goofy face so I will let it slide. There is also a fantastic Christmas soundtrack here as well with an original song that made me laugh and has already been added to my Christmas playlist for when I am in the car.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special comes in at around 45 minutes and if I am being honest, I would have loved for this to be a full hour. I am not saying it feels rushed, they told the story they wanted to tell here, but it was so much fun, I wanted more. This will be essential viewing for my family each holiday season and I will probably watch it again before Christmas this year!
