Gunn brings Christmas to Marvel with alien hijinks
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista
Rated TV-14 for mild violence, language, and alcohol use
Release Date: November 25, 2022
Runtime: 41m
This review may contain spoilers
Christmastime… IIIIIN SPAAAAACE
Even in space, the Guardians find a way to celebrate Christmas – with celebrity kidnappings and aliens confused with Earth traditions.
MCU
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is the newest seasonal addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, better known as the MCU. Like Werewolf by Night, this is a Marvel Studio’s “Special Presentation” – a one-episode show showing off characters with a short and sweet story. This seems to be a new thing from Marvel Studios, and so far, both Presentations have been thoroughly entertaining.
The perfect alien Christmas gift
After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt, the Jurassic World trilogy) spirits have been down. Noticing his demeanor, teammates Mantis and Drax (Pom Klementieff, Oldboy remake, and Dave Bautista, Spectre, respectively) decide to cheer him with the best Christmas gift two aliens can think of – kidnapping Kevin Bacon, the epic legend of Footloose.
And that’s the story. No villains, no reality-altering stones, and no big CGI battle finale. Just human trafficking and Christmas cheer from aliens’ perspective. But that’s exactly what I would expect from a James Gunn special.
James Gunn’s return to Guardians
Gunn is widely known for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and DC’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. He is putting the finishing touches to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will release in May 2023.
Earlier this month, Gunn was appointed co-CEO of DC Films (now rebranded as DC Studios) along with Peter Safran. This gives Gunn and Safran creative control over all films, animation, and TV shows based on DC Comics.
Star Wars Holiday Special influence
There’s a funny thing about the title – it makes me think of the dreaded The Star Wars Holiday Special that aired back in 1978. Oh, you never heard of this? It was the worst thing to happen to Star Wars, even worse than Jar Jar Binks!
I don’t want to go into much detail about… that special (believe me, that’s a whole rant there), but there are a few similarities between it and Gunn’s special. Both are holiday specials with similar titles set out in space. Both were even released as TV specials in November (not December, for some reason). And Gunn even admits to using The Star Wars Holiday Special as inspiration.
Mantis and Drax’s Earth adventure
I liked how Quill is the only human on this team, and the aliens are trying to cheer him up with their misinformed knowledge of Earth. However, he’s not the main focus of this special. Instead, the spotlight is on Mantis and Drax as they stumble around on Earth looking for Bacon. They run across Hollywood and explore The Chinese theater walk, dance clubs, and Bacon’s home. One hilarious moment is when Mantis runs into a Captain America cosplayer and thinks it’s the real deal.
Klementieff’s and Bautista’s chemistry is something else, and it’s great to see these two get to really show off their characters outside the main plots of their previous superhero films. Both are hilarious and share a strong family-like bond, bickering at each other half the time while still working as a team, even as they argue the whole time.
The rest of the gang
The rest of the Guardians are back, too. Sadly, the 50-minute special didn’t have the time to give everyone else the same treatment as Mantis and Drax. But, despite their short appearances, they were able to have some funny moments or exposition.
Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel from the Fast & Furious series) is older and is crazy super-buff now. Nebula (Karen Gillan from BBC’s Doctor Who) still treats everyone like they’re idiots, yet gets Kevin Bacon’s name mixed up with Toast (because she gets confused by breakfast items). Rocket and Kraglin (Bradley Cooper, the Hangover trilogy, and Sean Gunn, WB’s Gilmore Girls, respectively) are also back but there really isn’t much new to them.
Michael Rooker (who played Yondu in previous movies) even returns in an animated flashback.
New Guardian… sorta
But there’s more! Also returning from the Guardians of the Galaxy films is Cosmo the Spacedog. She’s the dog in the astronaut suit. For some reason, the films never elaborated, but Cosmo is a psychic Russian dog with telekinetic abilities. Yes, I know it’s weird. For the first time, she is voiced by Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), who will play Cosmo again in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Friggin’ Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon as himself was a great treat. Not just because he’s awesome, but Bacon plays himself like how audiences would imagine him – just a suave, cool guy living in Hollywood. His wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, is also included but by voice only through Bacon’s phone.
Also, Bacon is watching Santa Claus Conquers the Martians at home. It’s a bad and weird Christmas movie I remember from Mystery Science Theater 3000. I won’t talk a lot about it, but the story is almost similar to Gunn’s special. And I just love seeing Hollywood star Kevin Bacon watching the movie and thoroughly enjoying it.
No fighting on Christmas
As I said, there’s no villain or big battle for the ending. Instead, we get a big, cheerful Christmas ending. The Guardians give each other gifts while Bacon rocks out with an alien band. It’s a sweet ending like you’d expect from a holiday special. Even Rocket getting a certain metal arm that he always wanted…
Gunn’s music choices
Well, this wouldn’t be a James Gunn special without James Gunn’s personal music playlist with it. The special starts with Old 97’s “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here).” It’s a Christmas song sung by an alien band (portrayed by Old 97’s) all about our confusing customs and how weird we are (they’re not wrong, though). Bacon joins Old 97’s for the closing song “Here It Is Christmastime.”
Gunn has added more Christmas songs throughout the show, including “Dead by X-Mas” by Hanoi Rocks, “I Want An Alien For Christmas” by Fountains of Wayne, and “Mrs. Claus” by Little Jackie.
What? Are these not on your Christmas songs list?
Ending “Phase 4” on a great note
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a friggin’ blast. Marvel is really winning me over with these one-episode specials. Gunn gives a simple story with zero action and all comedy without pushing it too far. Mix in a traditional (yet off-world) Christmas spirit and Gunn’s usual wacky style, and you have a solid 50 minutes of holiday entertainment. The Christmas moment isn’t forced and brings nostalgic callbacks from the special and past MCU films.
There is a post-credits scene and, hey, good news – Disney Plus has a nifty “skip credits” button. Now you can go straight to the post-credit scene. Like how Gunn handled Peacemaker post-credits scenes, this one is a joke with strong meta humor.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is streaming on Disney Plus.
