The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Review

By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)

This review is spoiler-free.

James Gunn returns to the MCU with everyone’s favourite dysfunctional space family! Welcome to The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special…

While all of our Guardians featured in the special, the majority of our time is spent with Mantis and Drax, with the rest of the cast appearing in the bookends of the film. I think this was an interesting creative decision and one that works well! These two characters and performers complement each other with their contrasting personalities, leaving you with that classic odd-couple trope that, when done right works very well. Pom Klementieff was my standout performer, not just in terms of the comedy and action moments, but the emotional scenes too. It was an incredible character portrayal.

While I have always enjoyed Kevin Bacon, here in the UK he has sort of been tainted to me by his role in the EE adverts. They even have him on his phone multiple times in the special which kept that image stuck in my mind. With that said, his role in this special reminded me why I enjoyed his work, to begin with. His inclusion is the joke and the self-awareness of the writing, and his performance has a lot of charm and is very much welcomed into the story.

The Guardians of the Galaxy series has always been about the music, and from the established soundtrack to the original songs and score, you felt like this was a true representation of the Guardians on the screen. The opening original song has been stuck in my head for over a week now and I think it might become my Christmas anthem for 2022!

I think having the Guardians back under the stewardship of James Gunn is another element that I apricated. I am not saying that previous directors have mishandled them, but there is that extra element of care and passion from Gunn that comes through strongly on screen.
On top of the great performances and great soundtrack, there is a lot of warmth and emotion at the heart of the story. Some information is dropped very unexpectedly at the start of the special and the payoff for this is incredible and very moving. I would highly recommend this as a family Christmas watch-along movie and something to consider adding to their annual Christmas movie schedule!

This special has truly geared me up for The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and I cannot wait to return to these characters next year!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a sickly-sweet Christmas space adventure that has a lot of warmth and emotion at its core, making it the perfect Christmas present for Marvel fans!

What did you make of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media!