If the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special does one thing right, it’s proving that the world has come a long way since the singing Wookiees and general awkwardness of the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. Luckily for fans of the franchise, James Gunn and the once-obscure Marvel characters he shepherded to the big screen accomplish so much more than that, delivering a shot of pure Christmas joy.
One of the most appealing aspects of the Guardians is how little they understand about Peter Quill’s life back on Earth. That forms the basis of most of the story here, which is delightfully uncomplicated: in order to cheer up Peter for the upcoming holiday season, Drax and Mantis set out to get him the best gift ever: Kevin Bacon.
A large portion of the special is basically just the Drax and Mantis show, and that is far from a bad thing. Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff have great comedic chemistry, and their characters’ boundless enthusiasm for just about everything is nothing short of infectious. That provides the perfect contrast to the sheer panic the Footloose actor exhibits while being hunted by two aliens.
Kevin Bacon, who is given a tongue-in-cheek “introducing” credit, seems to be having a lot of fun here, even if he is just playing himself. He exudes the perfect amount of chaotic energy that comes with any James Gunn project. Bacon, of course, previously played a Marvel villain, though not in the MCU. He appeared as Sebastian Shaw in X-Men: First Class, but hopefully, his appearance here won’t dissuade Marvel from casting him in a future movie or series.
One of the only weaknesses of the special is that so much of the focus is on Drax and Mantis that the other Guardians don’t get quite as much to do. Peter (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn) are busy rebuilding Knowhere, which appears to be their new headquarters. Luckily they’re getting a bit of help from Guardians newcomer Cosmo the Space Dog (voiced by Bodies Bodies Bodies star Maria Bakalova). Keeping the Rocket and Groot scenes to a minimum makes some budgetary sense, but it’s a bit of a shame that the other Guardians don’t have much of their own story.
Still, as it was with Marvel’s Werewolf By Night (which served as basically a Halloween Special), these special presentations are fairly limited in their runtime, and so they have to be fairly economical in their storytelling. Aside from the character limitations, Gunn does an excellent job at delivering a funny and heartfelt story (along with two full original songs) in just over 40 minutes.
Where this special pales in comparison to Werewolf By Night, though, is in style. While the latter was a strong homage to the monster movies of the 1930s, utilizing similar music and visuals, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special doesn’t quite have any specific aesthetic identity (aside from the Christmas-themed Marvel Studios logo and credits and titles that ape the softer focus of the 70s and 80s). Still, even without the highly stylized nature of that previous project, this holiday special has all of the feel of a televised Christmas event, the kind that everyone can sit and enjoy.
Gunn, however, cut his teeth working in the world of small budgets and other limitations, so he knows where to make it count. While some of the early Knowhere scenes are underwhelming, the reveal of Christmas lights strung up everywhere, paired with artificial snow is quite charming, and the late-special musical performance coupled with a gift-giving montage is pure holiday magic. There are also a couple of scenes that take a stylistic shift into animation, which looks like it might have been rotoscoped but doesn’t quite have that same fluidity. Either way, these scenes are a nice homage to specials of the past, and serve as a nice character moment for a Guardians favorite.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a James Gunn project without some great tunes sprinkled into the mix. Along with the songs written specifically for the special (one of which is an absolutely hilarious alien interpretation of Christmas performed by the Old 97s), classics from the Pogues, Fountains of Wayne, Smashing Pumpkins, and Hanoi Rocks, a band that was previously featured and praised in Gunn’s other TV project, Peacemaker.
Along with the music, action, and sense of humor, though, comes the heart. Gunn has always had an innate sense of finding the humanity in his characters, and the Guardians have never been an exception. There’s a real sense of love and family running throughout this special, and that’s summed up nicely in a tender moment between Peter and Mantis.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a pure delight. It’s an early shot of holiday spirit to ease everyone into the upcoming Christmas season. Its holiday vibe would make it a great companion piece to Hawkeye, which also utilized its Christmas setting to great effect. It could also easily be a yearly watch, as it is packed to the brim with fun surprises and easy-to-miss jokes. What Gunn and his Guardians have accomplished here is pretty special, and it makes for a very generous early Christmas gift from Marvel.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special premieres on Disney Plus on November 25th.