Director Report Card: James Gunn (2022)

5.5. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Considering James Gunn has spent his entire career reclaiming disregarded bits of pop culture debris, like D-list superheroes and seventies AM radio hits, it's not surprising that he's a fan of the Christmas special. While the best holiday specials remain seasonal staples that are beloved across generations, most of them fade into obscurity after a few years. So, of course, Gunn likes them. When it was announced that the director would be creating a “Guardians of the Galaxy” holiday special for Disney+, with that very specific titling, it was widely assumed to be a homage to the most notorious of misbegotten seasonal entertainment. While one can only assume Life Day was on Gunn's mind, his “Holiday Special” has less unsubtitled Wookie language than expected. Instead, “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” features the same balance of flippant sci-fi antics and sincerity that powered the previous two “Guardians” features.

In the time since “Endgame,” the Guardians of the Galaxy have taken over the Collector's trading post at Knowhere. Still missing Gamora, Star-Lord's friends notice that he is a little glum. After learning that it is around Christmas time on Earth, Mantis and Drax decide to find the perfect gift for their friend. They travel to Earth in search of Quill's childhood hero: The actor Kevin Bacon, who is not enthused to be abducted by aliens. Yet it's all mostly a distraction, as Mantis is more concerned with revealing to Peter that she's also Ego's offspring and, therefore, his half-sister.

More than anything else, the “Guardians” holiday special is a display for Pom Klemintoff and Dave Bautista. The majority of the forty-four minute program revolves around Mantis and Drax having wacky adventures on Earth. The two performers get to really flex their comedic muscles, as they trade comedic dialogue about their Christmas plans and get drunk in what appears to be a Hollywood gay bar. Watching them argue over the holiday decorations they suddenly become attached to produces hearty laughs. Klemintoff's oddball delivery and Bautista's dry and blunt observations have been sharpened to a fine point by now, both clearly being comfortable with these absurd roles.

That the stars get to stretch their comedic muscles so much is fitting, as “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” is essentially a fish-out-water comedy. Half of its runtime is devoted to Mantis and Drax responding to Earth culture in humorous ways. Such as an encounter with Hollywood street performers, which seems to confirm that Go-Bots exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The truth is Mantis and Drax tend to be out of their element everywhere they go. These are the most socially awkward Guardians and pairing them together makes sense. Seeing the nearly indestructible but literal-minded Drax and the shy, ambiguously neurodivergent Mantis use their powers to get out of scuffled – a fun little action beat involving some cops or Mantis using her empathetic abilities to get a star map – are definite highlights. 

Much like the Christmas variety programs of old, a special guest star was recruited for this holiday special. Kevin Bacon – already a Gunn veteran, having appeared in “Super” – proves to be a good sport, playing a good natured version of himself that is ruthlessly mocked and terrorized throughout the narrative. The sequence where Mantis and Drax discover he's just an actor, before she uses her powers to make him assume various heroic identities, is another very funny sequence. Moreover, the experienced character actor playing himself and getting directly involved with this band of intergalactic misfits continues to show the way Gunn weaves pop culture into his stories, not as references for their own sake but to depict what they mean to his characters. Bacon's movies are another connection Peter Quill has to his long-gone childhood and his reaction here – horror that his friends trafficked a movie star for his Christmas special – shows how he's matured.

Truthfully though, the narrative really only occupies the first half of this short program. The second half provides what most people are probably looking for in a holiday special: Just getting to hang out with these characters. Gunn and his team makes sure to include cute moments for each of the Guardians, with Rocket and Nebula getting nice comedic beats of their own. The musical montage at the end of the special, largely devoted to everyone trading gifts, is surprisingly cozy and adorable. This rounded off with a poignant final scene, that shows that these intergalactic stories really are about family, those we make and those we find along the way. 

Unsurprisingly, this thing is packed with Christmas ambiance. Christmas decorations prove to be a minor plot point in the earthbound segments of the story. The second half features Knowhere totally decked out in colored lights, a reveal which is given the proper amount of awe. Yes, before the end, the irresistible sight of Groot being done up like a Christmas tree is featured. This special also convinced me that James Gunn and I share the same taste in holiday music. “The Fairy Tale of New York,” Low's “Just Like Christmas,” Julian Casablancas' “I Wish It Was Christmas Today,” and Fountains of Wayne's “I Want an Alien for Christmas” are some prominent needle drops here that are also on my personal holiday playlist. There's also two original Christmas songs, contributed by Old '97s in alien make-up, that are pretty catchy. 

Supposedly, the “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” acts as something of a bridge between the characters' previous appearance and their likely final bow in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” This includes giving Cosmo, the telekinetic Russian space dog, a proper introduction. And a perfectly adorable voice, provided by Maria Bakalova whose deadpan accent pairs hilariously with Cosmo's typically dog-like behavior. I also like the brief flashbacks here, done in rotoscoped animation that reminds me of “Heavy Metal.” (Which is easy to imagine as an inspiration for Gunn's entire career.) While it's ultimately a fluffy trifle, “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” is well worth a fun, a funny and sweet little gift for fans of this particular corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. [Grade: B]