Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from the Holiday Special. Even the trailers for the ‘Marvel Special Presentation’ couldn’t sell me 100% on it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been looking forward to it. Love what James Gunn has done with THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and just love Gunn in general. Been a huge fan of his since SLITHER, and always enjoyed anything I’ve seen of his since. So, there’s definitely a great level of trust and excitement with anything he creates.
And let me just say, THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL did not disappoint.
In an unexpected surprise, it was definitely different from the feature entries of the GUARDIANS franchise, and that’s not a bad thing. The special was super heartfelt, funny, charming, it definitely gave me all the feels with holiday cheer! Now don’t get me wrong, the movies have had all those things, but the Holiday Special didn’t need to follow the intricate plan that has always been the MCU.
…or maybe it did, but the reins were a little looser, and the special was all the better for it because it was delightful.
Safe to say, I loved this special. But I would definitely be remiss if I didn’t mention how GLORIOUS Pom Klementieff was in this outing as Mantis. To see her to be able to play and grow in her character was awesome. The level of emotion and engagement you have with her during her journey in the Holiday Special was definitely so heartwarming. I feel like Pom hasn’t had this kind of opportunity with a character in her career, and I loved seeing it here. Just the way she plays the emotion, and not to mention the comedy, was amazing. I hope she has the opportunity to stretch like this more in the future, because I will definitely be there.
“GET OVER THE ZARG NUTS!!!”
Safe to say, if you love James Gunn (and how could you not) and you love the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY series, I think you’re gonna want to hit this up.
Only problem I had with this bit. IT WENT BY TOO FAST! I mean, it was 44+ minutes long… but it felt like it went by in a blink! I WANTED MORE! Sure there was the post-credit bit… but Gunn is knee-deep in DC Studios, so who knows if another special will happen.
Hope it does, but who
But we have GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3 to look forward too… BUT THAT WILL BE LAST TOO! WWWWWWHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY JAMES, WWWHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!
All joking aside, the Holiday Special was fun, hilarious, heartfelt ride, and so worth a watch.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL is streaming now on Disney+.
