This is perhaps the MCU's most ridiculous project so far and yet it's really enjoyable.
The Guardians, now hanging out at Knowhere, hear how Quill (Chris Pratt) had Christmas ruined as a child. Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) head to Earth to bring back Quill's hero Kevin Bacon (playing himself) as a present.
On the one hand, this is really silly. Drax and Mantis having hi-jinks on Earth with the actual Kevin Bacon is really fun. There are two new original songs including an opener which is superb and a whole heap of largely less obvious Christmas songs on the soundtrack. There's some fantastic lines and it's great to see a focus on some characters that have been largely in the background, especially Mantis.
It's also full of warmth in the way a Christmas special should be. Kevin Bacon has a lot of fun but actually ends up with some really sincerity about family and how special Christmas is. There's also an animated segment in the tradition of other Holiday Specials which works really well and gives a lovely flashback moment with Yondu and a young Quill in their father/son relationship.
Much to my surprise it even manages to pack in some real emotion. It's confirmed early on that Mantis is Quill's sister and we see her struggle with whether to tell Quill the truth and it all becomes genuinely moving. James Gunn has a real knack of being silly and hilarious whilst still managing to pack a real emotional punch and he does all this within a forty-five minute special.
This is a perfect Holiday Special and one I suspect I will come back to regularly in the holiday season.
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