Genre: Action-adventure, Christmas, Science fiction comedy, Superhero
Directed by James Gunn
Screenplay by James Gunn
Based on Marvel Comics
Starring: Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Old 97’s, Michael Rooker & Kevin Bacon.
Composer: John Murphy
Executive producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, James Gunn, Sara Smith. Simon Hatt
Production locations: Atlanta, Georgia, Los Angeles, California
Cinematography: Henry Braham
Editors: Greg D’Auria, Gregg Featherman
Production Companies: Marvel Studios, Troll Court Entertainment
Distributed by Disney Platform Distribution
Network: Disney+
The plot: Star-Lord, Drax, Rocket, Mantis, and Groot engage in some spirited shenanigans.
This guardian of the galaxy holiday special movie was really fun.
Pros: Peter Quill was more of a side character in this short special,but still worked for the limited time he had onscreen. I liked how they gave focus to Drax and Mantis.It was a funny watch and made me laugh out loud at times.It was good the way it explained that Peter hadn’t experienced Christmas before.
Cons: The rest of the Guardians were not featured for very long.
Cast & Characters:
- Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:
The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers. Luke Klein voices a young Peter Quill in animated flashback sequences. - Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer: A member of the Guardians and a highly skilled warrior whose family was slaughtered by Ronan.
- Karen Gillan as Nebula: A member of the Guardians and former Avenger who is an orphan from an alien world, and was trained by Thanos to be his personal assassin.
- Pom Klementieff as Mantis: A member of the Guardians with empathic powers and Quill’s half-sister.
- Vin Diesel as Groot: A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid and the accomplice of Rocket.
- Bradley Cooper as Rocket: A member of the Guardians and former Avenger who is a genetically modified raccoon bounty hunter and a master of weapons and military tactics.
- Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri: A member of the Guardians and Yondu Udonta’s former second-in-command in the Ravagers.
- The Old 97’s as an alien band on Knowhere. Lead singer Rhett Miller portrays Bzermikitokolok, while Miller’s bandmates Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea, and Philip Peeples portray band members Kortolbookalia, Sliyavastojoo, and Phloko, respectively.
- Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta:
A blue-skinned buccaneer of the Ravagers and former member of the Guardians, who was a fatherly figure to Quill and died in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Rooker voices Yondu during the animated flashback scenes. - Kevin Bacon as a fictionalized version of himself, who is a hero to Quill and is consequently pursued by the other Guardians.
Maria Bakalova provides the voice of Cosmo, a sentient dog who was sent into space by the Soviet Union; the character was previously portrayed by dog actor Fred in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Vol. 2. Bacon’s wife Kyra Sedgwick has a voice-only role as a fictionalized version of herself. Flula Borg appears as a bartender at the bar that Mantis and Drax visit in Hollywood.
I recommend this special only on Disney+.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.