Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
In order to try and cheer up Star-Lord, played by Chris Pratt, Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, and Drax, played by Dave Bautista, head to Earth in order to kidnap the great hero Kevin Bacon.
This special works for one reason and one reason only Pom Klementieff. She gives one of the best most heart warming performances I have ever seen in a Marvel movie, she is the heart and soul of this piece and if she is even half as good in Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 then she is going to steal every scene she is in and probably the whole film. I really liked the decision to have Mantis be Quills half-sister, I thought it added a whole new emotional layer not just to the film but to the wider team that is really appreciated.
Something I didn’t personally mind but might bother some is the fact that the wider Guardians team are mostly absent, yes they get a look in every now and again but these basically amount to cameo roles this is Mantis and Drax’s film. They do introduce Cosmo the Spacedog, voiced by Maria Bakalova, who has a few funny lines and will clearly be a foil for Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper come the next movie, but for the most part her introduction is only brief.
There are some animated sequences at the start and the end of the special that talk more about the Quill/ Yondu, played by Michael Rooker, relationship that also add to the wider theme of emotion, love and family in this feature and really help to nicely book end the bittersweet feeling of the special more broadly.
Kevin Bacon is Kevin Bacon which to me is a good thing as the man is an icon, but to others the bit might be annoying.
Overall, a sweet memorable Christmas Special, give Klementieff a bigger part and more money for the sequel she deserves it.
Pros.
Mantis being Peter’s half-sister
The emotion
It feels like Christmas
Gunn’s understanding of these characters
Cosmo
Cons.
The wider Guardians team isn’t given much to do
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Another Millennial Reviewer 