Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Disney +)

I'm only half-joking. It WAS that amazing, and I am having a little trouble verbalizing the fact that the last Marvel Studios project I enjoyed this much was Avengers: Endgame. And it will probably sound weird to point out this was way better than both Guardians movies. I think my problem is I have some things to complain about behind-the-scenes at Marvel Studios, and maybe my anger is that this special's greatness being rare is not a facet it should have. Especially when it makes it feel so effortless.

I thing my biggest behind-the-scenes gripe was seeing the credits roll and how wonderful that all turned out, and realizing James Gunn is ditching all this greatness for a rival studio where he's done substandard work. That actually annoys me a lot, especially considering how badly the new studio is treating its content creators. I suppose SOMEONE needed to be hired for the role Gunn is going to have at DC going forward, but I respect the hell out of every big name who passed on it more than I do Gunn for accepting it.

And the ultimate moral is that Yondu wasn't all bad. That's ALWAYS the moral, isn't it?

Man, Mantis and Drax's stuff on Earth was a riot. The problem with Mantis in the second movie is she didn't really have too much of a personality compared to the other Guardians. This special rectified that and made her one of my favorite characters in the franchise. And Drax's obsession over the "little man" was very endearing too. This is a feel-good project in a way no DC project ever seems to be anymore. It wasn't just feel-good though. I mean Superman & Lois technically qualifies as such. But it was also freaking fun! It didn't wallow in angst. Seeing this makes me feel regret Gunn is leaving Marvel, and angry that Marvel producing stuff this great has become unusual since they started doing stuff for Disney+. It's not just the Disney+ stuff that's substandard though. I'd live with it if that's all it was. But Kevin Feige has been spread so thin even the FILMS have suffered. I just wish this was easier. I just wish this were common. For Marvel projects, it used to be. I miss the good stuff and the good feelings here. And I wish it wasn't such an ordeal getting them.

People will say Thor: Love And Thunder fits what I'm talking about, but I think that movie is so patently ridiculous in places, I don't believe its reality. The strength of this specific silly special is that I believe something like this COULD happen to a version of Kevin Bacon in the Multiverse. As silly as the idea is, Gunn takes the execution seriously, which is more than I can say for Love And Thunder.

This is where sending a poet could have helped. I enjoyed the HELL out of that, and I still seemed to spend most of this review complaining about other things. I just wish stuff this great happened all the time, and that James Gunn never left Marvel. *****.