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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Paul Speed

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special proves a fun-filled festive hit with practically everyone

What better way to 'Groot' the festive season than with some family-friendly, super-powered silliness?

Disney Plus has all that and more with its latest rip-roaring mini Marvel TV film - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

And audiences and critics have been falling over themselves to heap praise on the interstellar outing - which at a brisk 44 minutes long really is all killer and no filler.

Released last week, the new Guardians has been hailed by those in the know as 'hilarious', 'moving', and a 'real festive treat', while Twitter is full of Marvel fans proclaiming it as 'very sweet' and 'a delight'.

It has a decent 7.2 IMDb rating and a superb 91 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

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So what's it all about? (no spoilers)

This new, stand-alone story aims to fill in the timeline gaps between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (from 2017) and the upcoming Vol.3 - set for release in May next year.

The Christmas-flavoured Holiday Special follows Mantis and Drax on a quest to find the perfect Yuletide gift for fellow Guardian Peter Quill ( Chris Pratt ).

Drax the Destroyer brings a fair few laughs (Marvel)

Perhaps understandably, they think their '80s-obsessed buddy would love to meet/own much-loved movie star Kevin Bacon, so they journey to Hollywood for a spot of kidnapping.

Suffice to say, a whole heap of festive chaos ensues, which we won't spoil for you here.

If you haven't seen it yet, you can settle in for many belly-laughs - particularly from the mirthful double act of Pom Klementieff's good-hearted Mantis and Dave Bautista's gruff Drax.

Their naive misunderstandings of Earth customs are so on-point, they'll surely raise a titter from even the most Scrooge-like member of your family.

The Guardians holiday special is shot through in a real razzle-dazzle of colour, with a fantastic soundtrack including The Pogues, The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, The Smashing Pumpkins, Hanoi Rocks and Low.

What the critics and audience say

IGN Movies' Alex Stedman said: "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special delivers all the Christmas cheer, sentiment, catchy musical numbers, and laugh-out-loud moments you could ask for in a quick 44 minutes".

Film Companion's Gayle Sequeira said: "This is an adventure about a giant misunderstanding that only drives home all the ways in which our found families really understand us. It's an ode to the warmth of friendship, even the kind that begins with kidnapping and mind control."

Over on Twitter, Dee posted: "Not even joking when I say that The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is my favourite MCU project from this year."

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special revels in its own silliness - have you seen it yet? (Marvel)

Josh Thomas said: "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is absolutely bloody wonderful!"

Meanwhile, on Reddit, iSRS73 said: "No spoilers, but I loved this special. Also, loving this Special Presentation format. They are the MCU equivalent of comics “Annuals” that have some minor tidbits to the overall story, but are really their own thing".

But fellow poster Flermy remained unconvinced: "I seem to be in the minority on this, but I found the holiday special super cringe and unfunny, which is a shame because I typically enjoy Gunn's brand of humour and the Guardians characters.

"That said, I'm glad others are enjoying it and am a huge fan of the one-off "special feature" format and really hope they put a few of these out a year".

Have YOU seen The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special yet? Let us know what you thought of it below

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