The Guardians of the Galaxy are back in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" holiday special. They were in "Thor: Love and Thunder," so it's not like they were in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," where we haven't seen Shuri and her friends in a long time. (The Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special is an early present from the MCU: Quantumania is the next Marvel movie to be released, and Phase 5 begins.)

Sentimentalists beware. The "Guardians of the Galaxy" holiday special will give you all kinds of emotions. Unlike Drax, I only hope you know how to parse emotions. My previews totaled 42 minutes, but before the end credits, it was something like 39 minutes. You might get teary-eyed and think about how to make someone's Christmas special.

And if you feel this review of the "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" is too short, I'm going to spoil it a bit, but that's part of the fun of this event. When it comes to avoiding spoilers, this special is too short to really say much. But you'll be glad you had it, just like your favorite side dish at a holiday dinner. And the story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1,

the final entry in the MCU series by writer/director James Gunn, is simple: it's Christmas time in the universe, and that means explaining Christmas and its lore to the aliens. As you might expect, teaching Drax (Dave Bautista) about Christmas is a jolly old mess, and Nebula (Karen Gillan) does her best Grinch imitation.

But thanks to a moment of serious honesty from Kraglin (Sean Gunn) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to a grumpy Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), a mission is derived. Mantis and Drax head to Earth to bring Star-Lord's favorite human, Kevin Bacon, as explained in the trailer. As for Rocket (Bradley Cooper). He gains a new friend to help him for more wholesome energy.

That quest isn't the whole story of this special, but it's close. Fortunately, Bautista and Clementiff succeed under this mission, and the two, clueless about Earth's traditions, show perfectly comical fish-out-of-water moments. Some of these incidents don't feel particularly holiday-centric, but that's not the point.

James Gunn, who wrote and directed the special, deserves a lot of credit for how engaging and effortlessly communicative it is. A little adventure, some vintage-style animation, and a couple of songs.

Drax and Mantis are a constant source of laughs, and the aforementioned 39-minute running time doesn't drag anything down. This is one of the advantages of the length of "A Marvel Special Presentation," which my colleague Rory Mellon felt was too short to introduce the new characters in Werewolf the Night. If you already know the characters, it is just the right length for a new visit.

I can imagine some people wishing there were more Nebula, Rocket, and Groot. But those characters are not needed in this special edition. Because everything feels worthwhile and enjoyable, and it is always difficult to strike a balance between them.

I feel that the "Guardians of the Galaxy" holiday special is the rare Marvel TV project that people will re-watch and may become an annual treat. I'm already wondering which Marvel character will fill this spot next year (Kevin Feige, I hope you do a "Marvels Holiday Special").

As I noted in this review of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" holiday special, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, and James Gunn all deserve applause for this film. It's moving without being obnoxious, it's fun for a Guardians film, and it's brand new.

When nearly every Marvel movie is over two hours and Marvel shows are at least six episodes, it's nice that they realize that some of us have holiday meals to cook and presents to wrap. The show moves along at such a fast pace that you'll never get bored and you'll probably have a smile on your face when you're done watching it. This "special" is also something special, something MCU fans have been guessing about for quite some time, but here's a surprise that I won't spoil.

So cheers, James Gunn, and have a happy holiday season yourself.