Released on Disney+ today we bring you our LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special Review.
The new animated special from LEGO is the first to debut on Disney+ and continues the rich legacy of collaboration between Lucasfilm and LEGO.
Directly following the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Rey leaves her friends to prepare for Life Day as she sets off on a new adventure with BB-8 to gain a deeper knowledge of the Force.
At a mysterious Jedi Temple, she is hurled into a cross-timeline adventure through beloved moments in Star Wars cinematic history, coming into contact with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan and other iconic heroes and villains from all nine Skywalker saga films.
But will she make it back in time for the Life Day feast and learn the true meaning of holiday spirit?
“LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special” brings back franchise stars Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), as well as “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” vets Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), Tom Kane (Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and Dee Bradley Baker (clone troopers).
Produced by Atomic Cartoons, the LEGO Group and Lucasfilm this rather quirky LEGO adventure takes us on a journey through time as we witness everything from Luke and Yoda’s training, AT-AT battles and even a topless LEGO Kylo Ren.
This timeline journey does feel very much like mini clips of Star Wars history recreated in LEGO without much depth but as the short goes on various timelines and story structures are changed.
Stuffed full with Star Wars references (maybe too many at times) we definitely know who shot first now and even Baby Yoda has a little cameo on this journey through past and present Star Wars series.
All available on Disney+ of course.
Whilst younger generations will gloss over the various references there’s still enough comedy and action happening on-screen to keep that age demographic occupied whilst the older generation will certainly have some wonderfully reminiscent moments throughout this joyous flick.
Whilst the 1978 “Star Wars Holiday Special” was far from the enjoyable spectacle (worst TV ever) thankfully the LEGO one has some salvageable moments.
What it lacks in depth it more than makes up for with its charm and a certain battle of various timelines crossing numerous dimensions has insane Avengers: Endgame vibes so Disney and promoting other Disney products within Disney content.
I mean Disney can pretty much do anything right now with recently announcing that their streaming platform now has 73.7 million subscribers.
What I found hilarious was that even a LEGO animated feature ignored the recent Disney-made Star Wars movies and only included the bearable characters from those three shameful, shameful movies.
Speaking of shameful, I’d love to know who made the decision to give the green light on some of these voice actors, some of them in particular were nothing short of awful!
Some voices have been impersonated incredibly well (Rey’s most notably) but some are delivered that made my ears cringe.
Whilst LEGO Star Wars Holiday special grabbed at many a franchise highlight it sadly didn’t grab onto them hard enough for it to be something worth watching again.
LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special Review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
Whilst this Disney+ feature certainly has nostalgia for the full span of Star Wars aficionados from new to old it sadly doesn’t have much substance other than quirky highlight reels and cheap gags.
Something to watch just the once but nothing to shout about.
