“The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special” Film Review

By: Keaton Marcus

The Skywalker Saga may have ended late last year with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a bittersweet conclusion that didn’t quite make the cut, but that doesn’t mean that the franchise can’t have anymore fun. The latest installment, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special has just been released on Disney Plus to mostly positive reception, and I’m taking the time to review it. First of all, let me just say this: if you don’t enjoy this film, your idea of fun must be quite the snooze fest. No, this is not a legendary re-awakening for the saga, or even remotely special in any way, but it is a warm blanket of nostalgia and fun adventures that was like a massive hug for us Star Wars fans. Also, it’s far less embarrassing than the 70s Holiday Special, which was likely the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen. Why? Because this type of thing works best in animated form, and it shows.

It’s Life Day in the galaxy, and our friends Poe, Finn, Rose (that’s right, she gets actual lines) and Rey are planning for a big celebration. However, Rey is stressed about teaching Finn how to become a Jedi after she senses that he is, in fact, force sensitive. She’s missing something that the Sacred Jedi Texts just won’t help her with, but after using the Force, she realizes that she must go back in time to watch how other masters trained their apprentices. On the other hand, Poe is struggling with making Tip-Yip, and after Rey leaves, the trio fail to keep the party planning together. After she finds the key that will allow her to time travel, fans get some sensational callbacks to previous films in the original trilogy, and even the prequel trilogy. It may not be creative writing, but it’s always fun to see Rey and Darth Vader fighting while Anakin’s pod-racing. From here on out, she’s on her own to find out how to train Finn to become a Jedi.

But seriously, there’s so much welcome nostalgia that it can feel a bit overstuffed at times, and that’s perfectly fine with me. We get appearances from Emperor Palpatine, Vader, Kylo Ren, different versions of Luke, Yoda’s training sessions from The Empire Strikes Back, Mando and Baby Yoda followed by many more. The voice acting, for the most part, was actually solid, especially from Trevor Devall, who voiced Palpatine. It was also nice to see actors like Kelly Marie Tran, Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams make returns from the live-action movies. Although I would have loved to see Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, and particularly Daisy Ridley reprise their respective roles, I didn’t mind the replacements. Overall, this is a rocking time free on Disney Plus, and it’s only 45 minutes long. What could go wrong?

The final opinion is: The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special makes up for what it lacks on treading new ground with plenty of welcome callbacks, energetic voice acting and fun action sequences that will get younger kids engaged in the franchise, and have adults remembering the good old days of the live-action movies…$TREAM IT