Wednesday, November 18, 2020

The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special

The first official Star Wars Holiday Special in more than four decades offers a time travel tale on Life Day allowing Rey (Helen Sadler) and BB-8 to jump through time and land up in various iconic moments throughout the films. Far less atrocious than the infamous 1978 special, the LEGO-inspired new one never-the-less honors what has come before with its Life Day themes and cameos from as many iconic characters as possible. Taking place after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey's struggles to teach Finn the ways of the Force lead her away from her friends on the festive holiday to a Jedi Temple where a crystal allows her to journey to the past and see glimpses of other Jedi and their apprentices.

There are plenty of callbacks here from a shirtless Kylo Ren (Matthew Wood) to Luke's (Eric Bauza) blue milk. The special also pays homage to Rankin/Bass Productions with Yoda's (Tom Kane) narration and fond farewell to end the special. Of course all of Rey's time jumping lead to problems, including a Return of the Jedi era Darth Vader (Matt Sloan) and Emperor (Trevor Devall) getting their hands on the crystal with plans of adjusting the timeline in their favor. It's certainly no timeless holiday classic, and loses points for not finding a way to work Yub-Nub back into the Star Wars Universe, but the all-age friendly special is lighthearted holiday fare with a message of hope and family.

No comments: