LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
Disney +
Directed by: Ken Cunningham
Written by: David Shayne
On Life Day, we see Rose, Finn, Rey, Poe, Chewie, BB-8 and D-0 getting ready for the celebration on Kashyyyk. As the crew gets ready Rey and Finn are at a crossroads on how to handle the future of the Jedi and training new Jedi. Rey decides to go to an ancient Jedi temple to explore the meaning of Life Day and gain wisdom on the trainer she is supposed to be.
At the Temple, Rey finds a key that unlocks the passage of space and time, allowing her and BB-8 to experience the past with many versions of Luke, Darth Vader and other main characters from the Star Wars universe.
This is where the special takes off and becomes its own unique story. Mixing the Lego Star Wars humor and style with iconic scenes immediately immerses you to the experience and it’s a massively fun ride. The jumps from iconic moment to moment gives all fans the chance to see their favorite scenes being played out. Then mixing them all together, while jumping and pulling more characters into the fold creates a fun game of guess who, as many cameos fly by at random.
The story overall is well constructed and thought out. With the Star Wars universe it is very difficult to try and incorporate many fan favorites and somehow they were able to find that balance. Some of the best jokes were the sly nods to events that caused Emperor Palpatine to take over the galaxy and his downfall.
Not all of the holiday special was about Rey’s journey, but the joy and happiness of being able to celebrate Life Day again. As this takes place at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, seeing everyone come together from Lando, Babu Frik and many others celebrating friendship and good times ahead. This also gives the modern call back to characters we have not seen like Max Rebo Band and other Wookies.
One item that was great to see was Rose having a bigger presence and involvement. Since she was out-casted in the Rise of Skywalker, having her more involved gave her character justice and shows that she is a major part of the Lego Star Wars universe.
Overall the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special is great and fun. It brings all the fun that LEGO is known for and includes so many reference that even the hardcore fans will enjoy. It is a great take on the holidays and utilizes the key themes of friendship, love and happiness. Hopefully this becomes a holiday tradition for many families as it was that fun and enjoyable.