A Long Time Ago In A Portal Far, Far Away
Time travel tales are always good fun. When it comes to The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, fun is the operative word here. This movie-hopping romp sees Rey tumbling through time to familiar and significant moments across the franchise’s history. It’s the perfect ode to the past, mixing in some nice jokes and a lighthearted tone to make for an enjoyable 45 minute special. With Life Day celebrations in full swing, the story begins after the events of Rise Of Skywalker with everyone excited to get the celebrations under way. Rey is not as enthused as the others however, desperate to help train Finn up to become a Jedi Master. Despite poring over numerous texts and learning all she can from them, she’s at a loss on how to help him. When Rey uncovers a mysterious artifact that lets her travel back through time though, she uses it to seek council with some of the best Jedi (and Sith) masters in the past. And thus our time traveling adventure begins. There’s some lovely set pieces here along the way, paying tribute to the franchise with lots of in-jokes and plenty of laugh out loud segments that the whole family will enjoy. The character tropes have been amped up too, with a very campy (and shirtless) Kylo Ren garnering a fair amount of laughs when he shows up. Emperor Palpatine also channels his inner campiness too, although you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s Mark Hamill’s Joker impression at times! The rest of the characters slot into their roles nicely though, with lots of familiar faces jumping in for the portal-jumping ride. It’s clear that the crew have had an awful lot of fun crafting this special together, throwing in as many treats as possible. I won’t spoil them here but suffice to say, there’s a lot of Easter Eggs that make the ride worth taking. It’s not all silly fun though and there’s actually a really important lesson nestled in the midst of all this portal-jumping, lightsaber wielding action. Failure is good and essential if you want to learn lessons and get better. The message is certainly a welcome one and gives this special a surprising amount of depth than it otherwise would have. Lego Star Wars isn’t supposed to be taken seriously, making it easy to overlook all the niggling time travel woes and timeline inconsistencies that crop up. Going into this expecting a solid time travel special will definitely leave you disappointed. Instead, it’s best to take this film at face value. This is a fun 45 minutes to spend with your kids and family, chuckling at the trademark Lego jokes and referenced movie memes that show up throughout. It’s the perfect treat to wash away the sour taste of the nightmarish Holiday special from 1978 and enjoy a polished, silly romp that celebrates the best elements of the Star Wars franchise. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special Launches On Disney+ on 17th November 2020
