LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation premieres Aug. 5 exclusively on Disney+.
Closing out the trilogy of new LEGO Star Wars animated specials is LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation, which features Finn (Omar Miller) as the central character who gets told three stories by iconic Force Ghosts who impart to him some emotional wisdom regarding his friends, Poe (Jake Green), Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and Rey (Helen Sadler). In keeping with this franchise, the summer-centric special leans into the silly and the visually absurd while softly ribbing the canon of the universe, which is why these specials are so much fun. But this installment also weaves in some emotional heft with some surprisingly poignant moments that Star Wars fans will appreciate.
The wraparound story for the special revolves around Finn convincing his fellow rebellion heroes to take some R&R after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Leaning on that Disney corporate synergy, the gang books a trip on the Galactic Starcruiser: The Halcyon to celebrate their victory together. But almost immediately after a holo of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) welcomes them aboard, they all scatter like marbles pursuing their own downtime activities, which bums out Finn. Looking to the trip as an opportunity to spend fleeting quality time with his besties before they split up to pursue their new paths, Finn instead mopes at the bar. That’s where Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) finds him and shares his own story about an unexpected trip to Jabba’s Palace, where he sang with the Max Rebo Band. Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) then appears to tell him about his Darth Vader-era trip to Scarif with Emperor Palpatine (Trevor Devall). And lastly, Force Ghost General Leia Organa (Shelby Young) rounds out the stories by sharing her last family summer trip with Han (Ross Marquand) and young Ben Solo (Matthew Wood) before he went off to be trained by Luke.
As with all of the LEGO specials, each story contains a cornucopia of Easter Eggs and references related to the LEGO-verse and Star Wars mythology, such as Obi-Wan’s adventure being spurred by Lt. Colvett Valeria (Yvette Nicole Brown) from the Freemaker Adventures, or a line said in Anakin’s story about how the Imperials came to build a base in Scarif, which connects to Rogue One. There’s also plenty of original weirdness to enjoy too, like “Weird Al” Yankovic voicing the beach party singer Vic Vankoh, or comedian Paul F. Tompkins voicing Rad, a teen rival for Ben Solo, who prompts him to joyride the Millenium Falcon. The nuttiness of those original ideas mixed with the snark and satire of the known characters from within the universe remains on point and the charm of the series.
What also sets these specials apart is the animation ambitions of director Ken Cunningham and Atomic Cartoons. Summer Vacation looks bright and vibrant, with the clever application of brick design and symmetry woven into the familiar Star Wars ships and structures. But there’s also the comedic design flourishes of random additions like Darth Vader’s Jimmy Buffett-inspired hat or the loud print of Obi-Wan’s Hawaiian shirt. But the special’s most visually ambitious sequence comes with some beautifully cinematic recreations of key moments between Finn and his friends in all three sequel films. Meant to remind us of those seminal moments in the movies that forged their friendships, it works really well to underscore the emotional climax of Finn’s story.
In fact, writer David Shayne could have just swung for the funny fences in LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation and left it at that. There’s plenty to laugh at with awkward Obi-Wan and Vader and Palps bickering like an old married couple. But Shayne looks for moments to pull at the heartstrings and give the themes and advice the three Ghosts are imparting some emotional weight. It works especially best in the Organa/Solo story as we get to see the family in happier times before Snoke’s influence rips them apart. And yes, while these LEGO specials are entirely canon adjacent, how they weave in some Han Solo touchstone lines and reframe them in a father/son dynamic is really effective. And that extends to a quasi-epilogue between Leia and Ben that fans of those characters should appreciate.
The main story closes in a way that implies it could be an overall capper to the sequel-based specials. Since the specials are the only place where new stories have featured the sequel characters, that would be a shame. The team behind this trilogy have used them well and it keeps the stable of characters alive in the universe. But if this is it, LEGO® Star Wars Summer Vacation is an entertaining coda to the trilogy which honors all eras of the universe and at least gives us a new Weird Al song to enjoy in the dog days of summer.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/4myu6jq
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