By George & Josh Bate
Nearly every year since the launch of Disney+, Lucasfilm has launched a LEGO Star Wars animated special or mini-series that tells a tale in a galaxy far, far away with both great reverence for and willingness to poke fun at the iconic franchise. The tradition continues this week with the release of LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian, a similarly witty, yet inherently less compelling special due to the fact that it serves more so as a parody of the hit Disney+ series than an original story.
LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian follows Din Djarin (Gavin Hammon) and Grogu (David Acord) as they attend a surprise party celebrating their accomplishments. Attended by the likes of Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), Greef Karga (Carl Lumbly), and Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), the party turns into a retelling of some of Mando and Grogu’s most exciting adventures over the course of the three seasons of The Mandalorian.
With the exception of a few minutes of the final act involving a vengeful pirate, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian departs from the previous LEGO Star Wars specials on Disney+ by not telling an original story. The likes of LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales and LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy found ways to combine the wit and gags one would expect from a LEGO project with an original story populated by both new and established characters. In turn, this gave these specials a compelling narrative to follow, in addition to an energetic sense of humor to enjoy.
By essentially recapping the events of The Mandalorian, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian is best characterized as a parody of The Mandalorian. More in common narratively with the Family Guy and Robert Chicken parodies of Star Wars than previous LEGO Star Wars releases, the special relies more heavily on its humor as viewers are already intimately familiar with nearly every aspect of the story before the Lucasfilm logo has even graced the screen.
If one can overlook the unfortunate lack of ambition with its story, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian makes for a clever spoof and enthusiastic love letter to The Mandalorian. Writer Michael Price is unafraid to playful make fun of nearly every element of The Mandalorian, whether that be LEGOfying Werner Herzog in the most spectacular of ways, teasing that Luke Skywalker’s next student after Grogu may bring trouble, or having a laugh at the expense of the show’s video-game like narrative involving episodic side quests. Consistent with the humor in previous LEGO Star Wars specials, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian never approaches parody from a mean-spirited place; rather, it has a deep understanding that even the very best of Star Wars stories have (often unintentionally funny) elements to chuckle at.
Amidst the parodical retelling of The Mandalorian, the new special delights in bringing familiar faces from the world of The Mandalorian back after such prolonged absences. Albeit in LEGO form, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian features an array of returning characters, including Cobb Vanth, Fennec Shand, Bo-Katan Kryze, Peli Motto, Greef Karga, Boba Fett, Migs Mayfeld, Moff Gideon, Kuiil, IG-11, IG-12, and The Armorer. It has been years since we’ve seen most of these characters in any Star Wars movie or television special, making their returns in the new special a lovely reminder of why audiences fell in love with these characters in the first place and the potential there is for them in future stories. This is made all the more effective given that the vast majority of actors from The Mandalorian reprise their roles as their animated LEGO counterparts. If there is any lasting impression fostered from watching LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian, it’s that it leaves clamoring for Timothy Olyphant, Temuera Morrison, Katee Sackhoff, and Ming-Na Wen to return as their respective characters and, more generally, another season of The Mandalorian.
VERDICT: 6/10
LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian lacks the ambition and novelty of previous LEGO Star Wars specials on Disney+ due to the fact that it largely serves as a parodical retelling of the three seasons of The Mandalorian, rather than an original story, but it nonetheless entertains as both a clever spoof and enthusiastic love letter to the hit Disney+ series. Writer Michael Price is unafraid to playfully poke fun at nearly every element of The Mandalorian, whether that be LEGOfying Werner Herzog in the most spectacular of ways, teasing that Luke Skywalker’s next student after Grogu may bring trouble, or having a laugh at the expense of the show’s video-game like narrative involving episodic side quests. Price, and the creative team more broadly, clearly understand than ever the very best of Star Wars stories have unintentionally funny moments or components worth chuckling at. In addition to serving as a solid parody of The Mandalorian, the new special also delights in bringing back tons of familiar fans from the live-action series and will leave one clamoring for the likes of Timothy Olyphant, Temuera Morrison, Katee Sackhoff, and Ming-Na Wen to return as their respective characters in live-action. Undoubtedly hindered by its narrative structure and positioning as a LEGO parody of an established project rather than an original story, LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian still makes for the kind of light-hearted, witty, and well-intentioned viewing admirers of these specials have come to expect.