“It makes all the films fun regardless”
Even the bad movies are good in LEGO STAR WARS
Developer Traveller’s Tales has achieved something really special with Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Making all nine mainline films playable in one game was hugely ambitious, and the result is a lovely tribute to an iconic series. But that structure does end up shining a light on the fact that, taken as a totality, Star Wars is mostly… well, not very good.
Out of nine movies, any sensible person can agree that at least five of them are rubbish, perhaps up to seven (depending on your tolerance for Rian Johnson, Daisy Ridley, and teddy bears somehow overthrowing fascist empires).
From that angle, you’d think the full series might actually not be a good basis for a game. But the alchemy of Lego is the vital element here—by turning each film into a toybox adventure full of gentle parody and pure silliness, it makes them all fun, and even nostalgic, regardless of cinematic quality.
The prequels were dry and weightless on screen (no historical revisionism here, please), but their abundance of visual creativity and set-piece action makes them an oddly good basis for a game. In The Phantom Menace alone, you go from a lightsaber fight, to a submarine chase, to a podrace, to a pitched battle, to a spaceship dogfight—all in the space of a few hours.
MOVIE MAGIC
Similarly the modern trilogy was scatterbrained and mired in the past, with a middle chapter you either love or hate. In Lego form it shines even if you never connected at all with Rey, Finn, or Oscar Isaac’s perfect jawline.
The first and third films felt like Star Wars theme park rides, but in this context that’s an ideal foundation for light-hearted, nostalgic adventure. And The Last Jedi is the perfect target for gags, receiving a good-natured ribbing that serves both camps: a fun parody for the film’s fans, and a bit of gentle catharsis for its detractors.
Being a Star Wars fan has been rough since 1999. God bless Traveller’s Tales, then, for finding a spark of goodness in all of the films. If you’re not at peace with the series in 2022, let The Skywalker Saga be your nine-part therapy session.