My kids like LEGO – and Star Wars is almost always a welcome topic. The first video that combined the two entities went over well, and a sequel was inevitable. LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out is the follow-up to LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, and where the predecessor presented a cohesive story that could almost fit within Star Wars canon, what we get here is very different.
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out takes characters and scenes from throughout all of the Star Wars timeline and shuffles them together like a deck of cards. It’s almost like a string of successive skits pieced together to present some sort of narative. Having an endless series of Star Wars jokes as skewed through the LEGO humor filter isn’t a bad thing, really. For those of us (parents) who find the juvenile based humor tiresome, knowing ahead of time this is going to be ridiculous and geared towards kids, that takes a lot of the sting out.
This was certainly intended for young Star Wars and LEGO fans. Actually, you don’t even need to be a Star Wars fan. I have kids that have never seen a Star Wars film yet but found this to be absolutely hilarious. two main “plots” weave in and out each other, one involves Luke Skywalker being hounded as a teen heartthrob type celebrity for destroying the original Death Star. The other has Darth Vader and Darth Maul vying for the approval of the emperor.
The humor is fast-paced, with both slapstick and wordplay at work. there are even potshots taken at the franchise and its creator. Adults will certainly enjoy watching this at least once with their kids, especially if they are Star Wars fans, but you certainly don’t need to be one.
There are no extras, but an exclusive LEGO Darth Vader mini-figure is packed in. Since the special was originally broadcast as a 30 minute special, it runs about 23 minutes with the commercials taken out. This leaves a lot of wasted space on the DVD. In a way this feels like a special feature which got its own DVD release. It is worth owning and watching, at least for the right audience (and you know who you are), but find it at a discounted price. Even the cheaper $10 Amazon is asking for seems a little much.