LEGO STAR WARS TERRIFYING TALES -- An Overstuffed Attempt to Recapture Lightning in a Bottle

Review by Sean Boelman

(L-R): Ren and Ben Solo in LEGO STAR WARS TERRIFYING TALES exclusively on Disney+. ©2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

After The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special was embraced by fans of the series, it only makes sense that Disney+ would release another themed special. LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, supposedly a “Halloween special”, loses track of what made its predecessor work so well and instead offers a few amusing non-canon anecdotes.

The special follows Poe Dameron and BB-8 as they hear stories of the history of the Sith and must fight to prevent an ancient evil from rising up. Although this is meant to be festive for the Halloween season, it’s equivalent to people standing around a campfire and telling scary stories (although not too scary, because this is made for a TV-G audience).

Perhaps the biggest issue with this special is that it tries to do too much in too little time. It crams in three separate, albeit thematically connected stories, into a runtime of less than forty-five minutes. And while everything is tied together nicely, if obviously, by the end, it still feels rushed and underdeveloped.

On top of that, there is a central story in which Poe has to save the day with the help of his friends, and it seems to be out of necessity to tie the stories together more than anything else. It’s a very simple storyline that feels like an afterthought, and it has just as little consequence as one would expect.

(L-R): Poe Dameron and Graballa the Hutt in LEGO STAR WARS TERRIFYING TALES exclusively on Disney+. ©2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

There is a new young character introduced in the special, and he sadly isn’t particularly memorable. It was an interesting choice for them to choose to go with Poe Dameron as the hero as opposed to one of the more A-list characters of the sequel trilogy, and while Oscar Isaac’s version of the character could have carried his own, Jake Green’s sadly cannot.

Something else that is missing in this one compared to the Holiday Special is notable cameos. There are no major names returning from the live-action series, with dedicated voice actors making up much of the cast. In prominent supporting roles are Tony Hale, Christian Slater, and Dana Snyder, and they all do well, but it doesn’t have that star power.

The quality of the animation is mostly strong, at the same level that the LEGO specials always are. It definitely feels as if we are in a brick-ified version of a galaxy far, far away. And while the substitutions in voice actors are distracting and make it obvious that what we are watching doesn’t have the same blockbuster budget, it tries its best to accommodate for this.

LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales is fun for what it is, although it will ultimately be mostly forgettable. Young padawans will definitely want to check it out, but don’t expect it to join your yearly Halloween rotation.

LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales is now streaming on Disney+.

​Rating: 3/5