“We celebrate a day of peace, a day of harmony. A day of joy we can all share together joyously”. So sang Princess Leia in 1978’s notorious Star Wars Holiday Special and now 42 years later the franchise finally revisits Life Day. Will this restore that holiday’s reputation, or will this be another childhood-ruining disappointment?

Set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker we join Rey as she struggles to train Finn in the ways of the Jedi. A Force-imbued crystal allows her to travel through time and space to observe other Jedi masters train their charges, with the hope of picking up some top tips. The tone is set when she lands on Dagobah to witness Luke query what’s wrong with trying, and soon afterwards sees the young Obi-Wan deliver a brief critique of the plot of The Phantom Menace. There’s a few minor but affectionate swipes at some of the dafter elements of the series, and as Rey participates in key moments from the films we see events play out slightly differently. Along the way we meet most of the major characters and any number of iconic moments are revisited, although the emphasis is on the original trilogy.

Meanwhile Poe and friends are preparing for the Life Day celebration aboard the Millennium Falcon, and I’m pleased to say (you may disagree) that the original special is referenced on screen, I think for the first time in the franchise beyond odd mentions of Life Day. Here Life Day is clearly Christmas (the original was a Thanksgiving celebration), replete with Star Wars themed Christmas jumpers. Since Disney are never one to miss a licensing opportunity, a couple of the jumper-wearing characters are included in this year’s LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar.

Most of the cast are soundalikes although one or two, Finn especially, don’t convince. Helen Sadler does very well as Rey, perfectly capturing Daisy Ridley’s “head girl” persona (she’s played her before, as well as voicing Jyn Erso and numerous other characters for Star Wars animations and games). Original cast members Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams make brief appearances, and Kelly Marie Tran returns as Rose, here with much more screen time and dialogue than she was given in Episode IX. It doesn’t begin to make up for her sidelining there but it was nice to see her properly included as part of the gang.

If you’re one of those fans who takes Star Wars terribly seriously then this probably isn’t for you. However, if you’ve enjoyed any of the previous LEGO Star Wars animations or video games, or just feel that Star Wars should be silly sometimes, then this will certainly please. It’s unashamedly a nostalgia-fest, but that’s perfectly appropriate for this project. Please just spare a thought for us poor souls who as children sat down in front of the telly, trembling with excitement at a whole new feature-length Star Wars adventure, only to be exposed to Bea Arthur and Carrie Fisher singing, Chewie’s dad enjoying a VR Diahann Carroll a little too much, and Harrison Ford weighing up if a return to full-time carpentry might be on the cards.

Verdict: Terrific fun in the usual LEGO vein, with a warm and fuzzy nostalgic glow and plenty of funny moments. 8/10

Andy Smith