You don’t have to like LEGO to enjoy LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, but if your preference is for the brick and not the galaxy far far away, you’re probably not going to get as much out of it. Fans of both however, will be in for a treat as the jokes come thick and fast right from the outset, from the obvious to the somewhat obscure (Ashla and Jempa anyone?).
Opening with the traditional crawl, albeit combined with a voiceover usually heard on The Clone Wars (courtesy of Tom Kane), we are presented with the familiar sight of a space vessel honing into view, on its approach to Coruscant; no, it’s not a Star Destroyer, but a school shuttle, ferrying Jedi Younglings on an excursion under the watchful eye of Jedi Master Yoda, and piloted by none other than Lando’s aide, Otto, sorry, Lobot.
As the shuttle nears the landing pad, several instantly-recognisable vehicles can be seen on the platform, and it’s not long before we are greeted by some equally familiar faces in the shape of R2-D2 and C-3PO who are given the unenviable task of chaperoning the young force-users whilst Yoda deals with more pressing matters.
As the story begins to unwind, we follow a tit-for-tat plot involving the stealing of secret plans (this time by Asajj Ventress with the aid of less-capable droid than R2-D2), intertwined with the dynamic droid duo taking a detour (I think that’s something we’ll be hearing a lot more in the coming months) with their Padawan charges. During the course of the story, we are treated with action on both ends of the temperature spectrum (Hoth and Tatooine in case you hadn’t already guessed), as well as the aforementioned city-planet of Coruscant, where everything is nicely tied-up, including a little twist that fans of The Clone Wars would likely give their left lekku to see.
LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace definitely warrants repeated viewings, since there is so much packed into the 22-minute running time that it’s easy to miss the more subtle jokes. There are also a number of amusing cameos throughout, requiring the viewer to stay glued to the screen at all times to stand any chance of catching them. The Padawan Menace is by no means meant to be considered canon, such that aspects are taken from all periods spanning the entire Star Wars movie saga, but being so rooted in the prequel-era, it still comes as a surprise to see Darth Vader making an appearance. Even more unexpected is that on each occasion he is ushered off-set by a certain flannel wearing director, who in doing so, breaks the fourth wall with large comic effect.
The show highlights the magic of LEGO nicely with frequent images of spaceships being constructed and mini figures coming apart (including the (un)timely demise of a Gungan senator), and amplifies the humour that has been evident in the LEGO Star Wars video games and earlier mini movies.
The DVD/Blu-ray combo pack comes with an exclusive minifigure, and also features bonus material including other LEGO Star Wars mini movies (Hunt for R2-D2, Bombad Bounty), parts 1 and 2 of Star Wars in Two Minutes and much more.
LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace is available now, exclusively at Walmart.
